Collodion Process - The Dry Collodion Process

The Dry Collodion Process

The extreme inconvenience of shooting wet collodion in the field led to many attempts to develop a dry collodion process, which could be shot and developed some time after coating. A large number of methods were tried, though none were ever found to be truly practical and consistent in operation. Even well-known scientists such as Joseph Sidebotham, Richard Kennett, Major Russell and Frederick Charles Luther Wratten attempted, but never met with good results.

Typically, these methods involved coating or mixing the collodion with a substance that prevented it from drying quickly. As long as the collodion remained at least partially wet, it retained some of its sensitivity. Common processes involved chemicals such as glycerin, magnesium nitrate, tannic acid and albumen. Others involved more unlikely substances, such as tea, coffee, honey, beer and seemingly unending combinations thereof.

Many of these worked to an extent; they allowed the plate to be exposed hours, or even days, after coating. They all possessed one chief disadvantage, however: regardless of the process used, they rendered the plate extremely slow. An image could require anywhere from three to ten times more exposure on a dry plate than on a wet plate.