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Thread: LF film loading tutorial video

  1. #1
    peripheral photon hog Nicolai Morrisson's Avatar
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    LF film loading tutorial video

    I made this video tutorial for how to load standard double darkslide film holders for a friend, who is just starting out in LF. Hopefully it'll be useful for any beginner.

    Enjoy!

  2. #2

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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Very good job, Nicolai. I am sure many beginners in LF will very much appreciate this video.
    Juergen

  3. #3

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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    I've loaded countless film holders in my life and I enjoyed watching it none the less. Thanks.

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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    I still say there weren't enough girls in that video. :>

  5. #5
    Moderator Ralph Barker's Avatar
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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Nice job on the video, Nicolai.

  6. #6
    peripheral photon hog Nicolai Morrisson's Avatar
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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Thanks, y'all. I plan on doing more of these, so if there's anything you think would be helpful to see covered, please let me know!

  7. #7
    3d Visual Effects artist
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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    On a note about knowing if there is film in the holder or not (3 possible states of the holder, loaded, unloaded, and spent, but only two sides/colors on the dark slide), give the holder a good shake (long ways) and you can hear if it has film in there or not.

    When using the "white slide = ready to shoot" method, if you see a dark slide and don't have a note written for that slide (meaning you don't know what it is, is it empty, or spent) if you give it a shake and hear film, chances are the film has already been exposed (that is... if you remember to correctly flip the dark slide to the correct side when loading and shooting). If you don't hear film, then the holder is empty.

    This has been useful to me several times, when I accidentally set a holder down and forgot if it was exposed, or empty. THe first time it happened, out of chance I just gave it a shake, and heard film in there! So I knew it was exposed film. It's worked great several other times in similar situations.

    And also, if you really need to you can press on the dark slide and determine which side has the film, if for some reason you suspect only one side has film (if you process each side in a different batch, this can come up every now and then). If you press the middle of the slide inwards towards the film (pressing it against the film), shake, and don't hear any film? Then chances are that side of the holder has film, and the other side doesn't. I don't think this has any affect on the film (pressing the dark slide into it, possibly making a scratch), if it has, I haven't noticed.

    Not sure if this is common knowledge or not, I found it out on my own.


    But back to the video, you have a great way of explaining things, I think you should do more of these tutorials for folks learning! :-)
    Daniel Buck - 3d VFX artist
    3d work: DanielBuck.net
    photography: 404Photography.net - BuckshotsBlog.com

  8. #8
    peripheral photon hog Nicolai Morrisson's Avatar
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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Good idea, I've got to try that!

  9. #9
    Confidently Agnostic!
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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Good video - will probably help newbies.

    We all have our own systems, so I'm not criticizing yours, but just for the sake of newbies working out their own methods:

    I usually take a couple of extra steps to avoid dust & scratches. I pull the film all the way out of the box and lay it, emulsion down, on the box (crosswise so it rests on the edge of the box, sticking out partly). Whether you put it emulsion down or emulsion up is a matter of taste; sometime I've bumped the stack in the dark and I'd rather bump the non-emulsion side... but of course if the stack doesn't have a piece of cardboard under it, you're risking a scratch on the emulsion side that rests against the lip of the box. in any case, I can just lift sheets off the top of the stack instead of pulling them out and dragging them across other sheets. I often don't put the film back into the bag (at least with those foil-type bags - the larger plastic ones are easy) and I've had no problems with the box leaking (though I store it in a dark place except during transport). The downside is that without a bag they bounce around more - the bag provides some cushion and stops the film from jostling.

    Dust: Even though I dust my holders regularly I still dust them immediately before and after loading film. So I take my rubber bulb (another thing bouncing around in the changing tent, hah) and puff the inside just after opening it, then insert a film sheet, then puff the surface of the film, then close the slide. Might be more important in a dusty environment (I live in a dry climate which apparently increases our dust problem, though I'm also a bad house cleaner). I have definitely noticed a difference; if I forget to do this I'm often sorry.

  10. #10

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    Re: LF film loading tutorial video

    Quote Originally Posted by walter23 View Post
    Good video - will probably help newbies.

    We all have our own systems, so I'm not criticizing yours, but just for the sake of newbies working out their own methods:

    Dust: Even though I dust my holders regularly I still dust them immediately before and after loading film. So I take my rubber bulb (another thing bouncing around in the changing tent, hah) and puff the inside just after opening it, then insert a film sheet, then puff the surface of the film, then close the slide. Might be more important in a dusty environment (I live in a dry climate which apparently increases our dust problem, though I'm also a bad house cleaner). I have definitely noticed a difference; if I forget to do this I'm often sorry.
    Different persectives, different systems - whatever works . I myself DO NOT take the blower bulb into the dark tent for dusting off the holders. My reasoning behind it, is that using it in this confined space would probably just cause a cloud (OK, a TINY cloud) of dust to nicely spread all around iside, thus causing more problems than it solved. I prefer the "compulsive obsessive vacuuming method" before loading the tent whenever possible.

    Cheers, Chris

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