Polaroid Type 809

[william linne]

Shooting this stuff in natural light for the first time. Boy, is it ugly. Green cast to everything and very muted colors. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to filter it? Why oh why doesn't Fuji do their fp-100 emulsion in 8x10?

[Jim Rice]

Might you be running up against reciprocity failure? I know with type 79, it will start going green/muddy at about 1/2 sec.

[william linne]

My exposures are anywhere from 1/8 to 1/60.

[Phil_4235]

Yes, you do need to filter the 809 film in some situations. Check out the spec sheet and on page 3 you will find a "Light Sources and Filters" table that will provide what you need to do. This film is balanced for daylight at 1/125.

http://www.polaroid.com/service/filmdatasheets/8_10/809fds.pdf

[Ted Harris]

I have never asked Polaroid but the specs of T59 4x5 seem to be the same as 809 and 59 does have exactly the same characteristics and performance at slow shutter speeds with natural light. All a way of saying that, with the price of 809 you could try using 59 to 'set' your exposure, lighting, etc before switching to the big stuff.