Although the plates were a milestone, they were not immediately adopted. Slower than wet-plate emulsions, dry plates seemed to have little application. Still, Leach published his findings and amateurs began to experiment. By 1878, faster dry plates were being commercially produced. Easy to store, the plates could be developed long after exposure.
Photographers shed hundreds of pounds of darkroom equipment overnight.
Exposure time dropped to fractions of seconds, allowing handheld cameras to be used for the first time. Within two years dry plates were universally adopted . .