Silver Halide

I say it's about time for some Monochrome in this blog. 

Imagine: Recording an image by exposing a Gelatin* base and the Silver Halide* crystals in it to light using a wind up clockwork shutter. That image stays locked in the silver provided you keep it dark. It stays there until you treat it with a sequence of chemicals* and then it produces a black and white negative view of the scene.

Now you must repeat the process with Silver Bromide paper and yet more developer. Eventually, now that the image has passed through two lenses and two different light recording media and untold chemical reactions, you finally have a picture you can look at.

You can't change from a slow film to a fast film on a whim. You have to wait to get the film back from the chemist before you know it the "pictures have come out". There's grain and fogging to contend with, and the ever present smell of Amfix on the fingers.

So, I wonder what new image recording technology waits around the corner that will make our old fashioned DSLR digital cameras seem like something out of the Ark?

These images courtesy of Nikon cameras and Ilford monochrome film.

*Thereby upsetting Vegetarians and Environmentalists in one go.