Questions about Fuji FP-100C

Kirks518 · Jan 4, 2015

Finally used some of my Polaroid FP-100C last night, and I have a couple of questions.

After developing, how long does it take for the film to dry? ie., how long before you can stack photos without having any issues? I/we left them on the counter for about 30 minutes or more, but I noticed when I put them on the scanner, they con of 'stuck' a little. Nothing happened to the photos, but it made me question how long they should be left alone. I also noticed a fair amount of dust once scanned, which I think is now on the photo surface.

As for the quality, they seem really good, but they certainly aren't as sharp as I was expecting. Fuji says the film has a resolution of 15 l/mm, which I'm guessing limits it's ability to reproduce 'tack sharp' images, am I correct?

And a question that is probably more specific to my camera (Mamiya RB67 ProSD with Mamiya Polaroid back (not NPC)) - How much more is captured then what I'm seeing in the finder? It seems like a lot, and that I'm wasting a lot of film area. The photo below was framed almost to where she filled the frame vertically, but there seems to be quite a bit of headroom left unused.

Here is a sample shot. I was focused on the eye closest to the camera, and it just doesn't seem as sharp as I was hoping.

Fixcinater · Jan 4, 2015

The negative will have more resolution than the positive print. FP3000B negs are quite noticeably better (sharper/more detailed) than the prints.

If you can get them stacked vertically to dry somehow (I've seen people build holders from various materials into tupperware), you can reduce dust before scanning.

Dry time seems to be affected by ambient temp and ambient weather, much more than I thought it would. Shot a bunch of 100C at the beach one cold foggy morning and imprinted my fingerprint on one of the positive prints after an hour of sitting in the car.

100C and 3000B will both self-terminate so you won't have any issues with overdevelopment if you let them sit unpeeled for a while. I've done this for up to an hour in those damp/cold conditions, not sure how long you can go before they don't want to peel nicely.

cjbecker · Jan 4, 2015

I would always shoot one and open it to make sure my iso was correct, but after that I would shoot and put them in my camera bag. I would then open all at once to avoid the sticky and dust issue. (I shot a lot at weddings when I was second shooting)

I also found the negative to be sharper. The 3000bw can't be bleached, but the 100c can. Just tape the negative to a piece of glass with the black side up, make sure it is water tight, apply bleach to black side, rub and the black paint will come off, let dry and you have negative.

NedL · Jan 4, 2015

I've gone on some pretty long day trips and left them unpeeled until I got home, 8 or 10 hours at least. Kind of takes the fun out of instant film when you have to wait for a safe dust-free place to see them. I hang mine vertically in a closet, the sticky surface is a dust magnet. I've sometimes found them sticky even after 3 hours... so now I let them dry overnight before putting them in an album. I've had some ruined by sticking to the album plastic when I put them in too soon. As Fixcinater mentioned, some people make portable "drying boxes" to keep the pictures safe while they dry... I really need to make something like that!

gone · Jan 4, 2015

From my limited experience w/ Polaroid film, I never got a photo that was as sharp as conventional film. That's not the film's strength.

winger · Jan 4, 2015

In 2014, I did an instant shot per week project (I knew I'd never be able to do a 365 photo project). I think I used slightly more 3000B than 100C, but those were all I used. No, the prints aren't as sharp as film. The negative for the 100C is a little more crisp than the print, but still not quite as sharp as film.
To avoid dust I would put them in the bottom tray of a desktop file tray stack. I think most of the dust stuck to them right when they got peeled, though. I usually let them sit at least overnight before stacking them or scanning them.
For framing, do you see the same thing with film? Many finders don't show exactly the area that the film gets (this may be more true with 35mm, but I'm not sure).

mweintraub · Jan 5, 2015

Fixcinater said:
The negative will have more resolution than the positive print. FP3000B negs are quite noticeably better (sharper/more detailed) than the prints.

I don't think you can reclaim a negative on 3000B

Fixcinater · Jan 5, 2015

You can scan the peeled side.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Roger Cole · Jan 5, 2015

I thought the RB67 Polaroid back gave 7cm square images rather than rectangles?

Oh - I guess it does - the unexposed area will be black so a square that's all black at the edges would look rectangular to the limits of the film area.

I've never tried bleaching the negative but may need to do that.

winger · Jan 5, 2015

Roger Cole said:
I thought the RB67 Polaroid back gave 7cm square images rather than rectangles?

Oh - I guess it does - the unexposed area will be black so a square that's all black at the edges would look rectangular to the limits of the film area.

I've never tried bleaching the negative but may need to do that.

Oh duh - I should have thought of that. I've used a Polaroid back on my Hasselblad and it puts the square sorta off-center in the middle and there's black around the image. OP, please try a shot with a light background and you'll likely see what I mean.

Kirks518 · Jan 5, 2015

I will. My daughter wants some shots on a white background, so I'll post one of those when I do it.

AgX · Jan 5, 2015

momus said:
From my limited experience w/ Polaroid film, I never got a photo that was as sharp as conventional film. That's not the film's strength.

All these materials are salt- resp. dye-diffusion materials.

The loss of sharpness is due this diffusion.

Roger Cole · Jan 5, 2015

I hadn't thought of that but it could be it - the print size could be an illusion because the background is black and so is unexposed reversal (which this is) material outside the image area.

Lee Rust · Jan 6, 2015

I save all the negatives and have gotten pretty good at the washing and bleaching process for the color negs, which are rather grainy, but have a somewhat wider tonal range and much higher resolution than the instant print itself.

In hot & humid conditions the B&W negatives are very fragile while wet, even to the point that the emulsion will slide right off the plastic backing if the negatives are hung vertically.

Is there any point in fixing these negatives, or is the self-terminating nature of the chemistry sufficient?

Questions about Fuji FP-100C

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