Polaroid type 55 = 665?

[cvik]

Hi,
I wonder if Polaroid type 55 for large format has the same emulsion as Polaroid 665 for MF.

Have anyone here made prints from 665 negatives. How is the result? Is it a pain to work with?

 

[Wayne]

Yes they are the the same emulsion. I havent printed from the negs.

 

[gandolfi]

no pain at all - as long as you handle them with care.. The base is really thin, and therefore more easy to scratch..

also; if you want to have a good print, then the positive pol must look a little over exposed. Does it look "right", then the negative will turn out a little thin...

great film! sharp and without grains.

(come to DK and I'll show you a trick or two...(I am in the north of DK, so it is easy from Norway))

 

[ouyang]

HOw much would you overexpose? A stop or more?

 

[Sean]

HOw much would you overexpose? A stop or more?

I rate mine at about half. I clear the negs in the field with a combo clearing and hardening solution. The negs make gorgeous prints, you won't be disappointed. I also meter for the highlights because they are prone to blowing out with that film (for me anyways)..

 

[gandolfi]

HOw much would you overexpose? A stop or more?

a stop sounds fine (or half, and let the film develop for two minutes or so)

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Most people rate it at around 80 for the print and 40 for the neg, some more like 32 or even 25 for the neg.

 

[Bob Carnie]

I absolutely love 665 and printing the negs.

When I use this film I let the positive be my guide for the neg, basically when the pos looks to bright after 1 minute the neg should be fine, dump into the sodium clearing bath and inspect the neg. give more exposure for denser neg or less exposure for thinner.
I like a hot neg for lith printing and solarization so you should judge the neg for your own printing needs.

 

[cvik]

Thank you for your answers. Seems everyone agrees that one should overexpose a half or one stop. I looked at the Polaroid website and found the tonality truly amazing and figured I'll try it out. Haven't found any store here in Oslo that has it so I will probably have to buy through the Internet.

Gandolfi: Thank you for your invitation. I have little darkroom experience so I'm sure I have a lot to learn. I'm quite bussy for the time beeing but I'll see if I can make room for a trip during this autumn if that sounds ok?

 

[gandolfi]

you're always welcome.
you can even get the film here

from Hirtshals it is only about 25km...

 

[Alex Hawley]

I just started using Type 55 recently and made my first 8x10 enlargements from it last weekend. Boy, do I like that stuff!

 

[Wayne]

So, does anyone use this for the prints? I just got a medium format Polarod 180 camera and a mess of the 665 to mess around with, but I wasnt planning to process for the negative at first. I just want to do some B&W photography for the first time in years, and dont have time for darkroom work right now.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I can't see why you'd pay for T55 or T665 for the prints; you can get ISO 100 or ISO 400 prints for less without the negative, and see no difference in the print (it's a contact print, after all).

 

[Alex Hawley]

Wayne, get some 664 (100) or one of the other regular polaroid films to fool around with. Save the 665 for when you get serious (won't take long ). As Donald says, 665 is too expensive to just use it for prints. Kind of defeats its purpose. Although, it is capable of making very nice prints.

 

[Wayne]

IIRC, I got the 665 because

I can get the same emulsion in 4x5 too (as 55). The whole purpose uf shooting the MF Polaroids is to kick myself in the ass to get back in the darkroom with large format (though I'm open to it being an end in itself too)

I CAN shoot for the neg if I want to, or make a second exposure for a neg if I want. But my primary goal is prints for now.

I can use it at exposure speeds longer than 1/10 s. IIRC this was the major drawback of the faster films. I havent used a shutter speed faster than 1/8 second in 20 years

Given my needs I didnt think I had a choice.

So I take it I'm a pioneer in this endeavor. ;-)

 

[Alex Hawley]

Sounds great Wayne. Have fun!