Topic: My first polaroid 55

[Mojave]

I thought this shot wasnt any good. The print was all white. Then I took another shot and it was all white but I looked at the negative and saw a very faint image. So then I went back to the first shot and found this. I had stuck the negative back together with the print, all goopy and sticky, inside the casing and left it there for a good 15 mins but I like how it turned out.

If anybody wants to share any of their polaroid 55 or 665 positive or negative scans, I would love to see them.

Oh yeah, shot taken with the Crown using the 545i holder. I got very lucky with the buyer I got this film from. He not only sent me the two boxes of film, but also instructions on how best to use it and 3 extra sheets just to learn from. Great, great guy and a very talented photog to boot. And I would have loved to keep the edges, which are very rough and very, very blue, but my stupid scanner just would not pick up one edge so I had to crop the other 3 out.

[Ed Wenn]

My fave 665 photographer (without doubt) is our very own Skorj. The following are all worth checking out to see his astonishing work:

Polaroids of people I met between December 2005 and July 2009

More

Flickr

[Mojave]

Truly stunning work by Skorj. That second one is my favorite. I love how the image fades into a fog like that. Wonderful! Thank you for sharing!!!

Weird! I posted this response and that middle pic disappeared. LOL! Love the new one though!

[Mojave]

And on the website, the man standing in the tall weeds, or some kind of plant, is just wonderful. That man reminds me of a man I used to work with whose name was Tommy Morimoto. Excellent man, wonderful human being in spite of, or maybe because of, all that happened to him. He lost his whole family in Hiroshima and when he served for the US in Korea in the fifties, he kept getting accused of being a Korean spy by some of the people he served with. Quite a story that man had and that picture brought him back to me.

Thank you Skorj, and thank you Ed, again, for sharing.

[original_ann]

Gorgeous Erin!  Ok, give me the lowdown.  I know I have to clear it or something, right? ... I need to crack into my T55... God I hope it doesn't dry before I learn how to use it.

[Mojave]

Ann, I would soooo love to see you shoot some 55. I am not sure I know what you mean by clearing it. You mean the negative? If so, yes, but you can rinse it off in water. I have heard that some people fix it but I havent and so far the negs seem to be fine.

I was lucky enough to get my film from a photographer who knows the film very well and he said suggested I bring a tupperwear bowl of water with me to put the negatives in when shooting in the field. A friend of mine rolled one of his negs up and shoved it into a bottle of water to keep it safe. LOL! I am going to be taking my combiplan tank out with me and I suppose any water tight tank would work in the field. For this image though, I had written it off for lost and didnt rinse the negative for probably 15 or 20 minutes after I'd pulled it apart and I love the look. Im going to attempt to recreate it tonight.

The 545i back is kinda tricky I have found and loading the film is a little bit of sticky business but if I move the lever up and down a few times, it seems to fix any issues and the film will slide in.

How exciting!!! I hope you shoot soon!

[Mojave]

And I cannot forget to mention all the help I have received from the many wonderful FW's that know and love this film too. Thank you all so much!!! Without your help, I wouldnt have gotten a good negative yet.

And as a side note, as I was searching the forum for information about this film, one of the entries I found was from 07 and somebody suggested the OP call Polaroid to ask them about a faulty film pack. Brought a tear to my eye to think that just a few years ago people could actually call Polaroid to get replacement film for faulty packs. I missed it by that much! 

[moominsean]

i have a couple boxes of 55, but the developer goop is dry. i developed this shot in d-76, the width is wider than a regular 4x5 so it doesn't fit very well on a 4x5 spool, so this was pan developed.

[Mojave]

That is amazing Sean!!! I never thought to develop the negative some other way. How did you know what developer to use and for how long to develop it? I love all the spots!!!

And so now Im curious about any other clever and creative ways people use this film when it isnt all perfect.

[Ed Wenn]

One tip from Skorj would be to use a ziplock bag with a bit of water in it instead of a tub. I've never shot 55 or 665 'in the field' - the furthest afield was in my back garden, so I've never had to worry about it, but it seems to me that a ziplock bag is easier to carry than a tub.

Also, for clearing the neg most people do indeed use water, but you're supposed to use Sodium Sulfite if you read the Pola tech specs. I have used both and don't really notice the difference, so I'd stick with water.

Here's an in-depth discussion on the subject: http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00XZEP

[Mojave]

Fantastic information Ed!!! Thank you so much!!!