Using a press camera for wet plate ?

Hello everyone,

So, I finally took the crazy step and bought a large format camera, a Graflex Super Speed Graphic (surprisingly cheap, in my opinion, considering its state, but it's from a very reputable website, so...). For now, I plan to simply use direct positive paper in it, but I have been in love with how wet plate collodion look for a long, long time. I was just wondering if it is possible to do wet plate with such a camera, and if there are precautions I should take if I ever do it (since it's all metal, for example).

Thank you beforehand for your answers,
Sincerely,
Yaeli.

Is this the version with the 22.5 volt battery? I think these batteries are available on Ebay. Not sure about fitment. Pretty camera.

mshchem said:

Is this the version with the 22.5 volt battery? I think these batteries are available on Ebay. Not sure about fitment. Pretty camera.

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It is, yes. But the batteries are not necessary for it to work. They are only used for the electric shutter release on the side of the camera. If you use a release cable, you don't need the batteries.

Yaeli said:

It is, yes. But the batteries are not necessary for it to work. They are only used for the electric shutter release on the side of the camera. If you use a release cable, you don't need the batteries.

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Great! Very handsome camera. I use somewhat older top rangefinder Crown Graphic cameras. Wonderful cameras. I would be afraid of getting stains on such a pretty camera. But I would try it. Nice to have a light easy to carry camera!

Yaeli said:

I was just wondering if it is possible to do wet plate with such a camera, and if there are precautions I should take if I ever do it (since it's all metal, for example).

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Sure, it'll work.
It's not difficult to avoid spills on the camera when doing wet plate. I've done wet plate with a metal field camera for a while. I think I might have gotten a single drop of silver nitrate on it once. No corrosion or damage.

koraks said:

Sure, it'll work.
It's not difficult to avoid spills on the camera when doing wet plate. I've done wet plate with a metal field camera for a while. I think I might have gotten a single drop of silver nitrate on it once. No corrosion or damage.

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Great ! Thank you for your answer ! I think I'll take a workshop before diving into that anyway, so I'll probably learn how to avoid spilling too much ^^.

mshchem said:

Great! Very handsome camera. I use somewhat older top rangefinder Crown Graphic cameras. Wonderful cameras. I would be afraid of getting stains on such a pretty camera. But I would try it. Nice to have a light easy to carry camera!

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Yes, I'm very glad I found it ! Here in Europe, large format cameras are not easy to find at a reasonable price (or I don't know where to look ^^) : Graflex are quite rare (and rarely in good condition), most Toyo and Wista and other more recent brands are rare too, and you're stuck with the super expensive Linhof or you have to pay the 20% tax to get something from outside Europe... So yes, I'm quite happy. It appears in really good condition, and I can't wait to try it

Yaeli said:

Great ! Thank you for your answer ! I think I'll take a workshop before diving into that anyway, so I'll probably learn how to avoid spilling too much ^^.

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I wouldn't worry about it too much. By the time the plate is in the holder, most of the dripping has already stopped. The 'worst' bit is when you just take the plate from the silver bath. You can put it down on a tissue or something and keep it there until the dripping is done; then put the plate into the holder. Any stray drops will generally be caught by the holder at that point; nothing ends up on or in the camera generally.

You will have more staining on you and your clothes than the camera

Ought to be a lot of fun!