What is tintype? It is one of the first commercially viable photography methods. Tintype is one flavor of wet plate collodion and gets its name from the metal plate on which the image is created. Most modern tintype photographers use aluminum plates now days instead of tin or sheet metal plates.
The basic process is:
- Collodion solution is poured on the metal plate and allowed to set up for 10 to 20 seconds
- In the darkroom the plate is submerged into a solution of silver nitrate for 3 to 4 minute.
- The silver deposits on the plate and makes it light sensitive
- The plate is removed from the silver, drained to remove excess silver solution and place in a plate holder
- The holder is placed in a large format camera and the exposure done
- Back in the darkroom the plate is developed with an iron solution and “fixed” to make the image permanent
- The finished plate is washed, dried and coated with varnish
I have two large format cameras for making tintypes. The first is an 8×10 inch Intrepid which was made in the UK. My newest camera is a 12×12 inch Primer camera which was made in Slovakia. My lenses are all vintage ranging from 75 to 130 years old. I have a wide angle lens for landscapes and four lenses designed for portraits.
Here is a recent tintype session with my Primer camera and a 400mm Wollensak Petzval lens.
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