Film stuck to darkslide - best solution?

[csant]

Been shooting in rainy conditions recently - and did not think about drying the darkslide before sliding it into the (8x10) holder again, wet-side-in… :( Now the film is stuck to the darkslide and won't get off.

What is the best way to deal with this? Somehow I don't like too much the idea of soaking the whole holder… The other thing I was thinking was to cut open the light trap (where you'd usually load the film) and try sliding something between film and slide - but maybe that's too much of a hassle? Any other solutions? :confused:

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[David Hedley]

Can you get a water sprayer - that you would use to spray flowers - and spray between the film and the darkslide in order to loosen the stuck emulsion? Perhaps use a mixture of photoflo and water? If you can do this in the dark, you might even salvage the negative, although it'll almost certainly be damaged, but the damage to the holder would probably be minimal.

[E. von Hoegh]

Something else might be going on. Why was the film touching the darkslide? Did humidity from the damp slide make it bulge that much?

Can you remove the darkslide enough to open the flap at the bottom and moisten it that way? I don't suppose the light trap has a plate over it, like the old Folmer & Schwing filmholders, that you can remove.

[csant]

Thank you very much for all your replies!


Something else might be going on. Why was the film touching the darkslide? Did humidity from the damp slide make it bulge that much?

I guess that's what has happened…


Can you remove the darkslide enough to open the flap at the bottom and moisten it that way?

No, I cannot… I expressed myself badly in the first post. I meant, as one possible solution, to cut the flap away to reach in between the film and the slide… Is there a way to spray water in between without removing the flap or damaging the light trap? I guess of the two the least problematic is indeed the flap, isn't it? (You "just" can fix it with a robust tape again, can't you?)

[E. von Hoegh]

Yes, slit the tape at the seam between the flap and the body of the holder. Black bookbinder's tape is what I replaced the original tape on all of mine with. If you can get only white, a black magical marker will fix it up. Be sure to get the old tape off, or the holder may not seat properly.

Are you certain the film is stuck, and dampness didn't cause the slide to stick in the grooves?


Good luck!

[lenser]

Two other possible thoughts.

First, if you have a scrap piece of film or negative that you can trim to fit the slot width, you should be able to try inserting it forcefully between the top of the slide and the film. It may actually require jamming it in several times to break through whatever points are bonded by the moisture. A very thin steel rule ( one without the cork backing) might also work the same way.

Finally, if all else fails, a dark slide is relatively cheap and less potential for permanent damage than working on the hinge, so I would attack it from the outside with a utility knife and take it out in pieces, then just buy a replacement.

[GPS]

...
What is the best way to deal with this? Somehow I don't like too much the idea of soaking the whole holder… ... :confused:

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

What do you think would happen so terrible to the holder if emerged for a while in water? :confused:

[Mark Woods]

GPS, my thoughts exactly. Put the whole works in water for a few minutes, and the dark slide should release the film.

[Erik Larsen]

I'm not sure the felt in the light trap would like getting soaked?

[GPS]

I'm not sure the felt in the light trap would like getting soaked?

What terrible do you think would happen to it if in water for a while?
Not to say that if he's so afraid of it he could leave the part with felt out of water...

[Erik Larsen]

What terrible do you think would happen to it if in water for a while?
Not to say that if he's so afraid of it he could leave the part with felt out of water...

Not sure what would happen? The felt might mold or get matted down and not function correctly? I would force the slide out with extreme prejudice and ruin the film rather than the holder and chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way:)
Regards
Erik

[GPS]

You can dry out the holder after you liberated the slide. The felt - if it worries you - can be dried out with simple folded newspaper. If you want, you can refresh it with a piece of plastic and few movements. That's the way to refresh old felt.

[Mark Woods]

The felt will dry out. I wouldn't worry about it. You won't be hacking the film holder or destroying anything. I would suggest washing the film once it's free and processing it immediately. I believe the other suggested methods will compromise the film with scratches or compromise the holder. It's a common practice in the film industry when a camera goes in the water, to put it in a bucket and send it to the technician to fix it, and put the film magazine in a bucket of fresh water and send it to the lab that way. This is particularly true when they fall in salt water. I've had it happen on my shoots.

[johnielvis]

howz about one of them genius methods like freezing it? get it out of the freezer when the film emulsion is brittle and thwack all round the darkslide surface...like flicking a booger only whack it with your nail...the sudden shock with the brittle may break what's stuck, eh? and freezing will DRY it out!

....worth a try?????

no guarantees...but if you go to bed tonite..just put it in the freezer.. you may be able to just pull it out--you know..temp differences and stuff will pull the film off the slide.....

or quick freeze the slide--use the dust off upside down and shoot the coolant liquid on the darkslide--this will provide the necessary temperature gradient to change the shape of the slide but not the film and break the "seal"...it may also provide enough temperature gradient to CRACK the slide...if the slide is aluminum...that's the BEST for freezing cause of the thermal expansion of aluminum....

TRY it..I'd like to see what happens.

[Mark Woods]

I hope you don't take the rather unexperienced and somewhat caviler approach to your problem. I hope the poster is making a humorous statement. He clearly doesn't know what he's suggesting.

[csant]

Thanks a lot for all the replies, much appreciated! I was a bit worried soaking all of the holder because "what if I should not manage to slide it open after soaking?" The film would be stuck even worse… On the other hand, it sounds like the most sensible approach so far… I was already considering not immersing the light trap - not that it couldn't dry, but there'd really be no need to get that soaked, too… I'll give it a try later today - and will report back! And for sure this goes into the lessons learned file…

[johnielvis]

OMG as they say these days

DUNKING it is the most reasonable?

I just wrote down 2 names of people who I'll NEVER buy anything from ... never ever ever...

freezer is tried and true--that's why I mentinoed it...i did it and it worked---the freezer is actually a more hospitable environment than the cold chicago winters that my holders are subjected to....so I figured..why not try it..i did and at worked--emulsion stuck to darkslide when I gave it a quick jerk out after yoinking it from the freezer...emulsion on darkslide washed off with hot water...

the thwacking like a booger wasn't necessary in my case and I never tried that

the freon was the last ditch I could think of before dunking---even with this method the worst thing that could happen is a busted dark slide...DUNKING...almost for sure will ruin it....if there's any wood, forget it. any steel, you'll get rust...it's ruined by now for sure....

DO NOT BUY list for the BOTH of you!