Pete Askew
Admin
I thought it might be interesting to see the sequence for using New55 film and so took a few shots during the making of the Aphrodite / Aphrodite II images.
First you need to slide a sheet of film in its holder into a Polaroid 545 holder until you hear the click that tells you that the end clip has been engaged. Now the shot is lined up and the exposure reading is taken. The film has a sensitivity of between ISO 100 and ISO 200; I used ISO 160.
The camera in place.
And the subject all made up and ready (it took her hours to put that algae on! - children, animals and goddesses; never work with them!).
The shutter is now primed (in this case there is no need to close the lens as it has no shutter and the focal plane shutter of the Speed Graphic is being used) and the loaded holder is inserted...
and pressed all the way into the back.
The sleeve is then pulled out until it stops and the exposure is made.
The sleeve is the then re-instered and the holder can be removed ready for processing. At this stage you can remove the sleeve containing the film (by depressing the Release button while the main lever is in the Load position) to be processed later (the negative needs to be fixed under subdued lighting) or process it directly.
To process the film either re-insert the sleeve or, if it is still in the holder, you must move the main lever to the Process position. This closes the rollers that will spread the developer across the film. The sleeve is now pulled out until it stops using a smooth and steady pull (lasting at least one second). You now leave the film for 4 minutes to develop.
After developing you must remove the sleeve / film from the holder after moving the lever back to the Load position. Once you have the components out, you remove the silver tab that holds the receiver sheet in the sleeve and the metal clip. The positive and negative can now be peeled apart and the negative placed into a tray containing fixer (Ilford Rapid fixer mixed 1:1 with water). The positive is now be allowed to dry. The negative should be agitated and lightly rubbed to remove residual developer. After a few minutes (I used about 5 mins) it is then transferred to a tray of water at the same temperature and washed (I used about 15 minutes with a gentle flow of water into the tray - followed by a gentle rinse with distilled water - to avoid drying marks) and then dried ready for printing / scanning.
The image made from the positive can be seen here:
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/aphrodite.21289/
and the image made from the scanned negative can be seen here:
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/aphrodite-ii.21294/
On several occasions some developer leaked out and so the rollers need to be checked and, if necessary, cleaned before the next sheet / sleeve is inserted.
First you need to slide a sheet of film in its holder into a Polaroid 545 holder until you hear the click that tells you that the end clip has been engaged. Now the shot is lined up and the exposure reading is taken. The film has a sensitivity of between ISO 100 and ISO 200; I used ISO 160.
The camera in place.
And the subject all made up and ready (it took her hours to put that algae on! - children, animals and goddesses; never work with them!).
The shutter is now primed (in this case there is no need to close the lens as it has no shutter and the focal plane shutter of the Speed Graphic is being used) and the loaded holder is inserted...
and pressed all the way into the back.
The sleeve is then pulled out until it stops and the exposure is made.
The sleeve is the then re-instered and the holder can be removed ready for processing. At this stage you can remove the sleeve containing the film (by depressing the Release button while the main lever is in the Load position) to be processed later (the negative needs to be fixed under subdued lighting) or process it directly.
To process the film either re-insert the sleeve or, if it is still in the holder, you must move the main lever to the Process position. This closes the rollers that will spread the developer across the film. The sleeve is now pulled out until it stops using a smooth and steady pull (lasting at least one second). You now leave the film for 4 minutes to develop.
After developing you must remove the sleeve / film from the holder after moving the lever back to the Load position. Once you have the components out, you remove the silver tab that holds the receiver sheet in the sleeve and the metal clip. The positive and negative can now be peeled apart and the negative placed into a tray containing fixer (Ilford Rapid fixer mixed 1:1 with water). The positive is now be allowed to dry. The negative should be agitated and lightly rubbed to remove residual developer. After a few minutes (I used about 5 mins) it is then transferred to a tray of water at the same temperature and washed (I used about 15 minutes with a gentle flow of water into the tray - followed by a gentle rinse with distilled water - to avoid drying marks) and then dried ready for printing / scanning.
The image made from the positive can be seen here:
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/aphrodite.21289/
and the image made from the scanned negative can be seen here:
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/forum/threads/aphrodite-ii.21294/
On several occasions some developer leaked out and so the rollers need to be checked and, if necessary, cleaned before the next sheet / sleeve is inserted.
Last edited:
