Harman is bringing back Direct Positive Paper and expects to have it in the U.S., in stock, and shipping by January 2011 (it’s not that far off!) This will be updated as appropriate
Direct Positive Paper is a black & white wet darkroom material which, when exposed and developed in traditional paper developers, produces a positive print image. Regular darkroom papers, which most darkroom printers use, are made to produce an inverted (negative) of the film negative; thus it makes ordinary positive looking prints. Direct positive materials go from positive to positive; no negative needed.
Direct positive papers produce this image without a negative in-between, so that it can be used in cameras, such as pinhole cameras, and go straight to darkroom development without the need for a film negative.
Direct positive paper can also be used in large format cameras, and cut into smaller sizes for use in virtually any film format camera.
It can also be used for making positive photograms in the darkroom.
It’s very exciting that Harman is bringing back this kind of print material which speaks well of the future of the wet darkroom in art uses, and the future of film in the digital era as well.
Kudos to them for the move.
From the Harman Photo Instructor Newsletter:
*Genuine Silver Gelatine photo paper
*Available as Resin Coated Glossy and Luster finish or Fiber Based Gloss
*Positive’ paper enables prints to be generated without the need for negative
*Compatible with conventional black and white processing chemistry and Ortho safelights
*Slow ISO speed enabling a good latitude of control
Technical information can be found through Ilford Photo: Harman Direct Positive Paper RC Glossy / Luster Technical Information
This will be update as appropriate; stay tuned.
this is great.
i love using direct positive papers i camera and in the dark.
thnx for posting it
Any good suggestions on building a pinhole camera?
As for the use in large format, would it be possible to push/pull development on the direct positive?
Looks exciting regardless.
Hi Gorrck,
On pinholes, there is a ton of things online with a simple search that can give you more ideas than I can fit in this comment space.
On the paper push/pull, I suspect that it will respond like any paper; that is, some limited latitude in pushing or pulling.
Also, the manufacturer advises that you can reduce the paper contrast with a pre-flash.
Check out the Technical info link at the bottom of the above article.
Good luck.
I have been using this paper and love it. The fibre 3.9×4.9 fits nicely into 4×5 film holders.
Thanks Patrick,
Where do you get it?
and
How is the contrast for your purposes?
I have ordered the paper directly from Harman. It does take a phone call but it was a pleasant one.
http://www.harmanexpress.net
The contrast is interesting. Early morning and evening are a bit challenging to meter or guess exposure. Remember this paper is more blue sensitive. Early and late hours are not often the bluest times of the day.
Have you considered/tried filtering your pinhole, with, say, red?
and living with the long exposures?
When photographing with paper negatives I have used yellow/orange filters with great success. Because the paper is blue sensitive red acts as a safelight. Using yellow or a yellow/orange helps to control the sky. When photographing with film negatives I have used red filters. With pinhole photography using filters does increase your exposure time greatly. Even a filter that blocks out 1 stop will more than double your exposure. Don’t forget about reciprocity failure.
I actually like the longer exposures as long as they are reasonable. With my direct positive work where I do not use filters my exposures range from 2:15min to over a half an hour depending on time of day and weather. The ISO of the Harman Direct Positive paper is about 3.
On my web site at http://www.pinholeprints.com there is an early work gallery. Images in this gallery were photographed using filters. In some cases I even used neutral density just to lengthen the exposure.
Useful info, Patrick.
Thanks.
Good pix.
The extended ‘shutter’ time certainly works for the water-related images.
This looks exciting. Could also be used to make ENLARGED paper negatives for blueprints, gum arabic, or POP paper.
Agreed, Brian.
That seems like a perfect use for this product.
“Don’t forget about reciprocity failure”
Finally got my hands on some 5×7 sheets of this paper so before I get started what sort of reciprocity factor are we looking at here.
Thanks
hi Shane,
I assume that your talking about in camera usage?
I don’t have specs handy, but other papers easily need 2-4 extra stops of exposure.
let us know how your experiments turn out,
cheers.