How best to dry FP-100c in the field?

[Oren Grad]

I've been looking on the web for information about how best to dry freshly-peeled FP-100c in the field. The advice I've found falls into five categories:

* Stand there, maybe waving the print around, until it's dry
* Stash the prints in the car (assumes you have a car nearby)
* Use a home-made drying box that has some way of keeping the prints separated (what's the best way to make one?)
* Stick the prints between the pages of a notebook (but what kinds of paper are safe?)
* Don't peel the prints until you get home (but need some way of verifying that exposures are on target)

Does anyone here use much FP-100c on the go? What works best in your experience?

[Corran]

Last year there was a guy selling these nifty racks on eBay for the 3x4 instant film. They were a bit expensive but I got two from him at a discounted rate. I think he was in HK? I haven't looked but I've never seen them on eBay again.

They were fairly well made but they were rough around the edges - mostly there was grit and grime inside from the machining. Just due to time I haven't used them much but after breaking them in and getting the grime out they work pretty well.

I can post pictures if you want.

[Oren Grad]

Sounds cool. By any chance was it this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-Peel-A...-/331538591995

Alas, checking the feedback, looks like he's almost doubled the price since last year.

[Corran]

Yep, that's him. It looks like he has changed his design. He added more slots on them.

Occasionally I've shot 20-30+ images in a day, so such a storage device can be extremely handy. After they dried enough I could take them out and store them stacked on top of each other in one of the empty film boxes, but freshly peeled they would stick together.

$160 does seem a bit exorbitant, even with the extra slots. Back when I got them he had a "Best Offer" option, but not now for some reason. Hopefully they are cleaner at that price!

[Tin Can]

Strap is included.

Bargain!

[Oren Grad]

Bryan, you've jump-started some brainstorming! Thinking about that rack got me to wondering about small sheet-film developing tanks that might do the same thing for a lot less money. There's a Yankee 4x5 tank that seems to have a rack adjustable for anything from 2.25x3.25 to 4x5. My recollection is that these are hit-or-miss as developing tanks, but it might serve OK as just a rack-in-a-container. If one looks further afield there are also developing racks/tanks for 3.25x4 electron micrograph film that might do the trick.

[Corran]

Hey, good idea!

[jp]

I have a holder for zip disks that I used to hold glass plates drying. I've also used CD jewel case racks to hold plates drying. If you're a packrat you probably have something that will hold them.

I only shoot a few FP100c at a time, and usually keep them in my shirt pocket (aka cell phone pocket) while developing, and usually I'm shooting people with instant film, so they can display/dry at the same time, or I can ask a person to hold on to a photo for a few minutes.

[Oren Grad]

FP-100c is 85x108 mm, so the jewel box form-factor is a bit too large. And for use in the field, I think a sealed container is best, to keep out dirt. But that's the idea - what kinds of cheap, smallish container have, or can easily be fitted with, slots that would hold something about the size of an FP-100c print? Maybe a card-file box with home-made cardboard inserts, though it would be nice to have the slots already molded into the container.

[vinny]

only $160. Just think how much it'd cost if Leica made it.
I tried wax paper once and only once.
Hey Oren,
I could whip up something similar to the ebay case out of ABS, like my tanks.
In fact, I'm gonna make a couple just for the hell of it.