Basic sheet film questions

Hi all: Hope that you're having a glorious weekend. Sorry in advance

for all the questions. I'll be getting "The Negative" soon as I'm

still working my way through "The Camera."

 

How long is too long to keep sheet film in a holder? And, how well do

holders keep dust off the film? Should I be putting the holders in

some kind of protective bag inside the pack?

 

Also, should I be storing unused film in an airtight container? I

just put it back in the torn silver bag and back in the box. I have

this strange worry all of a sudden that my film is going to dry out.

In case you're wondering, I did try a friend's quickload system -

hated it.

 

Many thanks for any help,

Gloria

I keep my film in the orginal packing (opened of course) in a zip lock plastic bag which I keep in the refrigerator. I wait about an hour or so before taking the film out of the plastic bag after I take it out of the refrigerator. I haven't had any trouble with condensation on the film.

 

After loading the film in sheet film holders, I don't worry about it, and I've kept film in holders that way for many weeks before exposing. Even with color film, I don't see any differences, but I probably wouldn't notice a subtle color shift since anything like that would be corrected in the process of scanning and photoediting. I don't have any significant problems with dust. I think that is mainly a matter of cleaning the holders before loading and making sure the inside of your camera is relatively dust free. While the film is sitting in the holder it is not likely to attract any dust. If you are going to working in a dusty environment, the use of zip lock plastic bags may help.

 

After exposing I put the color film in an old film box back into the refrigerator. I don't bother putting exposed b/w film in the refrigerator before development, and on occasion I've left it in holders or stored it in an old film box for months before development.

Again, I don't see any difference, but if I were doing critical Zone System work, I might. Since these days I scan and manipulate in a photoeditor, as I noted above, any such shifts would be automatically corrected in the process.

 

In the past I've developed b/w roll film that was well over a year old and left sitting on a shelf and gotten printable negatives. I've developed b/w film that was frozen over ten years later and gotten printable results.

As long as the holders are in a cool dry place, the film will be as good as in the box. Surely you will be exposing it within a month or two?

 

The holders do not provide any protection from dust whatsoever. After a very thorough cleaning, including the black felt light trap, they should be kept in plastic bags at all times. Even when empty. A nice alternative to kitchen bags is anti-static elecronics bags. Here is a source:

 

http://www.eskimo.com/~gclaunch/BayStat6x8st.html

 

The factory box containing the unused film can be placed in an airtight zip-loc bag and kept in the fridge or feezer. Be sure to let it come back to room temperature before opening, to avoid condensation.

 

The cool temperature will retard aging, which may affect the ISO speed and also the color balance of color film. Refrigerated film will still fog from radiation and should be used by the expiration date for best results.

 

Don't go crazy with AA's books and become discouraged. It is not really so difficult as they make it out to be. Honest. I've been doing this (for money) since 1967.

Everything you're doing is fine although you can discard the silver bag. The three-part boxes are light tight without it and I always worry that the torn silver might scratch the film so I discard it.

 

There's no set time for keeping film in holders, I've kept film (exposed and unexposed) in holders for three or four months with the holders in a kitchen cabinet and an air-conditioned house. However, you definitely should be keeping your holders (whether loaded with film or not) in zip lock bags or something similar at ALL times except for the few seconds when they're being loaded and unloaded and, of course, when they're in the camera. If the holders are never out of the bags except on those three occasions, and if you replace the bags a couple times a year to minimize any dust that may accumulate in them, your dust problems will be greatly reduced.

 

If you're naturally compulsive-obsessive then you can have a great time with large format photography since the possibilities of thinking about, worrying about, and dealing with innumerable tiny details are almost endless. If you aren't obsessive-compulsive you still can enjoy large format photography as long as you ignore people who are. But if you're not obsessive-compulsive yourself and make the mistake of paying attention to people who are then you'll think large format photography is a royal pain. Just use a little common sense, get some basic knowledge as you're doing by reading the three Adams books (from which you will learn all you ever need to know and more) and you'll be fine.

I've kept B&W film in my 9x12 cm plate holders for as long as 8 months without any problem (barring the light leaks when the dark slide is pulled, with the sun shining directly on the camera, which are endemic to using 80 year old equipment). Once the film is in the holder, unless the holder has light leaks, it's no more at risk than 35 mm cassettes outside their plastic cans (maybe less so, since the holders aren't as prone to be mistreated in handling).

buy an ice chest. they have many sizes you could choose from. i have one that's perfect for15 holders. works great on hot days. buy one that's slightly larger and you could hold extra film or drinks for a long shoot day.

Don't worry about your film drying out. It wants to be as dry as possible. It's high humidity, moisture in liquid form and heat that you have to worry about. If you follow the suggestions given, you will do just fine. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks very much guys! You answered my questions and some I didn't know I had. I appreciate your guidance and advice!

I keep film in holders for many months (but I always am aware of temperature, humidity, etc. and leave them in the frig' between. I also found a nice igloo bag that perfectly holds about 20 4x5 holders and keeps them cool in the car.

 

One question though: why did you hate the quick load? That's just about all I use any more for sheet film. The cost isn't much more than sheet film and holders if you consider wear and tear on the holders, multiple shots to insure against bad loading and dust, etc.

 

I use Acros in a Polaroid back and love it. I find I use about a third less film also.

I disliked that violent pullling action very much. And I wasn't very good at it. The whole contraption was just too bulky and seemed awkward to handle. it just didn't 'feel' right.