Pictoriographica (J Lane) Dry Plates (1880s recreation)

Hand-coated unsensitized silver-gelatin emulsion on glass — recreates an early-1880s formulation. ASA 2. The emulsion contains no orthochromatic dyes, so it responds only to blue and UV — the same spectral character as the original 1880s commercial dry plates that displaced wet collodion. Faces render very dark in skin and lips, and skies render bright; the look is unmistakably "early dry plate" rather than modern.

Produced by Jason Lane during the original 2017–2022 NH production run at Pictoriographica's Brookline location. Not in production at the November 2025 Mountain Home, AR restart — Lane's restart focused on the ASA 8 ortho Speed Plates. Cataloged here for reference and for users tracking the historical product line.

For practitioners who want to coat their own period-correct unsensitized plates, the DIY emulsion recipe on darkroomFYI provides a starting formula that can be made unsensitized by omitting the orthochromatic dyes.