Tintype: also called Ferrotype or Malainotype
Period
of use: 1858 - 1910s.
Tintypes
are a variation of the collodion wet plate process. The
emulsion is painted onto a japanned (varnished) iron plate, which
is exposed in the camera.
Daguerreotypes,
ambrotypes and tintypes were one of a kind images, and the image
was almost always reversed left to right.
The
low cost and durability of tintypes, coupled with the growing
number of traveling photographers, enhanced the tintype’s popularity.
Tintypes
came in a variety of sizes, and were cheaper and sturdier than earlier
processes (could be mailed). As a result, the tintype was popular
during the Civil War.
