The Moving Picture World (1907)

J 26 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD. Lantern Slide Making Before the Newton Heath Camera Club, Mr. J. Taylor recently gave a very instructive address and demonstra- tion of lantern slide making by contact, and we are indebted to the Photographic News for the following report: The lecturer, in his opening address, remarked that, in his opinion, more photographers would take up slide making if they only knew how simple and fascinating the subject was. For the benefit of those members who had never made a lantern slide, Mr. Taylor briefly de- scribed the method of procedure as follows: The nega- tive is placed in the printing frame film side up, and the lantern slide is placed emulsion side downwards in con- tact with same. The exposure is then made in the same way as with bromide paper. The time of exposure varies with the make of plate and strength of light; therefore, no hard and fast rule could be given. About 12 inches from an incandescent burner is a good distance to expose it. In the course of his remarks, the lecturer urged the necessity of thorough cleanliness in all the operations of slide making; he also recommended the backing of the lantern plate in all cases, as by this means much better results were obtained with a minimum of trouble. ' He also remarked that a lantern slide printing frame is to be preferred to the ordinary frame, as one is apt to scratch the films of valuable negatives with the edges of the slides when placing same in contact with the nega- tives. The lecturer then proceeded to expose several slides, and developed same in accordance with the follow- ing data, getting a fine range of tones, viz.: Solution A. Water 20 ozs. Sodium sulphite 500 grs. Hydroquinone 80 grs. Sodium carbonate 500 grs. Tone required. Exposure. Black 15 seconds 4 2 ozs. Warm black 30 seconds 2 ozs. Brown 60 seconds... —. 2 ozs. Warm brown 2 minutes 2 ozs. Red brown 4 minutes 2 ozs. Red 8 minutes 2 ozs. Exposure at 12 inches from incandescent burner, with an average negative. In answer to a remark, Mr. Taylor said that an "aver- age negative" was one that, when-put on a sheet of fairly large print allowed of the reading being seen through the densest part of the negative. :< With all lantern plates it is as well to thoroughly wash same in running water after development, even if an acid fixing bath be used. The lecturer recommended the following acid fixing bath formula, viz.: Hypo, 4 ozs.; metabisulphite of potash, about 30 grs.; water, 1 pint— as by using an acid bath it prevents stains on the slides. He also said that the plates should always be left in the Solution B. Potassium bromide.... 1 oz. Water to 10 ozs. Developer. A A and 3 drops B A and 6 drops B A and 12 drops B A and 48 drops B A and 48 drops B fixing bath for 10 minutes to insure thorough fixing, afterward well washing for an hour in running water. When the lantern plates are thoroughly washed they should be wiped with a tuft of cotton wool.while being held under the tap. This rids the plate of any deposit caused by the water, and the slide can then be_dried. It is important that the slide be dried in a place where dust cannot get on same, as when it is placed in the lantern the dust is magnified and is very obvious. The simplest way is to put the plates about one inch apart on an ordi- nary plate rack and lay a clean sheet of paper over the top of them. The lecturer then went on to say that when dry the lantern plate has to be masked, mounted and spotted before it is ready for the lantern; for this purpose Mr. Taylor recommended the ruled masks, which can easily be cut to suit the subject, and at the same time they are provided with white space for titling and are already spotted, which saves some little time and trouble. He also showed how a lantern slide could be masked by means of the ordinary binding strips, and for this purpose recommended the use of a pair of compasses to insure getting the corners square. He strongly urged the mem- bers against using the ordinary ready-cut masks, which did not at all lend themselves to pictorial slide making. Some magnificent results can be obtained by toning the slides in the hot hypo-alum bathf, proceeding in a similar manner as when toning papers, except that the slides must be first hardened in a formaline bath; also any of the commercial toning baths for bromides, such as Velox re-developer, can be used for slide toning. Very fine tones can be got on lantern slides by means of the ordi- nary gold toning bath for P. O. P. It is sometimes necessary to reduce a developed lantern slide which has been made too dense. The lecturer rec- ommended the following: Potassium ferricyarride, 120 grains; water to 1 pint. To this, just before using, a dram or two of ordinary hypo-solution can be added. The plate is immersed in the reducer when it is to be acted on all over; or, if it is only desired to reduce locally, the solution is applied with a tuft of cotton wool. The plate after reduction is well washed and dried. Correspondence. THE SCHOOL OF OPERATING. ■ Editor Moving Picture World: Dear Sir—The need of skilled operators cannot be too, strongly emphasized. A poor moving picture show is- the poorest of all shows; fuses blow out, pictures are dim, lenses are too short of focus for a clear definition on the screen, and the blame reflects first on the company putting on poor results and damages their patronage, while' the real cause for it is the uninstructedi unqualified operator, who imagines that all lhat it is needful to do to get results is just to turn the handle of the machine. That is the