Digital BW, The Print

55PN is indeed an excellent film, for so long as it is around.  Sad thing
about Polaroid.  I used a lot of 35mm Polapan instant b&w slide film --
beautiful stuff, now gone.  PN55 has a fairly short shelf life, so stocking
up won't help much.  But use it while you can.  Generally speaking, when the
positive is "too light" the negative will be about right.  If the positive
looks OK, the neg is thin, i.e., you get an exposure meter as a bonus
("Polameter").  Processing is easy.  Just strip as much of the paper and
crap away from the neg as you can, rinse, then soak in an 18% solution of
sodium sulfite for at least 20 minutes (that's about two tablespoons of
sodium sulfite or Kodak Hypo-clear per liter).  You can leave the negs in
the sulfite solution overnight and it won't hurt them.  Then rinse as usual,
Photo-flow and hang to dry.  It scans really well.

In the field, you can get a Polaroid tank to fill with sodium sulfite and
process on the spot.  If you find one that doesn't leak, let me know.
Incidentally, you don't need a darkroom to process film.  Calumet makes
daylight 4x5 tanks and a film tent to load it (and the film holders).  Once
you have loaded the exposed film in the tank, all else is done in room
light.  Another option is to get Kodak ready-load 4x5 (limited to Tmax 100
and 400 I think) and have a pro lab develop the negs.  Hope this helps.

Regards,

  --Ken Carney
    www.kencarney.com 



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roger Smith [mailto:rbsmith252@...] 
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 11:59 AM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Polaroid type 55 negs
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Is anyone using Polaroid type 55 Pos/Neg type film and 
> scanning for B&W prints?  I am thinking about shooting type 
> 55 with my 4X5 and scanning with the Epson 3200.  This seems 
> like a great combination as I do not have a darkroom 
> available to process 4X5 film.  Any info and/or tips from the 
> group would be most welcome!
> 
> 
> Roger Smith
> E. Lansing, MI 48823--