How do you cut your negatives?

[defconfunk]

"With scissors!"

I'm having a less than perfect time cutting my negatives into 4 or 5 frame strips (depending on which archival sheets I'm using). With bright images (mostly black frame edge), finding my 1-2mm wide strip to cut is easy. But when I have a series of dark images (very light negatives) I find it really hard to cut the negative cleanly. Last night I took a chunk out of a frame by mistake (thankfully it wasn't a good shot anyways, but it still sucked :bang🙂.

I'm wondering if anyone has any tricks they would like to share?
-cutting mat with a roller or xacto?
-fancy gimmic?
-steady hands a pair of sharp scissors?

 

[eyesglassy]

A little pair of scissors. I like Fiskars.

 

[dfatty]

i like the dr. t film cutter on *bay. not cheap but works great on a light table or even just holding it up to a light.

 

[Murchu]

Scissors, using the markings on the film as a guide, if the demarcation of the image is not clear. Haven't cut through any images yet (thankfully).

 

[ruby.monkey]

Small pair of scissors; I measure the film strip against one with easily-visible frames if I have problems working out where its frames lie.

 

[Shutterspark]

I just use any old scissors. The only time I had trouble finding the edge of the frames was when I tried to develop E6 at home (it didn't go well).

I'm just making this up on the spot, but if you have very dark frames adjacent to each other then you could just cut off 2 strips of masking tape to the length of a frame (using a bright frame as a guide) and stick it along the either side of the strip where you're having trouble to help you judge where to cut.

 

[Kenj8246]

Scissors. But then, I'm usually cutting medium format negs...little easier to see for my tired old eyes.

 

[zauhar]

Exacto knife + metal ruler + waste cardboard to cut on.

Good solution if your negatives have tight spacing (especially when using a wide angle lens)

Randy

 

[Chris101]

If it's so underexposed that you can't see the edge, it doesn't really matter, does it?

 

[Particular]

This issue was discussed before;

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-113643.html

My scissors method;
I take a piece of thin card (often from some junk mail) and fold it neatly double. I cut the width of the card down to one frame length. That way if I have a thin negative that doesn't show the frame line, I can use the previous frame to line it up to. I then slide the negative in between and line up the space between the frames with the edge of the card. I can now easily hold it tight, avoiding finger prints, and I have a nice straight edge to cut past. It works for 35mm as well as 120 film.

 

[kmallick]

i like the dr. t film cutter on *bay. not cheap but works great on a light table or even just holding it up to a light.

+1. I use one like this (on a light table) I bought off of eBay:

 

[literiter]

If you tear a little bit of the neg with your teeth, it will rip right straight across.....usually.

 

[Keith]

I disagree about the little scissors ... the long bladed type (kitchen) are far better and are more likely to stay on track and give you a straight clean cut.

 

[kxl]

Only expose every other frame so you have plenty of room for cutting errors? 😉

 

[Photo_Smith]

With 35mm you can find an edge on one frame and either count sprockets or edge marking/frame numbers.
I use long sharp scissors.

 

[Murchu]

I disagree about the little scissors ... the long bladed type (kitchen) are far better and are more likely to stay on track and give you a straight clean cut.

Agreed, and a good point. I always use long bladed kitchen scissors, and get a nice straight and clean cut.

 

[Keith]

The other tip I may offer is I use a sheet of white plastic like an oversized place mat. On this I have a template marked with a sharpie for a six negative strip based on average frame spacing.

 

[Richard G]

Tiny scissors from the Swiss Army Card. But I think Keith might be right. I just prefer to see both sides of the gap at the same time.

 

[Godfrey]

With a sharp pair of scissors, quickly. ;-)

Honestly, I do my best to make a straight cut as that gets through the scanner easiest. But once I've scanned the negs, I shred them, so if I make an error, eh? not a big deal. I'm not going to regret it in the future, I just scan what I can.

 

[RichW]

I use a Kaiser Diacut which I bought cheaply on ebay used (99 Pence)

http://www.kaiser-fototechnik.de/en/produkte/2_1_produktanzeige.asp?nr=2115

Cheers, R