Cutting film---left overs question

[Fr. Mark]

I've cut a number of 8x10 sheets of Ektascan to 5x7. Easy with a guillotine cutter and safelights on.

First cut gives a film strip that's a little over an inch wide about 10 inches long.

I'm starting to have a lot of these.

I can only use so many as fixer test strips.

This film can record incredible detail. In fact, at some peril to my beloved tiny format camera, an OM-1, I put a strip of the film in it and took some pictures---the image area on 35mm film is only 24mm tall by 36 mm wide and these strips are 25-26 maybe 27 mm tall by 254 mm or so long. . One of them easily enlarges to 5x7 and I think I could've gone bigger---it's not tech pan or panatomic X but it is nice stuff. I did use mirror lock up and self timer to eliminate vibrations.

I tried spooling it into reloadable film cassettes but it is really much too stiff and I'd rather not destroy my OM-1 or any other small camera.

I recently purchased a 4x5 enlarger so maybe a panoramic pinhole camera?? 1:5 is pretty panoramic. Maybe curve the film plane a little to compensate for light fall off?

Or maybe some sort of "modern art" LF thing where strips are taped together to make a "sheet" of film and the pictures are "randomly" printed from assemblages of strips?

You are a creative bunch. Maybe you have ideas? I hate waste and this is amazing film in dilute Rodinal or Pyrocat HD and probably other developers.

[LabRat]

Well, my personal rule is "if in doubt, try it out"...

Someone I knew was taking 35mm strips and putting them into large, old, rollfilm folding cameras, and even allowing the film to curl a little... The negs were starting to get interesting...

Steve K

[HMG]

I like your pinhole idea. Or maybe even taped to a 4x5 holder.

[mdm]

Throw it out. All the effort you put into using it will steal time from the real thing.

[Old-N-Feeble]

You could offer to give away packs of ten (cost of shipping) for fixer test strips in the "free stuff" thread.

[Fr. Mark]

Another use could be for testing garage sale cameras or ones from the "to be recycled" box at a local camera store. I've got a mamiya sekor 500 dtl that seems to work. It is one of several I could try out with this scrap film.

I like the range of responses so far, other ideas out there?

[Gary Beasley]

Contact print your 35mm negs onto them for slides.

[koraks]

Use them for zone system calibration.

[steveo]

pinhole would be my choice. You can get laser drilled pinholes cheap, tape it to a spare lens board and you're away.