Identifying negatives after exposing ?

[blevblev]

I am doing Zone I / personal ASA tests on my new (to me) 4x5 camera. How do you keep track of which negative is which? Can you write on the back of the negatives somehow? Maybe china marker? Using roll film, the exposures keep themselves organized automatically, but obviously 4x5 film doesn't.

[Eric Woodbury]

I do a couple of things. One, put the information in the picture. It is a 4x5 neg and there is plenty of room. Two, altho not as good, to ID pix that are all developed together I clip the corners with fingernail clippers or scissors. One corner clipped means something, and two something else.

[blevblev]

I see problems with both of these ideas. First, you are supposed to focus on infinity, so putting the info in the picture wont work. The second one sounds like something you'd do after development - or do you do it in the dark? I'm more concerned with losing track of which negative was exposed with which asa setting when removing the negatives and developing them. I could always develop them one at a time, but that would take forever.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Once you've done it, you'll realize that the order is obvious. As you increase exposure, the density of the negs will be greater. Write down your exposures, and you'll be able to sort them after processing, even if they get out of order.

Then when you do the development time test, the negs will increase in contrast as the development increases, so you'll be able to sort those as well without any other means of identifying them.

[Vaughn]

Scratch the negatives on the emulsion side with something sharp (ice-pick?) as you take them out of the holders...l, ll, lll, llll, etc. These numbers would then refer back to your notes about what the camera/meter setting were.

Vaughn

[blevblev]

Vaughn,
That sounds like the answer I was looking for - that will work. Something small like a nail would probably be more convenient. Thanks.

[Morten]

Notching the holders.

But it will forever be part of the holder :-) and you will always know which holder and side of the holder the negative was during exposure. Do not interfere with the image area. Quickly done with a drill bit. Do a search on the forum.

BTW: Would (properly) notched holders reduce the resale value of the holder?

Best regards
Morten

[Bruce Barlow]

Notch the holders - use a Roman numeral system and fine files. Notch numbers on the flaps. I use different files for I's, V's and X's, with the I's at one end, the X'x at the other, and V's in the middle. No IV or IX, use four I's instead. File as deep as the groove. Richard Ritter demonstrates in his video "Camera Repair in the Field."

For Zone I Tests, you should be able to tell without marking - most dense: lowest ISO, least dense: highest ISO. It should be visible.

I would think carefully notched holders would be worth more to the discerning buyer - it's a pretty messy thing to do, and if I could buy them that way, I'd be thrilled. Instead, I'm good friends with my canister vacuum after about 75 holders in different sizes.

[Richard M. Coda]

I made some tiny film negatives (in a page layout program) 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B...

I had them output at the local service bureau. Cut them up, super-glued them to the side, right where it flares out before the hinges.

[blevblev]

re: "It should be visible" - right. It should be. But is it? I think it was Custer who said, "there SHOULD be friendly indians over that hill." I have done roll films where there are several exposures that don't make it above the fb+f density, so I still don't know which of those is which with sheets. Of course I'm not going to use one of them, so I guess I could start at the dense end of the spectrum and go backwards.

Notching the flaps is interesting - so that would make the notches appear on the edge of the film? I'll have to search for that...