In some threads that I have seen recently there was a suggestion to use paper rather than film in the camera. Do you just use something like Ilford or Fuji photo paper that you can get from B&H? What would be the down side to exposing directly to paper as opposed to exposing on a film negative and then printing to paper? How would you know what the ASA sensitivity is?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Jim
In some threads that I have seen recently there was a suggestion to use paper rather than film in the camera. Do you just use something like Ilford or Fuji photo paper that you can get from B&H? What would be the down side to exposing directly to paper as opposed to exposing on a film negative and then printing to paper? How would you know what the ASA sensitivity is?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Jim
This is typically referred to as paper negatives and very effective in LF cameras and especially for pinhole cameras. One usesregular darkroom PE paper and contact prints it emulsion side to emulsion side back onto the same kind of paper to produce a positive. In my experience, a yellow taking filter muffles the high contrast as a result of the papers blue sensitivity and I usually treat the paper as having an ISO of '3',which works very well.In some threads that I have seen recently there was a suggestion to use paper rather than film in the camera. Do you just use something like Ilford or Fuji photo paper that you can get from B&H? What would be the down side to exposing directly to paper as opposed to exposing on a film negative and then printing to paper? How would you know what the ASA sensitivity is?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Jim
Paper negatives are as old as photography itself and I am sure there will be others far more knowledgeable than myself who chime-in here...
In some threads that I have seen recently there was a suggestion to use paper rather than film in the camera. Do you just use something like Ilford or Fuji photo paper that you can get from B&H? What would be the down side to exposing directly to paper as opposed to exposing on a film negative and then printing to paper? How would you know what the ASA sensitivity is?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Jim
Using paper as negatives is a lot of fun and takes practice
Paper sensitivity can vary wildly between types of paper but generally speaking its around iso 24, a lot of people swear by iso 6 so there you go.
Hi TerryI think John meant 2 - 4, rather than 24.
Have fun!
Carfeful though, paper negatives are a lot of fun, and in the end it can turn into a deep rabbit hole .. with the paper negativist making their own cameras and lenses, or spooling their own 122 rolls, or making emulsion, reflective enlargers....
I control the harsh contrast by using a light-yellow filter during exposure and dilute Dektol 1+8 to get a softerneg that easily contrst-prints on grade-2 paper again. BTW, I also rate the paper at ISO 3 for in-camera exposure. best of luck to you.Paper negs can give great results and is a very economical way to use large format. One thing to avoid (in my opinion) is not to give the neg a normal paper development as it will result in a very harsh, contrasty neg. i did a large portrait project with a friend a few years ago, and after lots of testing, settled on a rating of 3 ISO but developed in PQ developer at 1+40 or 1+50 for about 3 minutes to produce a softer neg. (Don't have my notes to hamd!) Of course the tonality is Orthochromatic, so can be similar to the look of Collodion. The ones here on this link were all shot in the same studio with daylight, nearly all at 8 second exposures, but moving the subject to get different lighting results. Also using white and black reflectors to model the light.
http://www.mike-crawford.co.uk/portfolio/atkinson-crawford/atkinson-crawford-one.html
An example below of the tonalty of the negatives. For full disclosure, I did scan the negatives for digital printing to avoid printing through the texture of the paper base, though a friend has a great way of printing using a large vertical process camera to print directly from the negative which is illuminated by the copy lights.
You might start by putting a single piece of photopaper in a camera you found in your garage, and end up trying to make negatives and prints they way they were made 170 years ago.
Yes, I remember making photostat copies with this type of material. It came on a roll and first you made a contact negative then a positive from that. Or, by turning the original over and exposing through the back side you could make a right reading negative document. They were developed in dektol.Back in the day 50's, 60's etc. Kodak made dozens of products thin light weight paper for graphic arts, book making etc. I remember watching guys in a print shop making "reflex copies" made a sandwich starting with single weight paper emulsion up, item you wanted to copy face down on the emulsion of the single weight paper, then a piece of black paper on top of the original to be copied. Then they exposed the single weight paper by arc or mercury vapor THROUGH the single weight paper. The light would pass through the SW paper bounce off the white on the original and result in a reversed paper negative of the original. They would somehow use this to make a plate, I can't remember if they shot a Kodalith of this or not, I was amazed that they didn't just get a black piece of paper. I haven't seen this done in 40 years. The old Kodak databooks on copying describe it.
You can also make your own paper negatives. Just about the easiest thing to do with handmade emulsions. The emulsion doesn't have to be washed and coating on paper is much easier than on glass or film. It makes ULF photography especially inexpensive.
yeah i know .. or making home brew emulsion >> dang paper negatives!
Ah, okay John, I stand (happily) corrected!Hi Terry
noooo I mean iso 24
Photo Engineer has shown those little colored grid patterns (Macbeth Color Charts?) with a variety of ISOs and paper negative exposures; ISO 24 were the keepers ! * https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/iso-rating-of-ilford-paper.53272/#post-777998 ) When illumiquest was doing his paper negatives in his big old camera he said the same thing it was ISO 24. To be honest I don't go by ISOs anymore with paper negatives but my gut LOL.
John
This is fairly well discussed on the large format site if more input is desired.
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