Ambrotype kit (collodion wet plate)

Description

A complete chemistry set for the wet collodion process: collodion, silver bath, iron developer, fixer and lacquer. An 1851 process in which the plate is coated, exposed and developed before it dries.

Why «wet»

Collodion loses its sensitivity the moment it dries, so every step — coating, sensitising in the silver bath, exposing, developing — happens within a few minutes while the layer is still damp. It is why nineteenth-century field photographers carried dark tents: the plate had to be processed on the spot.

What else you need

A camera that takes plates, a tray for the silver bath, glass or aluminium plates, a dark space beside the camera and water. Plates and tanks are in the darkroom section.

Questions and answers

What does the «without lacquer» version leave out?

The sandarac lacquer — the final coating that protects a finished plate. If you already have lacquer, that version is cheaper.