Digital BW, The Print

Dear List,

I have been using the Type 55 (sheet) & 665 (pack) Polaroid film for pinhole
photography which is by nature very experimental in exposure and
composition.  I needed to be able to process the film in the field and
therefore a container that I could sling over my shoulder with the Sod.
Sulfite solution (SS).  

I've never quite understood the advantage of exposing Type 55 in the field
and then processing later unless one was going for the 'look' of the film
and borders, etc. or perhaps space savings.  Further, processing later is
not an option for the 665 pack film.

As a result I ended up using a Stainless steel canister set (example picture
- http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=881798 )
the tallest one holds enough juice to cover 4x5 film and the seal is good
enough that it doesn't slosh out.  In my case, I slipped the canister into
the largest climbing chalk bag I could find and clipped an unused
neck/shoulder strap to the whole thing which allows me to walk around with
the outfit. Another small sack attached to the neck strap functions as a
trash bag.

You do not want to spill sodium sulfite solution in your friend's car (or
house, etc)!  And therefore always need to be a little careful about how you
pick up any container of the stuff.  As you open the sealed lid and flip it
back to place film in the container (after sloshing and walking around) a
drip or two will inevitably slip off the lid, so I'm careful about where I
do this.
 
In theory you can put the film in water for temporary storage but with the
665 film, the backing layer doesn't gel and makes a flaky mess of your
water, while SS does gel it, and slides off more easily later.  I have also
left film in the SS longer than I care to confess and unless you also leave
it outside in the sun in the Arizona heat (resulted in light staining that
looks pyro-ish), it seems fairly durable.

I have not had much time to scan or print (I have both digital and regular
darkroom) so can't offer useful comments there yet.

Best regards,
Cleavis

Cleavis, thanks for your post about containers for the 
sulfite/sulphite solution. Up until a few months ago I had some 
containers made by Polaroid that they used to make to hold the 
sulfite solution with dividers for the film.  Thinking that I would 
never shoot Polaroids P/N film again until recently, so I threw them 
out. A few weeks ago, when I decided not to sell my pack film holder
on Ebay, deciding I could pick up a inexpensive 4x5 camera & lense, 
I wish I hadn't thrown them out. I was suprised to find that they 
were still making the P/N film.  My only concern with the pack film 
after scanning some old polaroid negatives is film flatness, I had 
some areas of the film that were not sharp for no apparent reason.

One question I have is: do you need to worry about keeping the film 
separated while they are in the sulfite solution or is it ok to 
stack them together in the solution?

Thanks,
Randy


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "lyonscox" 
<lyonscox@c...> wrote:
> Dear List,
> 
> I have been using the Type 55 (sheet) & 665 (pack) Polaroid film 
for pinhole
> photography which is by nature very experimental in exposure and
> composition.  I needed to be able to process the film in the field 
and
> therefore a container that I could sling over my shoulder with the 
Sod.
> Sulfite solution (SS).  
> 
> I've never quite understood the advantage of exposing Type 55 in 
the field
> and then processing later unless one was going for the 'look' of 
the film
> and borders, etc. or perhaps space savings.  Further, processing 
later is
> not an option for the 665 pack film.
> 
> As a result I ended up using a Stainless steel canister set 
(example picture
> - http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=881798 )
> the tallest one holds enough juice to cover 4x5 film and the seal 
is good
> enough that it doesn't slosh out.  In my case, I slipped the 
canister into
> the largest climbing chalk bag I could find and clipped an unused
> neck/shoulder strap to the whole thing which allows me to walk 
around with
> the outfit. Another small sack attached to the neck strap 
functions as a
> trash bag.
> 
> You do not want to spill sodium sulfite solution in your friend's 
car (or
> house, etc)!  And therefore always need to be a little careful 
about how you
> pick up any container of the stuff.  As you open the sealed lid 
and flip it
> back to place film in the container (after sloshing and walking 
around) a
> drip or two will inevitably slip off the lid, so I'm careful about 
where I
> do this.
>  
> In theory you can put the film in water for temporary storage but 
with the
> 665 film, the backing layer doesn't gel and makes a flaky mess of 
your
> water, while SS does gel it, and slides off more easily later.  I 
have also
> left film in the SS longer than I care to confess and unless you 
also leave
> it outside in the sun in the Arizona heat (resulted in light 
staining that
> looks pyro-ish), it seems fairly durable.
> 
> I have not had much time to scan or print (I have both digital and 
regular

> darkroom) so can't offer useful comments there yet.
> 
> Best regards,
> Cleavis

> One question I have is: do you need to worry about keeping 
> the film separated while they are in the sulfite solution or 
> is it ok to stack them together in the solution?
> 
> Thanks,
> Randy

Well, believe it or not, some PN 55 users carry glass jars (like a mason
jar) full of solution, and separate the negs with paper table napkins.
Presumably the theory is that they won't move around that much, and the wet
napkins won't scratch.  I use PN 55 mainly for pinhole, and am a fan of
burning one to see that the positive is light, then taking another one or
two to take back home to process.  I am also a believer in using it to check
focus with a view camera (what can go wrong will go wrong), and then you
might as well shoot another one for the negative.  Beautiful b&w negs, scan
well and print well.  BTW you don't have to worry about how long you leave
the neg in the sodium sulfite (or Kodak hypo clear) solution.  I've left
them in for days with no problem when I just couldn't get to them to finish.

Regards,

Ken Carney
www.kencarney.com