Hi to all

S

SiT4

Registered User
Joined
Jun 27, 2026
Messages
6
Hi i have just renewed my Membership here, although i used the site for years.
I work with large format - 5x4 and 10x8 in wet plate / alt processes.

Its great to have a UK based resource with such knowledgeable people here.

Thanks and chat to you all soon.

Si
 
Last edited:
Welcome back Simon. Wet plate?…..:D I just picked up my 8x10 back for my sinar to explore this world.
 
SiT4 said:
Hi i have just renewed my Membership here, although i used the site for years.
I work with large format - 5x4 and 10x8 in wet plate / alt processes.

Its great to have a UK based resource with such knowledgeable people here.

Thanks and chat to you all soon.

Si
Click to expand...
Do you a need a lot of light for all alt processes or just some?
 
YorkshireBloke said:
Do you a need a lot of light for all alt processes or just some?
Click to expand...

Yes, but using fast lenses also helps. Something like a Dallmeyer B series Petzval or equivalent is ideal, these are f3 lenses deigned before Silver Gelatin plates were introduced. Dallmeyer actually made f1.1 Petzval lenses in the early 1860s, these were for very small formats, and photographing children.

1783180567697.png
1783180472796.png

This is a small contact print and there's probably some hidden bracing to keep my grandfather still.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
Yes, but using fast lenses also helps. Something like a Dallmeyer B series Petzval or equivalent is ideal, these are f3 lenses deigned before Silver Gelatin plates were introduced. Dallmeyer actually made f1.1 Petzval lenses in the early 1860s, these were for very small formats, and photographing children.

View attachment 6335
View attachment 6334

This is a small contact print and there's probably some hidden bracing to keep my grandfather still.

Ian
Click to expand...
To his dying day my grandfather need bracing to keep him still!
He was a massively keen photographer and while serving in the RAF between the wars shot loads of large format in what was then Mesopotamia. He helped and encouraged me as a teenager by allowing me to build a darkroom in his and my grandmother's coal cellar!
 
YorkshireBloke said:
Do you a need a lot of light for all alt processes or just some?
Click to expand...
Yea you do but it is possible to use very high powered flash as well, which i use sometimes for portraits. I actually have a Dallmeyer 3B lens on loan at the moment, which , as Ian pointed out, was f3.
But i normally tend to just use a Schneider Symmar 210mm f5.6 lens stopped down 1/2 stop and i can get away with a few seconds.
Also depends on the age of the collodion and other factors. Its hard to rate Wet plate in terms of ISO, but 0.3 ISO might get you close

If i am doing paper negs then i rate the paper at 3 ISO.
 
SiT4 said:
Yea you do but it is possible to use very high powered flash as well, which i use sometimes for portraits. I actually have a Dallmeyer 3B lens on loan at the moment, which , as Ian pointed out, was f3.
But i normally tend to just use a Schneider Symmar 210mm f5.6 lens stopped down 1/2 stop and i can get away with a few seconds.
Also depends on the age of the collodion and other factors. Its hard to rate Wet plate in terms of ISO, but 0.3 ISO might get you close

If i am doing paper negs then i rate the paper at 3 ISO.
Click to expand...
Ah the good old Schneider Symmar 210 ... I love mine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top