The Eleventh Plague - Dust

[yaakov_asher_sinclair]

I'm getting to the point where if I want to include the sky in a

photo, I'll use Polaroid pos/neg instead of a film holder. 90% of

the time, in spite of all my precautions, tiny little dots and hairs

show up on the neg in the sky - and they're virtually impossible to

get rid of (except digitally - which I'm not doing.)

I'm loading in a Harrison tent which I clean thoughroughly. Would it

be worth putting some steam in the tent before I load? Or maybe just

load in the bathroom? (pretty inconvenient) I know this topic comes

up all the time, and I've read many bits of advice, but if anyone has

something new on the subject, I'd be very grateful to hear. I use an

anti-static brush on the tent and the holders.

Thanks

Yaakov Asher Sinclair

[doremus_scudder1]

Asher,

 

This has been addressed a zillion times, so search the archives for more information. Dust is the bane of the LF photographer, and we are never completely rid of it. However, I've managed to minimize my pinholes quite a bit throughout the years, so here is my personal method for reducing dust. Maybe you can use these pointers as well.

 

First, relegate your changing tent to in-field emergency use and load your holders in a dust-free dark room. Even while on the road, I find I can use a motel room bathroom or even bedroom with the windows draped at night to load the holders. A tent, no matter how clean, is a dust trap and every little movement sets up air currents that make the dust airborne and carry it to your film. If your environment is still, most airborne dust will have settled. Stirring things up, especially in a small environment like a tent just multiplies the problem.

 

Try to remove as much dust from the loading environment as possible a couple of hours prior to loading. A wet cloth used to wipe down a bathroom is better than the vacuum cleaner, which has a tendency to stir up dust. Then, let the dust settle for a while. When using a bathroom, I run the hot water for a few minutes to steam things up, close the door and let things sit for a while.

 

Wear a (clean) hat when loading to prevent hair and skin flakes from falling onto your film. Alternately, you can just make sure that you don't ever lean over your clean loading surface (particularly if you have a beard!). Also, try not to stir up whatever remaining dust there is where you load. Walk softly, move slowly.

 

Vacuum your filmholders with the brush attachment just prior to loading. After vacuuming, keep them covered to prevent dust from settling on them. Make sure you vacuum the inside and the top of the holders to pull dust from the light trap. Insert the darkslides fully after vacuuming as well to insure that at least the inside of the holder is clean.

 

When loading, place the stack of film to be loaded face down. Then, pull the darkslide on the holder partway, pick up one sheet of film, stand it straight up and tap the edge two or three times on the loading surface well away from the loading area. (This removes factory dust and edge trimmings. You will be able to see from the little pile of black flakes after you turn on the light just how much junk "clean" film from the factory sometimes has on it.) Then, finish turning the sheet face up and load it into the holder. Close the slide. This process minimizes the amount of exposure time the surface of the film has to collect airborne particles. It can be done in a few seconds with practice.

 

After loading, each holder should go into its own, new, self-sealing plastic bag (Zip-Loc or such, quart or liter size).

 

When shooting, especially in the field, make sure the inside of the camera bellows are dust free (storing the camera carefully helps, but blowing dust out of the bellows regularly is a good idea). Before inserting the filmholder, check it visually to see if there is any dust on the outside. If so, brush or blow it off.

 

Pull the darkslide slowly!

 

After exposure, insert the darkslide and breathe a sigh of relief. Now you can forget about dust until you hang the negatives up to dry!

 

I carry a battery-powered mini-vacuum as well as a wide, soft-bristle paint brush when on the road for cleaning holders before loading. I gave up on using my tent years ago. I just load more holders at a time now to insure I have enough (I have around 80). If I need to reload, I check into a hotel, after examining the room to make sure it is suitable for reloading.

 

Hope this helps a bit, ;^D)

[neil_poulsen1]

Triggered by the post from Doremus, I'm wondering if loading film vertically could help prevent dust. One could have a stand in which to place the film, hold the 4x5 film holder vertically, etc. (Or face down, as Doremus suggests.) I suspect a lot of potential dust comes from loading film horizontally.

 

This won't prevent dust that clings because of static electricity, but it would help prevent floating dust from landing on film while loading.

[greg_pratt1]

Again supporting Doremus' responce may I suggest that one wears well shaken (outside) thin shirt or such. Don't wear a wool shirt or jumper. I reckon wool invents dust just by the movement. And yes move, walk *s_l_o_w_l_y*. And watch any heaters in your chosen loading room, hot air rises taking up the dust with it in the curculating air. Ditto fans. After your preclean and preperation go and have a cup of tea or something giving time for the dust to settle. You should just about be able to get to a state of near dust free.

[tony_galt]

I don't have a great deal of trouble with film holder dust. Maybe I lead a charmed life, I don't know. At any rate, here's my procedure. I load in a tent, which from time to time I wipe down inside with a damp cloth. I spray my holders with anti-static canned air purchased at Office Max or Office Depot. I blow and wipe, if necessary, the holder off before inserting it into the camera. I store holders in 1/2 gallon plastic Zip-Lok bags from the grocery store. The ones that I buy have a folded septum on one side (this unfolds to become the bottom of the freestanding bag when you put stew in it). This neat separates two holders in each back packed so that the darkside pulls are a opposite ends. I live in relatively damp dustless Wisconsin, but this procedure seemed to work fine on a trip to dry dusty New Mexico last summer.

 

I think the key may be the anti-static spray. Oh, and occasionally I do vacumn out the holders as well.

[eugene_singer]

Yaakov, I think you answered your own question. Quickloads, Readyloads, and Polaroid type 55 pos/neg film are the answer. Now, if we could convince the film manufacturers to make more types of B&W film in the Quickload/Readyload packages, it would go a long way toward solving the dust problem. The price, weight, and inconvenience of loading and carrying double- sided filmholders is beginning to make them a thing of the past, especially among commercial photographers who use a lot of color film.

[steve_hovland]

For your darkroom, get some kind of HEPA filter- K-Mart, Target- all kinds of places have them for removing allergens.

[wes_carroll1]

My last film order consisted of nothing but Quickloads. It is more expensive but a lot less trouble. Luckily the film I prefer is available in Quickloads.

[noshir_patel]

Kodak makes TMAX in Readyloads... I've never used anything but Quickloads and Readyloads. Sure I'd like more film choices, but all that hassle and the inability to conveniently carry a lot of film at once just doesn't seem worth it. (Actually, what I'd like is a cheap good light portable high resolution high data storage low power consumtion digial back... but for now, Readyloads and a scanner...)

[ellis_vener_photography]

Readyloads & Quickloads.

[tim_atherton2]

> Readyloads & Quickloads.

 

they don't make them for lots of films (for instance decent B&W) or in 8x10...

[gary_meader]

Yaakov- I used to live in Las Vegas, the middle of the desert,

and the dust was so fine it seemed to come through the glass of

the windows. Two things come to mind to help. About 30

minutes before loading, I spray the area down with a spray bottle

of water, let things settle and wipe up the counter on which I'm to

work. That seems to help knock the dust down better than

steam. The other thing that has helped immensely is that I use

ONLY lint-free cloth as darkroom towels. I get them from my

local hospital for about $5 per bundle. They are cleaned and

sterilized by the time I get them and they have to be dust free

because they are used in surgery. Ask for surgery sponges.

They are truly lintless and have saved me a load of trouble.If you

do ALL of what was recommended in the responses, and if

you're lucky, maybe you'll get by. Good Luck Gary Meader

[john_cook1]

Greetings, Gentlemen. May I suggest an alternative to plastic bags? I carry my clean holders to the jobsite in metal ammo boxes from the army-surplus store. There is a size which will hold a dozen or more 4x5 holders upright (in the order they will be exposed). The boxes have a rubber seal which keeps them water and dust tight. I spray-painted mine bright silver to relect the heat. Regards, John

[domenico_foschi]

What about negative retouching? I have refused to get so

meticoulous about my holders, it really isn't in my nature, so i

decided to learn how to retouch my negatives and i am glad i did

it, it is fun after you have overcome some initial mistakes.

[tim_atherton2]

Likewise, but with the PS Healing Tool as well - works wonders

[john_boeckeler]

I agree with everything Doremus recommends, and I emphasize something he mentions. I dust off the filmholder very carefully just before I put it in the camera. I use a 1" flat camels hair brush , but I suppose any brush will do.

[joe_freeman]

I agree with Domenico. If your negative has dust on it, spot it. Doesn't matter if you over do it, you can then spot the print.

[johan_erasmus]

It might be worth looking at your environment. I had a problem in an apartment where the clothes drier was not vented outside. This resulted in a steady buildup of very fine dust and lint that was not normally visible except when trying to get dust free surfaces for photographic purposes. (Enlarger glasses, scanner glass, negatives etc.) Once the drier was vented properly and the apartment cleaned properly (a weeks worth of work to eliminate the fine dust) then I had no more than the normal problems to deal with. I also replaced the airconditioner filters with more effective material. Having a dust free living area is probably a lot healthier anyway.

 

The other issue to address is the dryness of the air in centrally heated buildings in winter. A humidifier can help for this. We just open the windows as we find in our older building that the temperatures are set far too high anyway.

[photodon]

I agree with most of the help from above, but most plastic/metal containers hold a static charge, and are dust magnets.

I live in The Infamous Silicon Valley, and the best byproduct for our use is the anti-static bags that they ship boards, and components in.

The make all sizes, and some are even zip lock. just make sure not to get the oil based versions. These bags will not attract dust and have cut down on my problems. By the way I shoot with 8 X 10, and they still have bags big enough for three of my holders.

 

By the way, ready loads were never ment to have many types of film. They wanted all the films to have the same asa, so when in the studio, you didn't have to change f stops or speeds! We have enough to think about with out that problem.

www.doncameron.com

[pat_raymore]

I agree with much of what has been said with one addition. But, first, I would like to mention that my holders live and never leave a "zip lock" type quart size plastic bag when not in use. The bags are inexpensive and therefore changed every loading cycle. The holders are cleaned with a bush every loading cycle. The bellows is checked and "dusted" ever so often. This goes a long way in keeping dust out. However, even with this care I still had intermittent dust. Then, more than 10 years ago, I discovered, purely accident, the etiology. Dust in the light trap of the holders.

 

Once, I repeat, ONCE the dark slide on a dusty holder is draw it will ALWAYS throw dust on you film, even if only intermittently. I know of no way of getting rid of the dust in the light trap (except for selling the holder). I have actually broken open holders to verify my theory. NO MORE USED HODLERS FOR ME. I will not take a used holder home even if you gave it to me. It is not worth the aggravation.

 

The first thing that happens to a new holder is that it gets dusted and cleaned, with particular attention paid to the surface of the dark slides. The dark slides are then drawn and the inside gets clean and dusted. I then get put it into a zip lock bag where it lives happily ever after.

 

Since I have performed this ritual it is RARE that I see even one speck of dust on my negatives.

 

Of course this is just my experience and you mileage may vary.