Shooting paper?

PHOTOTONE · Aug 4, 2007

Nothing wrong with developing paper by inspection in a tray. Easy as pie, whether a negative or a positive.

Jersey Vic · Aug 4, 2007

And paper negs are GREAT for lith printing...I swear they were made for each other.

ragc · Aug 4, 2007

El Gringo said:
Thanks for the replies, my main thinking behind paper negatives was that I already have the means to process them. I suppose I could process the film in trays but I'm not sure if I like the idea of developing film completely in the dark.

Not a big deal to tray-process in the dark. Give it a try. I use a digital timer placed on the floor under my tray counter.

Paper is VERY slow ISO (about ISO 5). I tested my camera with paper and just scanned the negative print and reversed for a digital positive. B&W paper is orthochromatic, so reds render as black. This is a positive from a paper negative. The wheelbarrows are bright red.

jimgalli · Aug 5, 2007

Dead Link Removed of pictures on my site made with paper negs. Lots of fun really. I stuffed a #1 printing filter in the snout of the taking lens to soften up the contrast a bit. Static / studio subjects work best for obvious reasons. It was fun to do 4 exposures and then see within minutes if things were working right.

Ray Heath · Aug 5, 2007

g'day Rhys
i make a lot of paper negs, i love the differences to film, if you want the same results as film just use film, using paper is something else

i like the grain, ease of use and cheapness

for my purposes, i get the best results from soft graded FB paper exposed in my home made simple lens cameras and then processed in half strength paper developer.

when dry the neg is oiled with baby oil and contact printed

Roger Hicks · Aug 5, 2007

cao said:
Perhaps cheap, but not readily available. Are there any reliable sources?

Alas, no; Paterson orbitals were discontinued a while back, but stock ran out quite a lot more recently. In the UK you see them at camera fairs as often as not; I'd be surprised if you didn't find them at one in three, at worst. I have seen them in the US, but less often. Or there's always e...-no, I can't bring myself to type it.

El Gringo · Aug 5, 2007

Thank you all for the great info, I think I might try paper negs and see if I like them, it not I could always move onto film at a later date.

Jersey Vic · Aug 5, 2007

Lots of great info here. I agree with Jim reagarding using the printing filters..I use an Ilford 0 or .5 when shooting my pinhole camera on bright contrasty days and it gives me much smoother negs that I can later filter to get what I need when I print them.
BTW-those Parke-Harrison images are wonderful and it looks like a good many of them are paper negs/lith prints, a great combination.

Shooting paper?

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