Newb question: Store film holders with dark slides in...or out?

[Tin Can]

OK, now we have a quorum.

How many 'notch' or have a way of matching each film shot to a specific holder?

[Jac@stafford.net]

OK, now we have a quorum.

How many 'notch' or have a way of matching each film shot to a specific holder?

Notching can be important to those who do a lot of experimenting perhaps because they are not confident of the holder, or their memory. Experienced photographers are comfortable with their consistent practice. They do not need notchings.

Holder choices are largely irrelevant when one sticks to one competent manufacturer and batch number AND/or sharpens his technique. A little notebook is adequate.

[Bob Salomon]

All film holders were shipped from the factory with the slides inserted.
That should answer your question.

The factories did not know how long completed holders would be in their inventory. They had no way of knowing how long the holders would be in their distributor’s inventory. They had no way of knowing how long they would be in a dealer’s inventory. In some cases this could be year’s before it reached the consumer!

[Jac@stafford.net]

Never had a problem with a Linhof 4x5 film holder. Never.

[Bob Salomon]

OK, now we have a quorum.

How many 'notch' or have a way of matching each film shot to a specific holder?

Linhof made their sheet film holders and their glass plate/sheet film holders with a choice of with or without numbered friskits that were numbered from 1 to 12 to identify which side of which holder the film was exposed in.
Riteway, at their end, made holders with a numbering wheel to do the same thing.

If one needed more then 6 holders (12 shots) it was very easy to use jeweler’s files of different shapes to add notches, half rounds, etc. to additional holders to ID sides.

[Rainymac]

Holders stored with dark slide in and placed into one of three ziplock bags labelled 'Loaded', 'Exposed' and 'Unloaded' respectively. I have 8 holders so it was important for my sanity to match developed negatives with its information sheet. So, I notched my holders with a binary sequence with a Dremel tool. It worked beautifully.

My question to the experienced...where do you stored you loaded holders (unexposed and exposed) until you are ready to develop the film?

[Fred L]

My question to the experienced...where do you stored you loaded holders (unexposed and exposed) until you are ready to develop the film?

empty holders are stacked in my darkroom, but loaded, and exposed holders are kept in PhotoBackpacker Cascades cases. Have them for 4x5 to 8x10. On these cases I glued wide (2"x3") velcro tabs so I cld attach labels indicating what film is in them.

[Bernice Loui]

Dark slides in film holders always. Dark slides are not always interchangeable and keeping the dark slide in the film holder prevents dust and other problem debris from getting inside the film holder. Store film holders in a plastic baggie to further prevent dust-debris intrusion and possible damage from their storage area.

Serpertine wrap the film holders on their opposite ends with a towel or similar cloth for transport as the physical bouncing of film holders against each other can easily result in damaged film holders.

Shaking the film holder can indicate if there is film in the film holder.

Keep the film holder internals clean ad dust free as possible, use the clean compressed air then vacuum. Make sure there is no abrasive debris on the internal plate of the film holder to stop scratching the film base.



Bernice

[Doremus Scudder]

OK, now we have a quorum.

How many 'notch' or have a way of matching each film shot to a specific holder?

I use a modified Roman numeral notch system on all my holders. A small half-round notch is "1," a V-shaped notch is "5," a square notch is "10," a long, thin vertical notch is "50," and a larger half-round notch is "100." I notch the flaps of the holders and the resulting notches are exposed outside the image area.

Example: square + lg round + sm round + V = 94 (sorry, I can't get any special characters to show up here, or I'd post a graphic).

I consider myself pretty experienced, but still find the notches useful, especially when testing, bracketing filtration or making many exposures of a subject in changing light, etc. The exposure numbers are logged with exposure information, desired development and notes.

Best,

Doremus

[Tin Can]

Very good and maybe beyond my memory banks now.

I notched a few and only have needed the notches a few times.

I am processing less film these days.

Which reminds me, I need to load a stack of 1/4 plate film holders tonight.

For another member!

I use a modified Roman numeral notch system on all my holders. A small half-round notch is "1," a V-shaped notch is "5," a square notch is "10," a long, thin vertical notch is "50," and a larger half-round notch is "100." I notch the flaps of the holders and the resulting notches are exposed outside the image area.

Example: square + lg round + sm round + V = 94 (sorry, I can't get any special characters to show up here, or I'd post a graphic).

I consider myself pretty experienced, but still find the notches useful, especially when testing, bracketing filtration or making many exposures of a subject in changing light, etc. The exposure numbers are logged with exposure information, desired development and notes.

Best,

Doremus