Notched Film Holders, Examples

[EBJohnson]

Hello to the group.

So I'm looking onto notching my film holders for the sake of better organizing my process... I'm keeping notes that exist in a Airtable DB that seems to work, so far... but as it stands, and because I am still very new to 4x5 I'm doing a lot of bracketing and safety images... I've yet to become comfortable enough with the overall process, to just shoot one exposure in a location/setup so my notes... currently have this sticking point...

From what I've read here and other places, I like the idea of a roman numeral notching pattern, but I'm wondering what it will actually look like in the end... and all iterations of this conversation that I've found either never had images of the end result or the images have long expired... So I was hoping that someone here would be so kind as to show what the notches could look like? Mainly because I'm having a hard time visualizing an end result and also because I'm a little nervous of permanently altering a light tight device...

Thanks so much.

[Bob Wagner]

All my holders are full of film right now, so can't send a photo. Notching holders is easier than it sounds. I use a very small triangular to make a groove about 1 to 2 mm deep. Use the left side for 5 and 10, the right side for 1-5
So a groove on the left at the 5 spot and another at the right at the 2 spot would be holder 7. Mark the spots on a card or piece of paper so you can compare negative later

X X X X X X
5 10 1 2 3 4

[EBJohnson]

My apologies, the issue I’m having is visualizing the effect on the film…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jim Noel]

I use binary code for my notches.

[Doremus Scudder]

I use a Roman-numeral system on my holders. A small semi-circular notch is "I" (1), a "V"-shaped notch is "V" (5), a small square notch is "X" (10), a modified "L"-shaped notch is "L" (50) and a larger semi circle is "C" (100). I use a small set of files to do this. I have holders numbered through 130 or so.

Here's an example of holder #76 and also how it looks on the negative. I put a white card in the holder for easier viewing. The notches are filed on the bottom right of the flap in order from the nearest side (so they appear in correct order when viewing the negative from the base side).

Hope this helps,

Doremus

[EBJohnson]

Doremus, that’s exactly what I needed to see!

So you’re notching from the same corner where the Film Notches are? I understood that it was recommended to do it on the other side. Are there ever instances of overlap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alan Klein]

Since I use different films at one time, I use this method to label my holders. The Chromalabels are 1/2" in diameter. They self-stick on the holders. But they can be easily removed and replaced when the film type is changed. I use a different color for each film type for consistency. I label them with the film type as you can see in the legend. There are smaller and larger labels available.

[Alan Klein]

Here's the link.
https://www.chromalabel.com/collecti...le-dots-labels

[Bob Salomon]

Since I use different films at one time, I use this method to label my holders. The Chromalabels are 1/2" in diameter. They self-stick on the holders. But they can be easily removed and replaced when the film type is changed. I use a different color for each film type for consistency. I label them with the film type as you can see in the legend. There are smaller and larger labels available.

But these will not tell you which side of which holder a specific piece of film came from.

[EBJohnson]

This is a great way of quickly IDing what's in the holder, thanks for that option Alan.