Dark slide (photography)
large format photography equipment
In photography, a dark slide is a wooden or metal plate that covers the sensitized emulsion side of a photographic plate. In use, a pair of plates joined back to back were used with both plates covered with a dark slide. When used, the dark slide is removed for the period of the exposure and then replaced. Modern dark slides are used in conjunction with a film holder, that either holds in place pieces of cut sheet film or, if modified, some piece of light sensitive material such as glass.
In place, the dark slide is in a film holder or magazine. Film holders usually refer to cut sheet film and magazines refer to roll film. Vintage film holders were made of wood and held in place either photo-sensitized plates or photo sensitive film. In either case, the construction must be such to reduce light leaks, or any unwanted light from striking the film until the holder is held in place by a camera and considered "light tight". Some holders held only one piece of light sensitive material, some are double sided and hold two pieces of film.
Once in the camera with a light tight back and light tight bellows, the dark slide may be pulled out for the exposure to be made from a lens.
The public source identifies “Dark slide (photography)” as large format photography equipment. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Dark, slide and photography.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dark slide (photography)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.