Photoclubalpha

Going through some stuff still stored at my brother's house, I came upon my old Polaroid Instant Slide Film setup. I didn't bother to even look inside, I'm sure all the film was used a long time ago.

Does anyone else remember it, or has anyone else used it? I seem to remember you had to have some chemical pack to process it thru when you were done. I may have to do back and read the directions. I did use at least a couple of rolls, but mostly I got it for the film cutter and mounter. I used to do a lot of my own E-6 processing with the Kodak chemical kits that were available back then.

Dusty

You need a special processor. It looks a bit like a bulk film loader, only smaller, with a sort of handle. You put the cassette into the chamber, wind the film out into a second chamber to sandwich it with an additional layer, past a gel developer applicator. It's all fairly automatic but you need the processing parts, not just the film. Then after 1 min 30 seconds (I seem to remember) you wind the film back into the original cassette fairly rapidly, if you do it unevenly the process can be spoiled. The developer layer and gel gets wound up in a disposable cartridge which you then throw away as it is caustic (probably illegal now). The film is finally fed back out of the original cassette and cut up and mounted. This also uses a special mounting jig, because the slides are extremely fragile and can not be handled. The jig helps you view and cut each frame and get it into the plastic slide mount. After a day or so, they are less fragile.

Look for the second part cartridges (the film may be packed with them, or not), the processor unit, and the cutting/mounting jig with Polaroid slide frames. If you have all those parts, you could try the film again, but assume it must be around ISO 6 now!

I visited the Polaroid plant in Loch Levenside, Scotland, where the film was made. They gave me some of the stainless steel '35mm film' which is used in part of the MF process - just like 35mm, but thin stainless flexible sheet. I never found any use for that and I guess it is still coiled up in a box, souvenir of a bit of Scottish employment history which like Nimslo (I also visited and photographed the Timex plant in Dundee when it made the Nimslo 3D camera) was too short lived to think about.

David

You have a better memory of that than me, David. I think I only bought a couple of rolls of the film. I got the setup cheap because my old photo shop had one sitting there and not moving. Being a regular, he made me a good deal on it. As I said, I mostly used the slide cutter and mounter since I was doing most of my E-6 myself back then.

Dusty

My complete Polaroid 35mm slide kit will still be in a drawer, along with my Wess and Gepe AV equipment. If anyone is interested in the UK I have a complete stock of GePe mounts, library filing sheets, suspension bars, etc. I guess they should be sold as I will never use them again. I also have a very nice Leitz Pradovit 2500C with two lenses (higher-end 90mm choice, and a 150mm f2. which has not been used for over 15 years. I stopped doing slide shows long before digital took over.

David

I need to do one more slide show, and soon. My Dad (soon to be 80, and in ever decreasing health) has some great shots from the Korean War, which I haven't seen in years. I want to do a slide show with him doing the narration, video taping it all, so that the information is not lost.

Dusty

David Kilpatrick wrote: If anyone is interested in the UK I have a complete stock of GePe mounts, library filing sheets, suspension bars, etc. I guess they should be sold as I will never use them again. I also have a very nice Leitz Pradovit 2500C with two lenses (higher-end 90mm choice, and a 150mm f2. which has not been used for over 15 years. I stopped doing slide shows long before digital took over.

David

Hmmmmmmm..... I guess shipping costs may make it not worthwhile for me? All of my slides that are not in carousels are still in boxes. I never bothered to get a file system started for them, but would like to now.

Dusty

The weight is so much it would even be difficult to ship in the UK. The filing bars and the filing sheets really do weigh a big lump - maybe 12-15 kilos. GePe glass mounts with metal inserts are not lightweight either!

David

Don't delay Dusty, get that info about your fathers experiences before it's too late. I remember my grandfather (from Newcastle UK) who served in the British army in both world wars, he died when I was only eight but he was much loved ( he had a box of medals that he never wore and didn't/wouldn't go too any parades, and getting him too talk about the war was like getting blood out of a stone), and now tragically, very little is known about his service, I actually know more than anyone, only because I used too pester him I guess....
Greg

Geg you should see if you can get his service record from the government. in Canada they made all that freely available to families I imagine it's the same there. probably the same kind of records too. once you know where and with who he served you can usually visit regimental archives to get even more info and so on... might be a worthwhile roject

Thanks Javelin, my brother is/was doing that, (or I heard him mention it) because when pop died my mother's elder sister ended up with all his medals etc. (even though everything was left to my mother in his will), now she has passed on, and no one knows what became of pop's stuff.
Thing is though, with service records they would be completely impersonal, not like having someone look at a photo and describe the circumstances of the photo, ie. the interesting stuff, who was in it, who got killed and/or wounded doing what etc. just how much of a stuff-up the whole thing was and so on...
Greg

Thats why the regimental archives. a lot of regiments had their members describe their experiences. for example if he was involved ina particular action it would be in his service record and the regiment may have things written by him or about him. My partners father for example was a lot like your pop and never spoke of the war. he was a bren gunner but they found in his regimental archives many stories about him and his team. written by a few of the officers they served under