ChristinaJ
Hello,
I received my parcel today.
Among other things, it contained the POP paper and the fixer.
The catalogue says that detailed instructions are included.
But they’re not in there...
Exposure shouldn’t be a problem, but how do I prepare the fixer?
Many thanks and best regards,
Christina
SamuliSchielke
Hello Christina,
You can find instructions at www.retrophotographic.co.uk. However, it doesn’t say how to prepare the fixer either. When I bought my pack of POP, Impex didn’t have the fixer in stock yet, so Mirko sold me a pack of Calbe A300 instead. I’d be interested to hear how the Hypo-Fix performs, and whether A300 is actually equivalent. With A300, the print becomes significantly lighter and takes on (without toning) a very attractive, slightly orange-tinged tone. I don’t know, however, whether this is always the case with POP or whether A300 actually bleaches the image slightly.
Incidentally, it’s impossible to dry POP in the press; the emulsion sticks firmly to anything that comes near it. Air-drying (I stick the prints onto glass plates with wet adhesive tape) is the only solution.
On the other hand, the paper takes toning very well. The Retro instructions recommend gold toning before fixing. It works brilliantly. With times under a minute, the original tone returns, just slightly browner; with longer toning, the image turns greenish. Selenium toning afterwards also works well. Just like with normal paper: very brief toning deepens the blacks, whilst longer toning alters the colour tone. However, with POP this happens in a matter of seconds!
All in all, a superb paper – I’d be interested to hear what experiences others have had with it?
Samuli
Gast
Hi,
Well, I’m still trying to find the right negative contrast. Could it be that the sweet spot between too light and too dark/soft is easily missed because of the self-masking effect?
Or do the negatives really need to be rock-hard? (I mean even harder than, say, for cyanotypes or Van Dykes, around 2 logD).
Well, my Stouffers should be here soon, then I’ll give the whole thing a proper test run.
Grateful for any tips
Martin
Gast
Oh, right, a fixer,
as Nigel says. 150g of sodium thiosulphate to 1 litre of water. I’m sure Wolfgang Moersch has tried it with ATS as well.
Best regards,
Martin
Ole
Ammonium thiosulphate is meant for bleaching! Only Na₂S₂O₃ for POP...
The negatives should have a density range of up to 2.1 – "rock-hard".
SamuliSchielke
Calbe A300 is sodium thiosulphate, but of course we don’t know what other additives it contains...
In my experience too, the negatives should be very hard and dense. That’s how photographers in the 19th century exposed and developed their plates. Exposing Adox CHM 400/Ilford HP5 at 800 ASA and developing it at 1200 ASA has yielded passable results; the prints still look quite soft, but they look good nonetheless. Next, I’ll try it with a 50 ASA film; those tend to be steeper anyway. I got the best results with a print from an X-ray film (extremely dense & steep).
Have fun
Samuli
Gast
I’d like to bring my 6x9 camera back to life and use it to make negatives for contact prints (cyanotypes, salt prints). I don’t currently have the means to develop film myself, so I’d be using FOTOIMPEX’s development service. Does anyone here have any tips on which film (T-Max 100? ADOX?) I should use, how I should expose it, and how I should have it developed (N+1, N+2?)? As has already been correctly pointed out here, the film needs to be rock-hard, especially for salt prints.
Gast
In the other thread, Philipp and I published our test results on producing internegatives on ADOX print film. Here’s a brief note specifically regarding POP. You can also fix POP in Calbe a-300 or another sodium thiosulphate-based fixer, but the result looks slightly different – at least for me – than with pure sodium thiosulphate (hypo). Apparently, a-300 contains other substances that slightly bleach the image. The tone shifts slightly towards orange, which can actually be a very pleasant effect. A-300 also has the advantage of a longer shelf life.
There are a few special points to bear in mind regarding hypo. Sodium thiosulphate cools down as it dissolves in water, so you should use water at 30 degrees to ensure the solution is a good 20 degrees once prepared. And pure hypo cannot be stored, so only mix as much as you need for a single day.
All the best,
Samuli
