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I have been playing around with pinhole cameras using photographic paper (instead of film). Great fun. But when I buy photographic paper, I don't seem to have any options for different ISOs, like I do with film. (I have 5" x 7" Ilford Multigrade IV RV paper.)

What I would really like is photographic paper that is less light sensitive, so I can do a longer exposures. Say, paper with an ISO of 5 instead of 100.

Is there any way to tell the ISO of photographic paper? Does anyone manufacture photographic paper with lower ISO ratings?

mattdm
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john_science
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    I know it's not directly what you're asking, but have you considered just sticking a ND filter in front of your pinhole? – Philip Kendall Apr 29 '15 at 20:08
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    Excellent question! My experience is that different papers have different resistive levels. I've used Kodak and Ilford and noticed that Kodak was more sensitive. You may also want to see this where an ilford customer service rep talks about it. – SailorCire Apr 29 '15 at 20:11
  • @PhilipKendall Ah! That's a really fun idea. And I can try that for shorter exposures. But the average exposure I am aiming for is 2-6 months. So I don't want to leave an expensive ND filter unattended that long. Great idea for a 3-30 minute exposure though! – john_science Apr 29 '15 at 20:11
  • @theJollySin Can you post some of your images? I want to know what a 4 month exposure looks like! – SailorCire Apr 29 '15 at 20:25
  • @SailorCire LOL. Give me a few months? My last batch of cameras were all destroyed by people who probably thought they were trash. I will hide them better this time. Check out this article though: http://itchyi.squarespace.com/thelatest/2010/7/20/the-longest-photographic-exposures-in-history.html – john_science Apr 29 '15 at 20:30
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    If you're looking at multi-month exposures, you should certainly read this question. – Philip Kendall Apr 29 '15 at 20:38
  • Perhaphs find a way to make a smaller pinhole? An insuline needle or simething like that? – Rafael Apr 29 '15 at 20:42
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    @Rafael Sadly, pinholes are diffraction limited. Anything below 0.18mm will be too blurry to be useful. I aim for 0.2-0.25mm, and that's about the smallest anyone sells too. – john_science Apr 29 '15 at 20:55
  • Oh. Interesting info. – Rafael Apr 29 '15 at 20:58
  • @PhilipKendall Maybe you are right. If I shoot with Black and White paper I can stick a cheap ND filter in front: like a welding mask replacement lens. The color cast won't matter with B&W paper. – john_science Apr 29 '15 at 21:19
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    FYI: http://photo.stackexchange.com/q/62364/38156 – SailorCire May 02 '15 at 17:47
  • @theJollySin I honestly don't think that "use an ND filter" is an answer to "Can I get photographic paper with lower ISO?" (which is why I posted it as a comment in the first place :-)). Normally we frown on major edits to questions, particularly those with answers, but you could consider making this question more "how do I do very long exposure pinhole camera photography?" - but in order not to invalidate DrMoishe Pippik's answer, you'll probably need to keep a mention of photographic paper in there. Alternatively, ask an entirely new question. – Philip Kendall May 11 '15 at 15:30

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For a really insensitive paper, try blueprint paper photography or diazo paper photography. These sheets are comparatively inexpensive and are available in large sizes. You can even make blueprint paper yourself.

See this on the blueprint process.

And do post your images!

DrMoishe Pippik
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