Hi Ben,
I drum scan hundreds of type 55 a year on our Howtek 7500.
They are like most b&w negatives except for the fragility of the neg.
If they are not fixed and cleaned properly, they almost always have some damage and small amounts of dried gel or paper attached.
You will get the best results from a drum scan especially with Kami mounting fluid.
If you have any questions about drum scanning type 55 pm me.
best
-ian
If I clean as per the polaroid instructions using sodium sulphite and then use the Kodak fix/hardener that they recommend, would that be OK?
The gel or paper residue is from inadequate washing.
Since the film is just a conventional emulsion on a thin base, I don't think it's necessarily softer than other modern films. The gel containing the processing chemicals is soft, but that's not the emulsion, and it's supposed to wash away. Sometimes I've found it necessary to alternate between washing and sulfite soak to get it off.
It is probably more likely that some of the people who shoot Type 55 aren't accustomed to handling wet negatives, or handling in the field isn't optimal, so if you're scanning other people's Type 55 negs, they are more likely to have damage or other problems.
Can I ask a stupid question? I assume that you can open and close the holder with sheets inside. For all the different methods seemingly used to remove the sheet after exposing for processing later, why not just open up the holder (dismantle the sides) and take it out like that?
Unnecessarily complicated, and it isn't designed to work that way, so there's more potential to damage the holder.
The holder holds one 4x5" packet at a time. To release without developing, move the lever to the open position and press the release button. It's that simple, and if it doesn't work, then the holder needs to be repaired. If the catch is bent, you can fix it yourself. There used to be good instructions for this on the SK Grimes website, and they are probably still there.
I've heard that there is a lot of potential to tear it open doing that?
Simple answers
Use a newer 545 or 545i holder. They are better made and the tolerances are much better.
to get a good neg use an EI of about 40. To get a good print use an EI of about 80
it is easy to remove the film w/o processing and then re-insert it later for processing. Do not disassemble the holder to get the film out. This is not necessary and risky. Just push the cover back over the film after exposing, leave the lever in the up (load) position, push the release to release the catch inside the holder and pull the film out. Really, it is not any more complicated than this.
wash the film with a 10% solution of Sodium Sulfite to clear it
it is great for scanning, just build a curve in your scanning software to bring in the image as a full scale image. Don't do a bad scan and then fix it in Photoshop. Would you want to make a bad neg and then try and fix it in the darkroom?
just try it.
steve simmons
Does anyone have any info about scanning in a epson flatbed (for proofing more than anything), can you trim the border enough to fit it into the holder?
2nd question, again border related, if I don't trim the border, will it fit into standard 4X5 envelopes for storage?
Just had a look at the flikr polaroid 55 pages. Apart from the generally awful pictures there (some were good, most were very medicore) there is a worryingly high percentage, far over 50%, which show uneven development or streak marks. I'm assuming that they are scanning the print not the neg but is that the norm?
No, the border is sloppy, but inside the border the image should be clean.
Regarding scanning in general (I don't have an Epson), since the base of this film is kind of thin, it does better with a glass carrier than with an open carrier, I find--also true for enlarging. If I want to do a quick scan, though, with an open carrier on my Agfa Duoscan, I usually trim the neg with a scissors to a little larger than where the perforations are.
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