What have I bought???????

Hi there, I recently bought a job lot of old but sealed photo paper, and got several sealed boxes of kodak lightning and ilford hyper-chromatic plates as well (bargain for 99p!) So, my problem is, what are these plates for? :confused: I really have no idea about them other than they are all 2 1/2x3 1/2 inches, the ilford boxes contain 24, and the kodak boxes contain 12, and the kodak ones are P1500. So can anyone please tell me what they are for negatives in a camera or prints, are they likely to be any good any more, anything about them really....thanks, Phil

Not sure why you didn't get a reply to this...

The plates are fast negative emulsions for making prints. Because they are (were) quite fast by the standards of the day (maybe 1950s), they will almost certainly have figged to the point of being useless. So, if the packets are in nice condition, keep them as collectible curios. If they are scruffy, you could try a couple to see if they give any sort of image. They are known as quarter plate, so you'll need a quarter plate camera and they're panchromatic, so only open in complete darkness. If you haven't got / don't want to get a quarter plate camera, you could just chuck 'em back on ebay. They are unlikely to fetch much (99p!) but some people buy them for the packaging (collectors) and some buy them for the glass (they can be cleaned and coated with home made emulsions, or used in printing frames etc.) Some can't resist the temptation to try them out to see if they can still get something

You could always pull a stieglitz and scrape off the emultion and use the glas in your window panes.... I hope that you will be able to find some use for them, curios or otherwise.

21/2 X 31/2 is not quarter-plate. Quarter-plate is 31/4X41/4.

Dave

I believe 2.5x3.5 inches is close or identical to the European 6.5x9cm format.

panchro-press said:

21/2 X 31/2 is not quarter-plate. Quarter-plate is 31/4X41/4.

Dave

Click to expand...

Your right, I misread his original post (must get my eyes tested).

2 1/2 by 3 1/2 is pretty much 6cm by 9cm.

I briefly "Googled" KODAK GLASS PLATES P1500". It appears your plates are probably intended for scientific use with a lab instrument called a spectrograph. (I dunno what that is...) Here's a Flickr link to someone who tried exposing and developing Kodak-UK 4x5 plates that appear to be very similar to yours.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard314159/2354518775/