Dealing with exposed negs with a limited number of holders

[Gregory Ng]

Hi

Readyloads are fine. Each has a space for writing down notes. But they are a bit more expensive. When the sleeve is pulled out it acts like a sail, magnifying any wind induced movements. So I have been using film holders and individual sheets lately. During a day in a trip I may use up all 12 holders or I may make only one or two exposures.

After each exposure, I write my notes on a paper sticker and stick it across the darkslide. At the end of the day, I unload the negatives into Kodak 50 sheet boxes. When all 50 sheets are used, each of these Kodak boxes leaves 4 small cards behind, making 3 slots between them to store negatives for N, N+1, N+2. Another box stores N-1, N-2, etc. In each slot I put the negatives emulsion side down to avoid scratching by the next negative. Starting from the bottom negative that goes in first I label it negative number 1, 2, and so on in my note book. The paper sticker for that particular negative will be stuck against that negative number in my note book, together with any comments why I want to develop it that way.

All seems well, except that when I get home, I may decide to change a certain negative from N to N+1, say. I then have to dig that negative up from its N slot and put it in the N+1 slot and also transfer all the notes. There is potential for error there.

Or I can just leave that neg where it is, check the accuracy of the labeling as I develop the negatives and take that neg away only when it is next in line.

Has anyone got a better system? Thanks.

Greg

[Eric Leppanen]

I've kept all the empty film boxes that I've accumulated over the years, so that when I travel by car, I take all the boxes with me. I can then dedicate a film box to every shot, with a sheet of field notes taped to each box (I've found that Post-It notes can too easily separate from the box during storage). This is a bulky and brute force approach, but at the end of a long shooting day I generally don't have the patience for an elaborate negative labeling/storage scheme.

[Ed Richards]

Keep buying holders until you have enough to cover as much shooting as you will do in day or two. Number the holders and make notes based on the numbers - those notes on the darkslide are a pain. You can also notch the film gate on the holders with binary code so that the negatives will be numbered, which lets you tie the negative to your notes after processing.

[photographs42]

I have enough holders that I don’t have to resort to this, but you can improve you system, which appears to work pretty well for you, with some simple changes. First, number the holders on each side (1-24 in your case). Second, get a small notebook (small spiral pad) and record exposure data in the book. Record the exposures as holder 1A, 2A, etc. with the first batch and after reloading, holder 1B, 2B etc.

Obtain enough film boxes so you can have a separate box for each development type. The cards from the film boxes are fine but you can make more from file folders cut to the same size and have enough to put between each sheet of film. Record in your notebook where each sheet went in the storage box order. EI: 3A-N+1-Slot 4.

A side benefit of numbering the holders and keeping track of which negative was exposed with each holder is that if a light leak or other problem arises, you know which is the problem holder.

Jerome

[Brian Ellis]

"When the sleeve is pulled out it acts like a sail, magnifying any wind induced movements."

This isn't directly related to your question but this "sail effect" used to worry me a lot too. So I started holding the envelope with my hand after it was pulled out to minimize movement and that seems to work fine.

With respect to your question, I used to do almost exactly what photographs42 suggests. It's certainly a very workable method and was the best I found. But it's such a pain to do at the end of a hard day while sitting on the floor of a motel bathroom (or sitting in the empty bathtub to gain extra light protection from the shower curtain), and so fraught with the possibility of error if everything isn't kept in perfect order, that I just gave up and started paying the cost of Readyloads when on a trip that I figured would require more holders than I own.

[David A. Goldfarb]

It sounds like you're using two common systems at once. One is to divide the film box with dividers (as I usually do) for expansion and contraction development, splitting the stack into more boxes as needed. Another is to keep all the sheets in order (Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee do this) and keep the notes in order so that sheets can be batched at development time.

Given the way you work, it sounds like the second option should work well for you, and that batching the sheets when you unload is unnecessary.

It's nice to have enough holders for a day or two of shooting, and I have enough holders to do this sometimes with 4x5", but it becomes less practical as you go up in format.

[Gregory Ng]

Thanks all for the ideas. David hits the nail on the head. I think I will leave the batching to when I get home.

Thanks again

Greg