I want to Make my own photographic filme

pentaxuser said:

If I were Marina, I'd want to find out how much skill and experience Denise Ross had before she was able to do what she did

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I think you're suggesting that one would have to acquire all the skills and experience of another before one could repeat what another had done.

But ... That's clearly a fallacy. We don't have to do any such thing.

If I am shown how to make a nice fluffy moist omelette, i can repeat it almost immediately. I don't have to go through all the trial and error and sticky burnt messes that others have first.
150 years ago, Cantor developed set theory. It was the domain only of academics and few people understood it or indeed why it could be useful. And yet today a child can learn it.

/Dismounts hobbyhorse

pdeeh said:

The message is clear: never try anything.

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Yeah seriously. Doesn't matter what approach to take to get there....these are all just suggestions of roadmaps to achieve a vision. What matters is that you just do it.


"Better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all."

Marina, Learning to make your own film is sort of like a child learning to run; first you must crawl, then you can walk and finally you can run. In making your own film, first you must learn to make an emulsion. The easiest ones to make are slow and only blue light sensitive (which is good because you can work under a red safelight). Photo Engineer in these forums offers a couple of excellent books on doing this. Next you must learn how to coat the emulsion you made on a support - perhaps on a glass plate, or perhaps in this case paper would be best. Then comes the difficult step of coating an emulsion on a transparent film support; this can probably be done. The difficult step is slitting the film to width and then perforating 35mm film. The Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY has offered two classes during each of the past couple of summers on making 35mm. — but they have a small coating machine, a film splitter and a 35mm film perforator that make these classes possible. Chances are pretty good you won’t have access to such equipment and will not be able to make 35mm film. However, if you have learned to coat paper, the same tools needed may help you coat short pieces of roll film (like 120).

pdeeh said:

The message is clear: never try anything.

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I think the advice so far is better described as "Look before you leap." There will be a large investment in equipment and chemicals. If the attempt should prove impractical the OP is stuck with a sizeable investment.

Gerald C Koch said:

I think the advice so far is better described as "Look before you leap." There will be a large investment in equipment and chemicals. If the attempt should prove impractical the OP is stuck with a sizeable investment.

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That was all I was trying to say so your post sums up my views very well, Gerald. Well wishing and a pat on the head for enthusiasm is not enough. However to be fair we do seem to be getting closer to giving practical advice from members which is great.

Unless film making was Marina's "yesterday's dream" and she has moved on I'd expect to see further constructive discourse with her participation.

pentaxuser

Nodda Duma said:

Go for it!

Your ultimate goal is difficult combination of technique and perfectly executed steps. My recommendation to learning the techniques and steps without being overwhelmed is to learn the necessary techniques in stages:
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That seems like a very good approach.

As for having no camera that accepts glass plates, she could make a simple pinhole camera to test the sensitivity.

As others have already posted, one of the liquid emulsions available OL from US suppliers, would be a good start for you.

You can Google 'liquid film emulsions' and you will find a few items to read on the topic.

I played with - I think it was called Rockland Colloid - and as pinhole cameras were not readily available back them, I produced a few really artsy-crafty things, like my portrait on a soup plate. Kitsch or wot? As I dislike soup and didn't care for the idea of seeing my face emerging from a bowl of minestrone, the plates I coated and exposed (in my darkroom, using an enlarger and exposures of up to three minutes) went into a box in the garage, where they reside to this day. Future family heirlooms, I reckon.

Making your own film could be a fun (also likely expensive) project, and it will certainly put you into an exclusive group of experimenters/shooters. But why stop there? Let's move forward with this. With so many 19th century emulsions available and formulas and data available OL, have you considered Daguerrotypes? AFAIK, no-one else is doing these nowadays (someone will surely correct me on this point if I'm wrong). The eight-hour exposures are a minus point, and the mercury you have to heat and use in the darkroom, so maybe best avoided.

Theo Sulphate said:

That seems like a very good approach.

As for having no camera that accepts glass plates, she could make a simple pinhole camera to test the sensitivity.

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Using a pinhole camera with homebrew emulsions which will be slow would lead to very long exposures. If one were to make a camera a single lens design would result in shorter exposure times and much better negatives..

My plate camera and holders was $20 on ebay. That's not a difficult hurdle to overcome.

someone can make a plate camera with a cardboard box and a magnfying box if one chooses.

i see the problem not as the materials are expensive, or somene doesn't have experience to do xyz
but with people who have experience not really wanting someone with no experience to try, and perhaps succeed.
new things are made, discovered and invented daily through the inexperienced doing, and not becoming overwhelmed the
by naysayers who claim it will never work, that's not supposed to be used like that, you are wasting your time &c

I've never dabbled in anything like this, but I've read this thread with interest - and I think the nay-sayers here should go read Denise's blog entry that she links to in (there was a url link here which no longer exists) - to me, this seems to show that what Marina wants to do is one of those things that are neither very difficult nor very expensive to do, although doing them really well will take a lot of practice. I like that kind of challenge! After reading Denise's blog, I have to sit on my hands to keep from ordering materials to try it myself: I've got other fish to fry, and have to prioritize both time and money.

Gerald C Koch said:

I would be very careful what you say since you know absolutely nothing about emulsion making. We are all friends here and others know the difficulties you face.

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I'm happy to see new interest in emulsion making. Marina, welcome to our home on the range. I see the biggest obstacle for you, Marina, would be the flight from Argentina to Florida that would be necessary to have a sitting with Ralph. As everything and everyone you need for success is here... you will be successful making your own.

Bill Burk said:

I see the biggest obstacle for you, Marina, would be the flight from Argentina to Florida that would be necessary to have a sitting with Ralph. As everything and everyone you need for success is here... you will be successful making your own.

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Well she has just told us in another thread that she is going to Mexico. Perhaps she can hop-over to Florida from there?

pentaxuser