cutting medium format film..

[matt_friel]

My lab keeps the whole roll together. what is the best cutter out there for

medium format film. I may want to use a scanner someday on the film and have

noticed that when I cut 35mm negs my nikon super coolscan 5000 really doesn't

like that..I figure it would be the case for medium format negs as well.

 

matto

[paul_wilson2]

A nice pair of Fiskars scissors.

[Ed_Ingold]

I use a small, cheap, guillotine cutter (abut 6x6 inches) on top of a light table. The film is always cut smooth and square, and it's easy to see and cut between frames (Hasselblad spacing is not all that consistent).

[tad doxsee]

I just use my wife's "good" scissors. :-)

It's never been a problem scanning with my Epson 3200.

[randall ellis]

Here is a nice 35mm and 120 cutter. Mine has held up well, but a pair of sharp scisors will work well also.

 

http://home.att.net/~sales3d/WFilmCutter.htm

 

- Randy

[Rob F.]

I use a pair of inexpensive surgical scissors. They are small and thin, so that I can see to cut precisely between the frames. I cut over a light box, so I can see where I'm cutting.

[Ed_Ingold]

With 35mm film, it's important to cut between sprocket holes. Otherwise, the film may jam in the strip feeder mechanism of a Coolscan. You will notice that the frames are always aligned so that a solid border lines up with the gap between frames - that's what the sprocket does inside the camera. It's pretty hard to consistently cut this way with scissors, and you only have one chance. I'm not into that kind of concentration. I'd rather be taking pictures (or billing customers), so I use a mechanical cutter described above. I've only been doing this for 50 years, you'd think I'd get the hang of it by now.

[stuart_richardson]

With medium format there is a lot of space between the frames (usually at least), more than

enough for a good, sharp pair of scissors. I have only ever used a polaroid film cutter and it

was not a great solution. The nice thing about scissors is that you eliminate the possibility of

dust accumulation and scratches that you can get from a film cutter where you need to slide

the film along a solid surface. If that surface has any dust or grit on it, it will either transfer

onto the film or scratch it. With scissors you have no such problems.

[rconey]

Whatever scissors I find. Scanning is no problem.

[Ed_Ingold]

I cut the film while it is still sleeved. Even unsleeved, I have no problem scratching the film, given due diligence. An old Rollei TLR gives nice, wide even spaces - the film is metered with a toothed wheel, much like the sprocket in a 35mm camera. Hasselblad spacing seems to depend on the phase of the moon, even after a CLA.

[j_yabrow1]

The lab I use returns the 120/220 roll sleeved. I have tried hand-holding the film and cutting, but it was hard to get even cuts in the center between frames (I've nearly ruined some frames by cutting too close to the image). A standard gillotine/lever cutter makes straight cuts, but it is tough to get enough light below the cutter to see exactly where you're going to cut. What I do now is hold the sleeved film up to a lightbox, make a small visible notch with a scissors in the sleeve in the right spot between the frames. Then I take the sleeved film with notches over to the paper cutter and it is simple to line up the notches with the cutter's edge and get perfect cuts every time. The backlit cutter mentioned earlier seems to be much more elegant and I may just buy it one of these days. But this "notch" method hasn't failed me yet...

[vkelman]

I use slide cutter

http://211.234.100.187/~matin/system2/mall.php?cat=011000000&query=view&no=97

which I bought on Ebay (new). It's much better than usinmg scissors

[ivsimler]

I use the print cutter that I bought so I could trim down my printed photos.

[robert x]

Can you not ask your lab to cut it for you ?

[john_lee23]

I am using a Alvin translucent cutting mat with a C-Thru triangle with a cutting edge and a good x-acto knife on top of a light box. I like to cut with the sleeve from the lab and this work out great.