Film holder protocol?

[rdenney]

Which side of the film holder slide handle is generally accepted to indicate that the film is exposed? The dark side or the aluminum side?

Gee whiz, why don't you come fresh into a forum and ask us why we like killing babies? Couldn't you have started with a question less likely to start a religious war? Sheesh.

Rick "like, you know, film vs. digital or something uncontroversial" Denney

[sultanofcognac]

Funny - I don't go by the colours. I write the exposure and holder number info down into my exposure booklet and know what I've shot and what's ready for misuse.

Maybe I should consider being more disciplined, but I'm an expert at shirking responsibilities. . . maybe because I was in the Navy. And the Navy (an acronym for Never Again Volunteer Yourself) teaches one that to do anything there is the right way, the wrong way and the Navy way!

[Joanna Carter]

White/aluminum to me means light (exposed) and black is no-light (unexposed). Always done it that way.

As long as you are the only one on the shoot, then no problem. The "tradition" of black meaning exposed is simple to explain - a sheet of B&W negative film is black when exposed. Try it next time you forget to close the shutter

[Joanna Carter]

What do you do to prevent yourself from opening up a film holder that has film inside it?

That's what the little turnkeys on the top are for

[cowanw]

As long as you are the only one on the shoot, then no problem. The "tradition" of black meaning exposed is simple to explain - a sheet of B&W negative film is black when exposed. Try it next time you forget to close the shutter

As long as you are the only one on the shoot, then no problem. The "tradition" of white meaning exposed is simple to explain - a sheet of B&W negative film is white when printed. Try it next time you forget to close the shutter

[Sean Galbraith]

As a corollary to this, what do you do when your holders are empty vs. not empty? What do you do to prevent yourself from opening up a film holder that has film inside it?

Unloaded holders of mine have the darkslide inserted, but the bottom flap is "open".

[Noah A]

What you should get from all these replies is that there is no right way, except the way YOU do it. Just be consistent, and don't let other people touch your stuff

As a corollary to this, what do you do when your holders are empty vs. not empty? What do you do to prevent yourself from opening up a film holder that has film inside it?

There may not be a "right" way, but the standard among all of the professional photographers and assistants I've ever worked with was white=unexposed and black=exposed.

Also, black=empty.

So white means ready to shoot and black means not ready to shoot. If you're doing client work or important personal shooting, the most important thing is to know if the holder is ready to use or not. That's why white ALWAYS=loaded with unexposed film.

If you're out on a shoot it could be a major annoyance to have to use a changing bag or find a dark room to see if there is film in a holder. At home it's easier. So if by some chance I forget if a black-side-out holder is empty or has exposed film in it, it's a minor inconvenience to check.

I clean out the holders and flip the slides back to white immediately before loading.

Of course if you work alone and you're the only ones using your holders then just use whatever system makes sense for you. However I'm a pretty firm believer that whatever color you use for exposed film should also be used for empty.

[MIke Sherck]

You can do it either way, there isn't any advantage or disadvantage. If you borrow a loaded film holder from some one else, ask their method, don't just assume they use yours. Ditto if you loan a loaded holder to someone.

Mike

[jp]

I made labels for mine. "Exposed" and "Loaded". Empties stay on "Exposed" until reloaded. That way empties won't get used without film in them. Sorta like you treat a gun as if it's always loaded, I treat film holders as if they are always loaded (so I don't ruin film or exposed images)

In the darkroom, I have separate stacks on a shelf for "new/loaded", "empty", and "used/loaded" so I can see what I have to develop or reload.

I also dedicate certain film holders to certain types of film and number each; 6 film holders labeled for TMY2 and labeled 1-12, 3 more for labeled for Fomapan100 sheets 1-6.

[Ash]

The tech at college (who works there now the pro work has dried up too much) said he always worked that the black was unexposed, white exposed. I think his reasoning was you can write notes on the white side.

For me it's easier to pick out a shiny white/silver holder to use, if it's black it doesn't attract my eye as much and I look past it. For that reason it's easier for my eyes to have white as unexposed and black as exposed.