Are We Reduced To Using Scraps Of Cut Film?

Abstract

Kent Christensen documents the values of glass photographic plates1 and also their demise. As a former user of glass plates for microscopy, radiography, autoradiographyandspectroscopy, I sympathize with Kent. Today there are substitute sheet and or roll films for most of the glass plate applications. For example, [ have found Kodak's "Trnax" films as sensitive as lantern plates for soft X-rays and nearly as good for resolution. Tmax is also a good general purpose emulsion for the laboratory, with the possibility of reversal development for slides and availability in a range of formats including 120 and four by five. Perhaps we should recognize the passing of the glass plate as part of current times and inscribe "RIP" over our hallowed collection of glass negatives. After all, many predict that electronic photography will eventually replace all forms of chemical photography.