emulsion lifts with Polaroid 667 film

[Marko Trebusak]

Hi,

I got quite a good supply of slightly outdated Polaroid 667 film. I found that it's possible to make emulsion lifts with this material, but unfortunately no details. I experimented with boiling water for 15 - 30 min and then transferring to hot, but tolerable water. So far I got something like 4 lifts out of 20 tries. In all cases emulsion is still quite bond to support and peeling it of looks like removing selotape from paper, with emulsion's tendency to break. I'm looking for more detailed information and for more reliable process. I found somewhere that using ammonia might be a solution, but haven't tied that yet.

Any information on this specific process would be very helpful.

Marko

[Alan Rabe]

Try this link: http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_emulsionlifts.html
However it does state that 669 is the film that can be used, not 667

[Gordon Moat]

I know a few people who had limited luck placing this in room temp water, and then heating to boiling, and then letting the whole thing cool back down. Ideally the boiling should float the emulsion off the backing without needing to peel it off.

Normally only use water. After you transfer the emulsion to paper, you can sometimes find the clearer areas are more yellow. To get rid of some yellow, you can rinse with white vinegar, and then with warm water.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Marko Trebusak]

Thank you!

Alan, I know that usually 669 film is used. On Polaroid's site I also find that one needs to "cook" B&W films, but not 667. So I'm looking for specific process for this material specific, since I have a bunch of it.

Thank you Gordon. So basically you are saying, that one needs to "cook" print for as long as it takes for emulsion to float? I'll try this too. On Polaroid's site it's said for B&W material to leave photo in boiling water for 15 min and then transfer it to tolerable hot water and manipulate emulsion till it lifts.

Thanks again
Marko

[Gordon Moat]

Hello Marko,

I ran into lots of frustration when I first started doing lifts. It seemed that the written books and papers on it went through many steps. I destroyed lots of film trying to follow the steps. Then one day in frustration I really heated up the tea kettle, dumped that into a pan, and tossed in a Polaroid. Then I got a phone call. After the roughly 20 minutes of the phone call, I returned to the pan and found the emulsion floating in room temperature water . . . no rubbing needed.

Anyway, what this means is that you need to experiment. Expect to ruin some film. Eventually you find things that work, and things you can repeat. Once it works, you can still destroy film, but it happens less often.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)