Dry plate ferrotypes?

From: Best, Dianne ^lt;dbest@hydro.mb.ca>
Date: 06/16/05-07:16:51 AM Z
Message-id: <51ABFBF1DF07AA4384B3E1BCC0A93C7801DC2C41@MHMAIL03.hydro.mb.ca>

Can anybody tell me where I can find information on the emulsions that
were use in the dry plate, positive image processes of the 1880s?
 
I have been playing with Rockland's "Liquid Light" for awhile now and
thought it was pretty good.
 
Yesterday I had the chance to examine a large number of tintypes that
were produced in the 1880s by a couple of different photographers and
they KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF!!! The whites were intense, the blacks were
truly black, and the details were sharp and crisp. They were obviously
homemade (obvious from the crude and irregular cut of the plates). The
metal appears to be hand-painted with black lacquer paint (thin coat but
VERY black). The emulsion layer was quite thin. The overall contrast and
detail was most impressive and I would KILL to spend a day with those
photographers!!!
 
It is time for yours truly to get down to some serious chemistry and
figure out how these old-timers got such fantastic results!
 
Dianne
aka Calamity Jane
Received on Thu Jun 16 07:17:20 2005

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