Wet Plate Beginner's Questions Thread

[paulbarden]

Howdy all, i’ve got some big plans for a wet plate project, but Initially i plan to master the technique at the tiny size of only 4 x 5”

Google has popped up with 4 main brands of plate holder prices ranging from $148 - $260 plus a bunch of freight in my currency (NZD).

My question, are they all equal? Chroma Camera / Lund Photographics / Zebra / Chamonix.

I would hate to get the cheapest (Zebra) and find it an impediment to my growth in this new (to me) format, if it’s really worth the extra $100 i’ll go for the Chamonix, it certainly looks more beautiful than the others, or maybe an even better brand exists that I haven't found yet?

I am familiar with only two of these holders: The Lund and the Chamonix. I bought the Lund first and disliked it immensely, so I bought the Chamonix and was very pleased with how much better it was.

[Ian David]

There are also holders made by In Camera Industries but I have never used them

[Tin Can]

Be aware Wet Plate is very messy when compared to Dry Plate

Clean up in field

Portable Dark Room

Many use Vans or Trailers

or

https://youtu.be/78tfSJhoTQA

I was going to use a large cargo trailer

I no longer drive, so I sold the truck and trailer

I hope you are watching the 100's of youtube on Wet Plate

[Mark Sawyer]

The cheapest and arguably best 4x5 wet plate holder is a converted 4x5 Graflex film pack adapter. Usually $10 to $20, and all-metal construction.

[Eric in Vegas]

I am pulling together everything I need to take my first crack at wet plate and have questions about exposure. I will be shooting a Burke and James 5x7 with an unnamed brass lens in the bright Las Vegas sun. I plan to use a test strip with 5-6 exposures as I saw in a Lund tutorial but am not sure I know what to use as a baseline exposure. Using the Sunny-16 rule and an ISO of 2, I'd be looking at an exposure of 1/2 which wouldn't work without a mechanical shutter. I feel like I either need to look at stopping down to f/32, looking for shade, or I'm on the completely wrong track?

[paulbarden]

I am pulling together everything I need to take my first crack at wet plate and have questions about exposure. I will be shooting a Burke and James 5x7 with an unnamed brass lens in the bright Las Vegas sun. I plan to use a test strip with 5-6 exposures as I saw in a Lund tutorial but am not sure I know what to use as a baseline exposure. Using the Sunny-16 rule and an ISO of 2, I'd be looking at an exposure of 1/2 which wouldn't work without a mechanical shutter. I feel like I either need to look at stopping down to f/32, looking for shade, or I'm on the completely wrong track?

Odds are that brass lens is something slow-ish: maybe f8 or f11, so if you're working in blazing bright sun, it will potentially be difficult to get the correct exposure. If yo9u have a neutral density filter, use that and start with 1 second and work up. All you can do is try it and see what you get, then go from there. You might have to work with more suitable light conditions if all you have for a lens is a magic lantern lens with an effective aperture of f5.6 or f8.
Does that lens have and adjustable aperture??

[Eric in Vegas]

Odds are that brass lens is something slow-ish: maybe f8 or f11, so if you're working in blazing bright sun, it will potentially be difficult to get the correct exposure. If yo9u have a neutral density filter, use that and start with 1 second and work up. All you can do is try it and see what you get, then go from there. You might have to work with more suitable light conditions if all you have for a lens is a magic lantern lens with an effective aperture of f5.6 or f8.
Does that lens have and adjustable aperture??

Hi Paul, thank you for the response. The lens does have an adjustable aperture though it is enroute to me now and I haven't had much time to study it. Based on your response, I take it I am on the right track...that conventional exposure calculations still essentially apply to collodion and using an ISO of 2 is a good place to start? Have you had much luck with ND filters and wet plate? I have ND plates that I've used to make my own ND filters for my Graflex and old 8mm movie cameras. Thanks again Paul.

[paulbarden]

Hi Paul, thank you for the response. The lens does have an adjustable aperture though it is enroute to me now and I haven't had much time to study it. Based on your response, I take it I am on the right track...that conventional exposure calculations still essentially apply to collodion and using an ISO of 2 is a good place to start? Have you had much luck with ND filters and wet plate? I have ND plates that I've used to make my own ND filters for my Graflex and old 8mm movie cameras. Thanks again Paul.

If your lens has a proper aperture with f-stop values, that's great. You'll need to be able to stop down in bright sunlight if you have no shutter. I've not used ND filters with my work because I don't do wet plate work in bright sunlight. I find it far too harsh.

Your guesses as to starting exposures is a fine starting point. Expect to make a test strip plate at maybe f11 or f16, starting with 1 second, and doubling it with every additional strip (as per Lund). Bright sunlight is pretty easy to get to know, it's when you use filtered/indoor light, or artificial light that things get mighty tricky.

[Eric in Vegas]

If your lens has a proper aperture with f-stop values, that's great. You'll need to be able to stop down in bright sunlight if you have no shutter. I've not used ND filters with my work because I don't do wet plate work in bright sunlight. I find it far too harsh.

Your guesses as to starting exposures is a fine starting point. Expect to make a test strip plate at maybe f11 or f16, starting with 1 second, and doubling it with every additional strip (as per Lund). Bright sunlight is pretty easy to get to know, it's when you use filtered/indoor light, or artificial light that things get mighty tricky.

Thanks again Paul for the assurance. The one thing you can count on in Las Vegas is bright sunlight. I hope to use its predictability to mitigate one variable while learning the wet plate process. Thanks again Paul.

[Wesito]

Hi all! I posted this in Cameras, but realised it might be better here...

My wife and I are planning on starting a wet plate studio and are up to our ears in research for the "best place to start" ...

Our concept is to do studio portraits with a Petzval lens and 5x7 format -- we love the extra sharp central focus with bokeh --- (then upgrade to 8x10 when we improve) --- we've located a 13x18cm 1880s J. Audouin camera with a Dallmeyer 1a lens (from our understanding this is a Petzval-esque lens, correct? --- any knowledge or suggestions are welcome here, too!

We also plan on doing gallery exhibitions that showcase aspects of our city - market stalls, store fronts, etc... This is where we are really stuck ---we love extra sharp focus as well as edges with imperfections / blur etc--- which lens / wet plate camera type/size, etc would work best for this? ... We do appreciate the aesthetic and feel of natural "imperfections" within wet plate.

Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions!