Last edited by pchaplo; 10-May-2018 at 06:08.
Dallas Texas HABS / HAER / HALS Photography
Photographer/Author Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country (Texas A&M University Press)
Petroleum Oil Pics
First of all, Magic Eraser is now a Mr. Clean brand name of melamine abrasive cleaning sponges that are great for getting scuff marks off of tile floors and flat white walls. (do not use them on semi-gloss or glossy walls because they will remove the sheen.) I use Magic Erasers all the time for scouring all kinds of things around the house.
That’s probably not what you meant, and I did buy a Faber Castell® plastic white vinyl eraser. I do use it occasionally when I have a "problem" negative to number. HABS/HAER/HALS has some very strict standards that do not necessarily apply to the rest of the photogs that might want to mark a negative.
But to update this thread, I have moved from the Pitt pens that I used in 2012, the Pitt pens still work but they are not as dense as the Staedtler (just easier to spell). I now own dozens of types of pens and have settled on Staedtler Pigment Liner archival, acid-free pens. They make a nice 4 pack with .1mm, .3mm, .5mm and .7mm. I have found the .3 and .5 work pretty well depending on if you have enough room in the rebate area of the 4x5 or 5x7 negative to make your numbers.
I now buy these pens individually on Amazon in the .4mm size because I have found that that is the best combo of density and accuracy for my tastes. YMMV.
-Schaf
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–Stephen Schafer HABS | HAER | HALS & Architectural Photography | Ventura, California | www.HABSPHOTO.com
Yes I meant the white polymer eraser I use the Mars-Staedtler version. Tongue-in-cheek about “magic.” As of today, with info from you, I am now using the Staedtler black pigment liner pens. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I am labeling forty-eight 4x5 HABS negs as I write — liking the 0.3mm pen the best. MANY THANKS!
ps: Dinkum shade ordered and on its way! My cowboy hat lens shade was too much to wrangle consistently in wide angle shots with multiple negative sets.
Last edited by pchaplo; 10-May-2018 at 06:10.
Dallas Texas HABS / HAER / HALS Photography
Photographer/Author Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country (Texas A&M University Press)
Petroleum Oil Pics
December 2018 update:
This year I marked about 550 negatives. My new favorite pen for marking HP5 HABS/HAER/HALS negatives is a 0.4 tip Faber Castel Ecco Pigment archival pen. I suggest buying two because one always works better than the other, and the shipping is the same. There are different tip thicknesses but the ECCO black ink is the most dense I have ever used. Available online from Faber Castel. (second choice is now a tie between the Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.4 and the Faber Castel PITT artist pen black S tip).
-Schaf
`
–Stephen Schafer HABS | HAER | HALS & Architectural Photography | Ventura, California | www.HABSPHOTO.com
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