Any viable way to shoot and scan traditional B&W w/out these problems?

<p>I'm fairly new to B&W photography and would like to shoot traditional B&W, and scan the neg's. on my Nikon Coolscan IV. About 10 months ago, I'd shot T-Max 400 for the first time and absolutely loved it. Of course it scans well, except that one cannot use the very helpful dust and scratch removal software ("ICE", "GEM", respectively). I ended up spending a huge amount of time in Photoshop fixing the scratches and dust spots; so much time in fact, that I haven't used this otherwise great film since. I've been shooting BW400CN which I like very much, also, but I'd still like to at least try the T-Max again, in both 400 and 100 speeds, because the T-Max 400 seemed really special that one time I'd used it.</p>

<p>It seems to me that all of my neg's. are <em>easily scratched </em>(which shows up in the scans of course) in simply putting them into and taking them out of the archival storage pages I'm using... I don't know if it's me, or the particular pages, or whether this is just normal, but I notice it on all of my negative film: color, and both the chromogenic and the few traditional B&W that I have. I even notice it on unmounted transparency film that I've cut into strips and put in the negative storage pages. (I don't want to unfairly denigrate the brand name of these pages, so at least for now, I'd rather not name it.) <em>Dust and keeping dust out </em>is the other issue that I want to find a solution for, before trying traditional B&W again. <strong>Is there a storage sleeve product (please be very specific) that might eliminate or at least keep both of these issues to a minimum?</strong> Any viable tips on how to surmount these problems for easier post processing? I did get the gloves meant for handling negatives with, but really need to feel confidant of being able to deal with the issues of scratches and dust on the negatives before trying out T-Max again. Thanks for any help you can provide.</p>

<p>"Spotting" was always and ever a necessity in negative shooting, long before the digital era.<br>

I presume you are having the negatives developed elsewhere? If so, try doing your own, commercial processing these days is not what it used to be [not that it ever was ;)].</p>

<p>If you are doing your own, does your fixer have a hardener? You have to be ever so much more careful if it does not.</p>

<p>Finally, every extra step taken to clean the film before scanning will be repaid multifold in the post-processing. I don't miss the ICE or whatever, as in my experience the best of these still compromise the sharpness and integrity of the image. I carefully clean my film first; but I take the time, for critical work, to do the same thing I would have had to do in the old film/enlarger days, spot and spot some more.</p>

<p>Just as an illustration of my point about commercial processing, here is a negative shot on Plus-X, probably, and developed by a local camera store of otherwise high quality. These were among the first shots taken with my Heiland Pentax H-2 camera which I had purchased at the same shop. This was early summer, 1960.</p><div></div>

<p>I use these <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/42987-REG/Print_File_PF356HB100_Archival_Storage_Page_for.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/42987-REG/Print_File_PF356HB100_Archival_Storage_Page_for.html</a> and have for about 9 years now. No scratches or dust have ever occurred because of the sheets.</p>

<p>But, mind you, keep the sheets themselves in the original packaging material or in a binder from the get go....and when you transfer the negatives from the sleeves the lab puts them in, transfer directly from sleeve to sleeve (ie do not take out of one sleeve first, then into the other.....put them immediately side by side and transfer)</p>

<p>All of that means, is that if the negative is dirty to begin with, and you transfer the dirt with the negative into the sleeve, you are bound to get scratches. When you scan, blow the negs off before AND after scanning. That way you don't put dirt into the sleeve after scanning.</p>

<p>Clean the negative holder also before putting the negs in.</p>

<p>99% of the time, dust and dirt...and therefore scratches....are human induced. You have to act as if you are in a "clean room".</p>

<p>Print File is the way to go..been using for years, never bothered with gloves....no scratches.<br>

I get the 35-7BXW style...lets you get more than 36 shots to a roll.</p>

<p>I develop and scan before putting the negs in sleeves. Used the V before but now use the 5000ED with the roll adapter so I can scan the entire roll by just trimming the first and last frame. I use nitrox clean compressed air in scuba cylinders to blow the dust of the negs before putting it in the scanner.</p>

<p>Any remaining spots or scratches are removed in photoshop after scanning with the spot healing tool and a wacom tablet. It's very fast.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I ended up spending a huge amount of time in Photoshop fixing the scratches and dust spots ...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I shoot a large amount of 400 TMAX. It is no better and no worse than any other emulsion in as much as dust and scratches are concerned.</p>

<p>The key really is to develop the film yourself. It takes about 30 minutes of attention, and another 15 or 20 minutes of unattended rinse. Thereafter, the film is dry enough to immediately scan in maybe another 2 hours. No dust and no scratches at all this way.</p>

<p>Two sides to this for me:</p>

<p>First, you have to get your processing down so it's clean. Use the right amount of photoflo, and let the negs dry in a reasonably dust free environment goes a long way to solving the first half.</p>

<p>Second, I used to use print file sheets. I found that they eventually scratched the film. There's always a piece of grit some where that you miss (or is already in the fresh-out-of-the-package print file page) that will grind on your film as you slide it in and out. Coupled with the fact I need to flatten my negs after they dry but before scanning, which means cutting them up and putting them in the pages, there are always some scratches.</p>

<p>Ditch the Printfile pages. Someone recommended Savage film lok (sp?) pages, but I didn't like them. I switched to using top loading film sleeves from archival methods. Easy to get film in and out, minimal sliding of the negatives on the material, clear, easy to store. My negatives are in a lot better shape now.</p>

<p>I'd suggest wet scanning.</p>

<p>http://www.weaved.net/wet.htm<br>

http://scanscience.com/Pages/halvorson.html<br>

http://scanscience.com/Pages/Scans3-BW.html</p>

<p>Many thanks guys! It looks like I need to learn developing. Yep, JDM, I've gotten it back in close to that condition, too.</p>

<p>I will look into all of these tips and suggestions. Tim, I wondered if this was the exact item you use? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/442884-REG/Archival_Methods_31_001_Side_Lock_Film_Sleeves.html I was relieved to see that they're made here in the States too, like Printfile, and not in China.</p>

<p>I'll look into all of these things, including the wet scanning- thanks very much for those links Robert. Obviously, it sounds like these traditional B&W emulsions must be worth the effort! I've seen some great results here and look forward to shooting it.</p>

<p>It is interesting how people's experiences with negative storage pages can be so different - some have no problems whatsoever, while others are always plagued by scratches from inserting/removing the film. For whatever reason I found myself in the latter category, so I had to find a different method. </p>

<p>What I ended up with instead of the storage pages was archival film sleeves. These are called <em>FoldLock </em> sleeves by at least one supplier (Light Impressions), and I think are essentially the same as what you linked to, and what Tim was referring to. The basic idea is that the roll or strip of film is just folded up into the sleeving with the little flap folding over to enclose it. You never have to slide the film across the material this way. </p>

<p>Personally, my recommendation would be to buy a large continuous roll of this material rather than the pre-cut versions, just to be more economical about it. You can then cut it (with the film still in the sleeving - no need to remove the film to cut it) into strips of however many frames you like, as is most appropriate for your scanner and for how you choose to ultimately store them. This is assuming that you develop the film yourself and are starting from an uncut roll. But if you have the lab develop your film you can also request that it be returned to you uncut or "long sleeve" so that again you have the option to cut it into strips of however many frames you like.</p>

<p>Whether you get sleeving in pre-cut pieces or in a continuous roll, there are many brands to choose from. After a lot of research I finally discovered and settled on Ar-Kive sleeves which can be purchased from (and possibly <em>ONLY </em> from) Climax Photo and Digital. Here is a link to the continuous roll variety: http://www.climaxdigital.com/film_sleeving.html. In addition to being about the least expensive I could find, I also liked it that they offered the sleeving in a variety of sizes, different grades (two thicknesses actually), and roll lengths, and in either clear or frosted versions. You can also get the material in pre-cut strips, or in rolls with perforations appropriate to typical roll film lengths for convenience.</p>

<p>If you decide to go the sleeving route, make sure you get the "open" type that has the flap. By mistake I once bought a roll of sleeving without the flap - basically just a long continuous tube - which meant of course that you had to insert the film from the end which completely defeats the goal of trying to avoid scratches in the first place!</p>

<p>Finally, after all that there is the question of how to conveniently store these little strips of sleeved film. That's a topic in itself, and here is another recent thread which goes into that a little bit: http://www.photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/00VgFL</p>

 

<p>For what it's worth, I too am on the PrintFile brand band wagon. I have been using their products for 35mm, 120, and large format negatives with zero issues. No scratches, no fuss, they do what they are supposed to do. I don't exactly know how many years I have been using them, but I can say that I have many boxes filled with negatives in their sleeves.</p>

<p>Jeff, Thanks so much! I agree 100%, and find myself to be in the same category as you. And along with this, the more a film strip is taken in and out, of course, the more scratches- and I thought I was usually pretty careful. It wasn't a problem with the other films though, because of the scanner software, and the scratches were usually fairly minimal. But with the traditional B&W, as mentioned, it gets really time consuming trying to remove them in Photoshop with the cloning tool (P.S. 8). I will definitely look into this sleeving. Thanks for the thorough response!</p>

<p>Yup those are the ones I use. I order directly from Archival methods. I looked into the long roll like Jeff talked about but didn't find any in Mylar/polyester. The polyester ones are REALLY clear and nice looking. Nice for contact prints or viewing on a light table. Since I'm not a pro and don't shoot *that* much, the extra cost for polyester isn't too bad.</p>

<p>Archival methods has a nice kit with a box, 50 envelopes, and some sleeves. You'll need to order more sleeves than what the kit comes with, but I rather like the system. Though B&H has better prices on some of the film lock sleeves.</p>

<p>process at home with fresh chemicals, put a filter on your tap head maybe, use a wetting agent to allow faster drying. use a different brand of negative files / sleeves. And dry it in a dust free place (a clean bathroom or shower is what I use). Also, make sure the negs are completely dry before putting into the neg files. Get some cans of compressed air and blow off the negs before putting them in the files.</p>

<p>I scan soon after I place the negs in the sleeves for the first time. I don't give them much of a chance to collect dust and scratches in the first place. Most often I have very little spotting to do.</p>

<p>Regardless of the type of enclosure you use, the risky part is sliding the film strips in and out,as any dust or crud is dragged across the film. You can avoid this by bowing the enclosure open to form an oval :only the edges of the film strip contact the enclosure material as the strip is inserted or withdrawn.</p>

<p>Tim G., Thanks for confirming that! Your thinking on Polyester is interesting and appreciated- I did spend some time on the phone with Climax, though, already. Really good customer service, and they sell paper and other supplies, too. I'd never heard of them before, but am impressed. I will definitely have to consider the advantage of the Polyester and the kit you mentioned, though, before ordering.</p>

<p>Thanks to Tim K., Michael, and Ian, too! All great tips. My next step is to learn developing and do it in a very clean environment!</p>

<p>when you develop your own film before hanging them to dry turn the shower on hot for a bit to make it more humid. This brings the dust out of the air and then when you hang your film to dry it will be dust free. As mentioned wetting agent will also speed up the process and make it so your negs are in the air for as little time as possible.</p>

 

<p>I cut the keepers into single frames and put them in reusable, plastic slide mounts and then into clear, plastic notebook size pages that have individual pockets for the mounts. I take them out of the mount to put them in the enlarger, but since I'm only working with one frame, as opposed to a strip, it's easy to avoid scratches. My scanner takes mounted film so I don't touch them at all when going that route. I'm more brutal with the ones I don't plan on ever using, but don't want to throw away. They end up in strips and tossed into an envelope. Since they don't get handled much, they still survive for quite awhile. :-)</p>

<p>matt and Hal, Thanks for the good ideas. Jeff</p>