My Type 55 madness

[sperera]

so in a moment of inspiration and madness in equal parts, paying tribute to the old school that so raved about it, and never having used the film myself I've forked out loads of cash for some Type 55 Polaroid film......so now im back to earth I need to know how the hell to use it! I've always read about having the bucket with the chemicals beside you when shooting Type 55 so let me know what I need to get this going....

Oh, I plan to use it with a Sinar F2 5x4 camera with a 150mm Schneider lens.....

CAN'T WAIT!

 

[rwboyer]

The negative develops itself - just need to clear it with a sodium sulfite solution. I believe the dilution strength is on the box if not it's 220g/L I believe but 100g/L should work. Just takes a little longer.

The bad news is the exposure to get a good print and a good neg is different.

RB

 

[nickandre]

Nobody cares about the print though.

 

[Colin Corneau]

Nor should they. Plenty of other instant products for that...the Type 55 neg is one of a kind.

Sadly, I burned through about a dozen sheets before I found out the Polaroid holder I got was a dud and the guy who sold it to me is a weasel. 2 more boxes though -- shooting for a neg is generally done at EI25.

 

[snallan]

If you are exposing this material for the negative, you want to expose at around half the box speed. The negative and the positive have different speeds. I have never used this material, so hopefully someone who has will chime in with their experiences. Or pm jbrunner, I know in one of his videos (with the bacon I believe) he uses Polaroid 55.

 

[keithwms]

You don't need to the bucket beside you- you can develop later. But sure, it is fun to see what you are getting as you go.

I shoot for the neg at EI 20 or so.

Do bear in mind that the neg is probably thinner and perhaps a bit more fragile than you are used to. So, unless you bought a clearing tank that comes with a holder, it may be a good idea to have something like a combiplan film holder or film hangers your clearing tank, to keep negs from scratching.

In the field, you will probably want to leave the negs in the tank 'til you get home and can do a better job washing up. N.b. I have left my negs in the clearing tank for weeks (mistakenly) and saw no adverse effects.

Enjoy!

P.S. Panatomic x is still readily available in bulk 5" and 9.5" aerial rolls, and it is basically the same thing. If all you want is the neg....

 

[rwboyer]

You don't need to the bucket beside you- you can develop later. But sure, it is fun to see what you are getting as you go.

I shoot for the neg at EI 20 or so.

Do bear in mind that the neg is probably thinner and perhaps a bit more fragile than you are used to. So, unless you bought a clearing tank that comes with a holder, it may be a good idea to have something like a combiplan film holder or film hangers your clearing tank, to keep negs from scratching.

In the field, you will probably want to leave the negs in the tank 'til you get home and can do a better job washing up. N.b. I have left my negs in the clearing tank for weeks (mistakenly) and saw no adverse effects.

Enjoy!

P.S. Panatomic x is still readily available in bulk 5" and 9.5" aerial rolls, and it is basically the same thing. If all you want is the neg....

Have you ever tried that stuff? Just wondering I have been thinking about it but wanted to know if it were worth the hassle?

RB

 

[keithwms]

Yes, I have tried it, I like it. Good stuff. It is thin and does have a tendency to curl but it's still very usable, giving excellent results. I use it for 5x7 and 5x8 and am in the process of building a 5x12 reducing back for my 11x14 so I can use it in that. Haven't tried the 9.5" yet, I suspect it will be very prone to bend.

 

[sperera]

Ive got Kodak Hypo clearer will that do?

 

[keithwms]

Yes. Actually plain old warm water will just about do it. Sodium sulfite is what I use, simpler formula and cheaper than Kodak hypo clearing sol'n.

 

[rwboyer]

Yes, I have tried it, I like it. Good stuff. It is thin and does have a tendency to curl but it's still very usable, giving excellent results. I use it for 5x7 and 5x8 and am in the process of building a 5x12 reducing back for my 11x14 so I can use it in that. Haven't tried the 9.5" yet, I suspect it will be very prone to bend.

Based on your experience what would you recommend is the best way to deal with it in an 8x10 camera - I have a typical ansco 8x10back, an ansco 4x5 reducing back (spring type), and a couple of old polaroid 545 holders.

RB

 

[bdial]

If you're worried about handling the negative in the field, you can release the packet from the holder then process it at home (by reinserting into the holder then pulling it through the rollers).

 

[sperera]

damn, in my moment of lunacy i forgot i dont have a Polaroid 545 holder for my Sinar!!! BUT I have a friend with one....heh heh

OK now I have to think of a worthy project....20 shots of glory

 

[fschifano]

Ive got Kodak Hypo clearer will that do?

I believe that will do just fine. It certainly won't hurt it.

 

[keithwms]

Based on your experience what would you recommend is the best way to deal with it in an 8x10 camera - I have a typical ansco 8x10back, an ansco 4x5 reducing back (spring type), and a couple of old polaroid 545 holders.

RB

I am contemplating that very issue right now. The film has sprockets and I am designing some tensioner inserts that would go into the film holder and grab the sprockets. Failing that, I fear that the 9.5" film may bow too much. Ideally one would have a vacuum back, but the sprockets might give us a way around that...

In a pinch, one could simply adhere the 9.5" stuff to a thicker substrate, but I am thinking about a more elegant solution.

I'll get my order of 9.5" film in a few weeks, let me say more then....

As for the 5", it works dandily in 5x7 and 5x8 holders. As Jim Galli noted elsewhere, it is somewhat less ideal for cutting to 4x5 because that places the direction along which it tends to curl parallel to width of the holder. But in 5x7 and 5x8, it has worked like a charm for me and I think it'd be perfectly good in longer formats as long as the curl direction is along the long axis..

 

[rwboyer]

I am contemplating that very issue right now. The film has sprockets and I am designing some tensioner inserts that would go into the film holder and grab the sprockets. Failing that, I fear that the 9.5" film may bow too much. Ideally one would have a vacuum back, but the sprockets might give us a way around that...

In a pinch, one could simply adhere the 9.5" stuff to a thicker substrate, but I am thinking about a more elegant solution.

I'll get my order of 9.5" film in a few weeks, let me say more then....

As for the 5", it works dandily in 5x7 and 5x8 holders. As Jim Galli noted elsewhere, it is somewhat less ideal for cutting to 4x5 because that places the direction along which it tends to curl parallel to width of the holder. But in 5x7 and 5x8, it has worked like a charm for me and I think it'd be perfectly good in longer formats as long as the curl direction is along the long axis..

Hmmm,

I will think about a 5x7 reducing back for my 8x10 but I will also start thinking about the 8x10 and 9.5" stuff - if you can shoot me your email I would love to stay in touch regarding this project. rwboyer@mac.com

RB

 

[michaelbsc]

P.S. Panatomic x is still readily available in bulk 5" and 9.5" aerial rolls, and it is basically the same thing. If all you want is the neg....

And this bulk roll could be slit to make 120 and 127 film to reroll and load by hand?

How big is a bulk roll? I know Efke 70 mm is available, but I didn't realize Panatomic-X is still for sale.

Is it really the same stuff? Or a recycled name?

MB

 

[keithwms]

Aerial panatomic-x is very, very similar to what was packed in 55/665... with a bit more red sensitivity, but that's a slight difference (and probably a welcome one to most of us). And yes you can cut it down.

You can order panatomic-x from HAS images (http://www.hasimages.com). If you contact them, they'll furnish a full price list, I don't want to paste it in here. I don't think they have minimum order on the number of rolls that you buy, but the rolls come in lengths of 250ft, 500ft.... so you're in for $500+ minimum order. Worth every penny, if you ask me.

 

[tony lockerbie]

As Bdial says, I got sick of carting around my sulphite solution, so I just removed the exposed films ( with the roller released) and processed them when I got home. Half box speed is Ok, print should look very washed out to give a suitable negative.
Where did you find some type 55....Aladdin's cave!?

 

[keithwms]

Where did you find some type 55....Aladdin's cave!?

I have two boxes of 55 and four boxes of 665 and yes my place is somewhat cave-like, now that you mention it....

 

[Bosaiya]

You can also put the processed negative in water and clear it later. That way if you want to check it but don't want to cart the chemicals around you'll be alright. Get some sponges and some tupperware, you can sandwich the negs between wet sponges if you're worried about them scratching each other.

 

[rorye]

Be aware T55 negs can scratch very easily. Handle with care. But it's well worth it, it's a really beautiful format.