only 2
only 2
Jim said it best, the cost of the film is the least expensive component of a photo trip (and that includes 8x10 & 7x17 TMY film). Almost always 2 exposures. Nothing worse then returning from a trip to find a speck of dust or two on your finest image..
Planning a trip to Acadia later this month. 6-8 days of photographing and I will take 400+ sheets of film, 30 8x10 holders, and 9 7x17 holders with me. On a trip like that, the last thing I want to do is run out of film!!
It depends. For my HABS/HAER work, always two of each composition--one set for archival processing that is delivered to the SHPO, NPS, or other appropriate agency, and a backup set either for my files or, if the worst happens, to replace the primary set in case of loss or damage.
On the rare occasion that I shoot for my own amusement, I use only one negative per view.
Bruce
Like many here, I make two identical negatives. Lots of times I don’t make any, but if I feel the image is worthwhile, I make two. I seldom have dust or scratches anymore but there are so many other things that can go wrong, a backup negative is just good, cheap insurance. If you are strictly a hobbyist, the extra cost and effort might not be worth it, but I have some older negatives that cost me hours of extra work every time I print them.
The problem is, we never know which negatives are going to be the “keepers”. My most popular image is one that I thought would be good at the time I made the negative, (I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t think so, but some I am more sure of) but I never would have guessed it would become my best seller. Unfortunately, even though I made two, there are some dust spots on both of them.
When it became obvious that I was going to spend half my life spotting these prints I resorted to a digital solution. I had the negative drum scanned, the spots retouched, and a new negative made. There was some trial and error involved and I ended up going to two different companies who each made more than a couple of negatives before I was satisfied with the results. I think I spent three or four hundred dollars before I got something I could use. Part of the problem was that I wanted a 5x7 B&W negative and they were set up to make 4x5 or 8x10 color negatives. Putting a 5x7 image on an 8x10 piece of film was no real trick but they were not calibrated to make B&W negatives and a color negative doesn’t print like Tri-X. While I was at it, I also took care of dodging and burning so the new negative prints without manipulation which is a plus. I have sold almost 400 prints from this negative to date, mostly 8x10 but many up to 24x30, so the effort paid off.
I have noticed that there are NEVER any blemishes on the negatives that I don’t choose to print.
Jerome
One unless the lighting is so unusual as to make me undecided as to development.
I'm in the "two" crowd. One for B&W and one for color film.
One, usually. On the rare occasion that I get paranoid about the exposure or something else, I'll take a second frame.
I shoot mostly 4X5 and 5X7 so film is pretty affordable, therefore I almost always expose 2 sheets as this gives me development options as well as a backup in case one is really messed up in development (or I damage it somehow). Also, I don't use Readyloads / Quickloads very often but when I do I usually save them for when I have a large portion of sky as it seems dust ALWAYS is in the sky! :-)
I'd add that it's much easier to keep track of things when I stay to the routine of 2. This way 1 image = 1 holder. The only real exceptions are when I am short of film or when I do several variants of the same image.
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