Is there an industry standard for which way the dark slide goes in?

[shalom_septimus]

<p>I recently purchased a stack of 4x5 film holders from that auction site. Some of them even have film in them, but I don't know whether it's exposed or not.</p>

<p>I noticed that the end of the dark slide is silver on one side and black on the other. I have a vague memory from when I took a course in this in 1993 that if you put it in one way it means the film is blank, and the other way that it's exposed, but for the life of me I can't remember which is which.</p>

<p>So, my question is, is there an industry standard which side of the slide represents blank and which side represents exposed? If I knew which side means what, then I would have some idea whether I should develop it, or try shooting with it.</p>

<p>(I arbitrarily decided, on the empty ones, to use the black side for unexposed and the white or silver side for exposed, and stuck labels saying Blank and Exposed on them so I won't forget. If this is wrong, let me know and I'll relabel them.)</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

[jnanian]

<p>the black side is usually "exposed"<br>

the other side is unexposed ..<br>

but ... some people do it "their own way " ...<br /><br /></p>

[josh_adams]

<p>whichever way is easier to remember</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>The convention is black for exposed - since exposed negative film goes black when it's developed.<br>

This obviously means nothing to habitual reversal film users, so you really can't tell which way round the previous owner had decided. The only sure way would be to develop one of the sheets and see if it contained an image or not.</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>White ready for light, Dark ready for the darkroom (or empty).</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

<p>My standard operating procedure was black for un-exposed or empty and white side out for exposed; that way I could write a short note on the white area with a fine point sharpie or a grease pencil.</p>

[b_christopher]

<p>I change it up every few weeks, just to keep things interesting :p</p>

[adolphius_st._clair]

<p>One photographer at a studio that I once worked often forgot to turn the slide over after an exposure. The rule that I quickly learned: don't let my film out of my sight - this character would take it and the result was a double exposure. This character seemed to change procedure during the day (which kept me busy).</p>

[maury_cohen]

<p>I would chuck the film that was left in the holders. Not worth risking a double-exposure (or no exposure).</p>

[cj8281]

<p>I wouldn't chuck it, I would keep it for practicing with. I also have started collecting sheets of different types of films so I have a reference of what all the different notches are. </p>

[adolphius_st._clair]

<p>Unload and process the film. It may have been exposed. </p>

[Monophoto]

<p>I would remove the film from the holders, fix it out and wash it, and put it aside for use in dye-dodging negatives that require tweaking.</p>

<p>Industry standards are fine when it comes to consistency in manufacturing. Standards are voluntary, but assure that products from various manufacturers can be used interchangeably by consumers. The location of the notch is governed by standard. '</p>

<p>But the issue of which side of the darkside means what is not a matter of industry standardization - instead, it's a matter of conventional practice. Each photographer gets to establish his own practice. I put the white (or silver) side out on unexposed film, and the black side out on exposed film. </p>

[steve_levine]

<p> I use the Fidelity plastic types. These have little Braille like dots on one side of the slides and are smooth on the other. Like with the other type of holders, it is up to the user to adopt a methodology regimen , and stick to it. To this day when I shoot LF, I talk to myself (sometimes aloud) and run down the shooting checklist. This prevents <em>me</em> from doing anything stupid. Things like "remember to close shutter, before pulling slide", can never be learned enough.</p>

[charles_zabilski1]

<p>I'm with Ellis, black is unexposed and white is exposed, although the convention seems to be the other way around.</p>

[shalom_septimus]

<p>Thank you all for your responses.</p>

<p>The answers seem pretty evenly split; counting my own semi-arbitrary decision, it's three to three. I would guess that it's impossible to predict which way the anonymous original owner of these holders decided to do it.</p>

<p>This being the case, I think I'd rather err on the safe side and try to develop them as is. Better to risk getting a blank sheet than chance ruining something that's already been exposed. Besides, who knows how old this film is or even what kind of film it is. (Haven't checked for notches yet.)</p>

<p>(It wouldn't make sense to process just one sheet; I don't have access to a darkroom, and my only 4x5 daylight tank is so huge that it doesn't pay to run it with only one sheet in it. It's one of the old FR cut-film-pack tanks, holds about 1350ml. Never used it yet, although I did fill it to see how much it held, and found that when you dump it, more liquid comes out around the edge of the lid than through the spout.)</p>

[shalom_septimus]

<p>OK, I see what I was doing wrong, that "spout" is the air vent, not the drain. If you pour it out from the opposite corner it works a whole lot better. Oops...</p>

[scott_norville]

<p>Black ~ blank<br>

silver ~ image . . .<br>

It makes sense to me.</p>