Can an F4 or F5 be modified to wind to the frame #0?

When I receive my processed slides, the frame #0 (and sometimes #00)

are returned unmounted and apparently undamaged. I wish that I could

take advantage of the unused frames to shoot an identifier such as a

gray card and/or a color card along with my name and address in case

of loss or misplacement. I see no custom function to enable winding

to frame #0 in any of the manuals. It just seems to be a waste of

film. Has anyone experience with this?

I haven't looked so you tell me. Is frame 0 or 00 exposed? I would think that it would be at least partly exposed before you close the back. As to your question, I've not heard of any modification. I usually consider the first and last frame expendable anyway.

Frame #0 is always unexposed (opaque) and #00 may have a little exposure at the edge occurring when the film was loaded.

I like to think in 35s (thirty fives) so a simpler solution would be to shoot the gray

card and/or identifier on #1 (or #36) and take 35 photos.

I almost always end up with 37 frames on my F4, which is OK for slides but a real annoyance for negative film as I file in 6 strips of 6. Just shoot the grey card as the first frame.

Alex, your easy solution would be to shoot the ID card on Frame

1. Fuji and Kodak films typically give me 37 shots per roll.*

One way of doing this with a higher rate of success is by making

your ID card into two halves, with the same info on the left and

the right--that way, if half the frame gets cut off or exposed, the

info remains on the other half of the frame.

 

 

*This is generous of them when you consider that cheaper

filmmakers selling off-brand names often short their customers.

I'm not naming anyone here, but my friends have been known to

complain when their film runs out on frame 33 or 34! These

friends don't value film as much as me... which explains why

they'll buy color print film for $1.39 per roll while I buy cases of

Velvia for a lot more!

silly question, why do you shoot the gray card on the first frame?

I note that I have never lost the #0 frame, and seldom the #00. Since a small gray card (or color card) takes up little space, its being on the film might suggest whether there have been any significant processing errors. (Obviously, the card would not indicate proper exposures of later frames.) I asked this because I realized the thousands of frames (and to some extent, time) that were unnecessarily lost. It seemed to be a practical way to utilize these frames without any serious loss if they were cut.

Alex, if you want to use the grey card to check processing, why not find a card with a test pattern in colors, much like the TV test pattern screens? That should be able to give you info on blacks, greys, whites, reds, greens, blues, and every shade of every color normally recorded.

 

To use of the card for ID purposes, leave a white spot in the middle big enough for an ID number, and you could tape a new piece of white paper over it for each roll... or adhere a pad of white paper to the middle! Use a sheet and then tear it off for the next roll of film!