Hello,

I'm just starting in LF photography. I'm interested in using Polaroid 55 p/n film. Is it possible to use the zone system for Polaroid 55 p/n negatives? Would it be accomplished via development time or temperature?

Thanks,

Mark

-- mark (mcarubia@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002

Answers

Type 55 p/n will work well for Zone system within certain limits. George DeWolfe published a guide for testing Type 55 p/n in an issue of View Camera within the past year. The View Camera website offers an index to back issues, and you may be able to acquire a copy of the article. Time/temperature variations such as thos commonly used by Zone systems practitioners do not apply as extensively with type 55 p/n. I have used the film and like it, but you may find its use narrows your style a bit.

That being said, the film produces a lovely negative that prints and scans well. Bob

-- bob moulton (bobmargaretm@insightbb.com), April 08, 2002.

Get Ansel Adams book on "Polaroid Land Photography," published by the New York Graphics Society. While it might be out of print, I'm sure you can find a used copy.

Chapter 10, Control of Image Values, begins with the following preface.

"Since Polaroid films generally are completely processed at the scene, many of the controls that are available in conventional processing do not apply. Offsetting this limitation, however, is the fact that, seeing a fully processed image immediately, the photgrapher is free to make adjustments as needed to improve the image. A number of useful controls of the scale of values of the Polaroid print do exist, and if understood, they give the photographer considerable flexibility in the way his subject is rendered."

I can't imagine a more authoritative reference on this topic.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), April 09, 2002.