Lighting for Making Tintype Copies of Conventional Prints

[Robert Kalman]

I'm interested in copying prints onto tintype. What would be the best source of continuous light in order to accomplish this? Dracast sells an LED product that produces a daylight source, and Lund Photographics sells a blue light studio flood. Are either of these suitable? Are there other choices?

[Mark Sawyer]

Probably best to scan the original, print a positive transparency, and project it onto the tintype with an enlarger.

[Jim Noel]

Probably best to scan the original, print a positive transparency, and project it onto the tintype with an enlarger.

A true tintype is sensitive mostly to UV spectrum, with some sensitivity in the blue band.

[Amedeus]

True but most photographers are using lenses that significantly attenuate the UV produced by light sources and in the end, mostly utilize what's left .... blue ...

Not too many quartz lenses out there ...

A true tintype is sensitive mostly to UV spectrum, with some sensitivity in the blue band.

[Mark Sawyer]

True but most photographers are using lenses that significantly attenuate the UV produced by light sources and in the end, mostly utilize what's left .... blue ...

Not too many quartz lenses out there ...

And yet, despite it all, the images still keep coming out!

[Robert Kalman]

Probably best to scan the original, print a positive transparency, and project it onto the tintype with an enlarger.

Thanks, Mark. My enlarger is outfitted with a cold light...will I be able to project successfully onto the tintype with this light source?

[Mark Sawyer]

Thanks, Mark. My enlarger is outfitted with a cold light...will I be able to project successfully onto the tintype with this light source?

I'd guess it would be fine. As Jim pointed out, tintypes are sensitive to near-UV and blue, which most cold heads have in abundance. In fact, the early ones didn't work well with variable contrast papers because they were overly blue, and lacked the other wavelengths needed.

[Robert Kalman]

I'd guess it would be fine. As Jim pointed out, tintypes are sensitive to near-UV and blue, which most cold heads have in abundance. In fact, the early ones didn't work well with variable contrast papers because they were overly blue, and lacked the other wavelengths needed.

Perfect. Thanks very much!

[koraks]

Probably best to scan the original, print a positive transparency, and project it onto the tintype with an enlarger.

Enlarged inkjet transparencies will likely look horrible at any significant enlargement (read: anything over 1:1).

I saw a brief documentary about a Dutch photographer a couple of years ago who did something like this. IIRC, he captured on MF film, made interpositives and then enlarged these onto plates to arrive at his tintypes. Unfortunately, I can't remember the series this was part of.

[Vaughn]

Deleted. I was mistaken.