Loading holders

[Michael Lloyd]

I have decided that I am phobic about loading film holders. I have a Linhof Master Technika, a nice array of lenses all on lens boards, film, dark cloth, loading tent, and the desire to shoot 4x5 film every now and then. I have shot a few Fugi-roid images with the Linhof so it's not a matter of not knowing how to use the camera. But when it comes time to load "real film" in holders I never seem to get to it. I have this stuff for years so I figured that it's time to ask for help.

Does anyone have any recommendations for learning to load holders. I'm afraid that I'll end up ruining a pack of film. I would rather hose the film up because I screwed up exposure, focus, or composition rather than during the loading process.

[Robert Oliver]

It's all part of the process.. to me no different than making a mistake in any other part of the process.

Get a couple of ruined sheets and practice loading in daylight... then close your eyes...

[Jerry Bodine]

Excellent illustrated article here.

[Robert Oliver]

It's also good to rehearse your movements and memorize item locations in your loading area before turning off lights.

[Michael Lloyd]

"In order to finish, you have to start"

I guess I better start. I don't have any ruined sheets Robert. But I'm sure that I can ruin some

Thanks Jerry. I'll check out the video. Hopefully I'll be posting an LF image here some day. In 2013. I hope.

[Jerry Bodine]

I'll check out the video.

Sorry about any confusion here. I edited my post to "article" NOT "video." Whenever I want to learn a technique I always prefer the "show me, don't just tell me" method.

[Michael Lloyd]

It's all good. I'm reading through it now. Good stuff! Thanks for posting the link

I really liked the way he started off

"When I started using large format, the hurdle of successfully loading film holders loomed large in my mind. This seems to be the case for other people, too, although in reality, loading holders is so simple, it's not worth a moment's worry. Still, it all must be done in the dark, you need to open up a box of film that cost, say, 50 bucks, and you don't know what to expect."

Exactly what I feel like...

[David Karp]

Eventually, you will do it without hardly thinking about it. flip open the trap door, feel for the rails, find the notch code and make sure it is in the right position, slide the film into the holder, close the dark slide. Repeat. It becomes second nature.

[fecaleagle]

My biggest concern when I started was about leaving fingerprints on my sheet film while loading it. I started wearing nitrile gloves while loading, which took away half of the anxiety immediately. Once you shed the anxiety over loading, the apparent difficulties of loading film pretty much melt away. It may seem strange to the guys who've been doing it for years, but I can totally relate to your concerns. These days, I load film all the time without putting a fingertip on the emulsion, but I still wear my gloves, just because it feels comfortable to me. You just have to go for it and realize that ruining a few negatives isn't the end of the world. I've ruined far more negatives in exposure/processing than I could have ever dreamt of ruining in loading.

Good luck! You really won't need it, just be brave!

[fecaleagle]

As far as ruining a whole box of film, just make sure the space you're loading in is DARK, and the worst you can do is leave a scratch or fingerprint on the sheet or two that you're loading into a holder. No sense worrying about the rest of the box yet.