Carrying film to shoot, and then once it's shot

D

dbarnes

Well-known
Local time
6:41 PM
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
310
When I was bulk loading film, I used metal snap cap cassettes (Kodak?) that each came in a tiny box. Ten or twelve of those tiny boxes came in another box. Cut off the ends of the tiny boxes, cut off the top of the larger box, put the empty tiny boxes back in the bigger box, apply some masking tape to hold everything together, and voila -- you had a very convenient way to carry a good amount of film. Ten or twelve little pigeonholes, each literally made for a film cassette, but now in one easily handled single unit. I don't claim to have invented this setup. Lots of shooters I knew at the time used it.

My convention was to put each unexposed roll of film into its pigeonhole with the cassette spindle up, and each exposed film film into its pigeonhole with the cassette spindle down. Made it very easy to tell by sight or by feel how my film supply was holding up.

So now I'm shooting factory-packaged film and not digging using loose canisters of film. True, it's easy to keep unexposed film in one pocket and exposed film in another. And film in canisters is safe from moisture.

I did some Googling for film carriers and came up virtually dry.

How do you carry the film you're shooting, and then once you've shot it?
 
I try to do the same thing with my bag which has a row of holes in foam in the cover. Spindle up or down depending on exposure. A couple of years ago I grabbed a couple of rolls of film to take in a cave. When I went to reload the camera, I found I had grabbed exposed rolls. Aaarrrrggg! end of picture taking on that trip.
 
The plastic film carrier from Japan Exposures looks nice. I don't have the need to around 10 rolls of film so I haven't ordered one yet.

So far, I just rip off the small portion of the leader off, which prevents me from loading the canister. This allows me easy access for development and while preventing double exposures.

http://www.japanexposures.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=202
 
Last edited:
I also tear off an inch or two of the leader to signify by both sight and feel that the roll has been exposed.

I like the spindle up / spindle down code too, but would also tear the leaders so that in the case of an accident like spilling all the spools out, there would still be a way of distinguishing the rolls.
 
Am I the only one who keeps unexposed film in the cartons? This makes it easy to tell the unexposed from the exposed rolls which are only in the plastic canister. Of course, I end the day with pockets filled with folded up film boxes, as well as canisters with exposed rolls. Messy, but it works.
 
Depending on the day, event, and/or just how many rolls of film I'm planning to shoot, I'll either use one of these (good to know Porter's is still good for something on the film-shooting front), or hang an open-mouthed Zing pouch off one end of my Domke F803 bag. In either case–ahem–I keep unexposed film, sans canisters, in one pocket of the Domke bag; when I finish up a roll, I fish out a fresh roll from the bag pocket while the film's rewinding (my M2 is just about the only camera i use regularly that isn't motorized); once fully rewound, the old roll is plucked out of the camera, the new roll quickly loaded, then the old roll is dropped into the pouch, or, if I'm using the plastic holder, that comes out from a cargo-pants pocket to place the film in (I recently bought three pair of cargo shorts with just this in mind...I don't even need my Zing bag or the plastic holder when I'm wearing these).


- Barrett
 
I keep ten or twelve rolls in the capped plastic containers in each of my camera bags (I have both SLR and rangefinder kits), and routinely carry five or six in my vest when I roam the streets. Exposed rolls go into a cargo pants pocket.
 
I always roll the film completely into the canister, then open it later with an Ilford canister opener which costs almost nothing - I am surprised that more people don't use these tools and resort to leaving the leader out of hacking away with a bottle opener (like I used to).
 
Unexposed in box/ exposed in plastic film cannister & cargo pants. Opener less than ten bucks at Freestyle. 120 just goes in the pants.

I've recently been keeping my unexposed C-41 at room temperature, but summer is coming and I'm wondering if storing exposed film for 45 days is best done at room temperature or in a small film refrigerator. I don't want to open my 5L kit until I can immediately use the first liter.
 
I like leaving the film leader out to mark notes such as date, exposure rating, and equipment used. Writing on the canister is a struggle and when your out for days at a time it gets hard to memorize which roll is which without some note system.
 
ItsReallyDarren said:
I like leaving the film leader out to mark notes such as date, exposure rating, and equipment used. Writing on the canister is a struggle and when your out for days at a time it gets hard to memorize which roll is which without some note system.
Click to expand...
That's where a Sharpie is your friend. Writes on damned near anything. Used 'em for decades.


- Barrett
 
Strip canisters out of boxes; tape box end to canister with clear adhesive tape; remove taped-on box end for exposed film; always rewind fully.

Reduces bulk while maximizing protection; makes it easy to tell whether there's an unexposed roll in the box, or not; removes risk of re-using exposed film.

Cheers,

R.
 
The two pockets on the Billingham. Unexposed rolls in one, exposed in the other. Using sharpie to mark dates on the exposed roll.
 
I did not know it could be so complicated! If on a short day trip I just keep unexposed film in the original canister inside a pocket of my bag that I can get to quickly and the exposed rolls go in the cargo pocket of my trousers. I rewind rolls fully unless I need to change films mid roll in which case I write the frame number with a permi pen on the casette so I know what frame to advance to.

If on a longer trip, I move exposed film to a plastic bag at the end of each day.
 
le vrai rdu said:
I rewind completely the film in the roll


I open it with a beer bottle opener

you cannot be wrong this way
Click to expand...


Exactly what I do! And the best part is that since you have the opener out, you might as well pop the cap off a bottle so that you have something to sip on while you soup the film :D
 
I like Roger's system, because keeping the unexposed film in the box is too bulky. My latest concern and new measure relates to whether I have all the exposed film or not. On a recent coastal holiday with RF and SLR gear, tripod, telescope, binoculars, it was getting pretty complicated. I suddenly had a crisis that there should have been 7 exposed rolls in one bag and there were only six. What was missing? Was anything really missing? Would it only be weeks later, when a shot I clearly remembered taking or a whole sequence, were nowhere in my archives? Fortunately it became clear that I had lost nothing. But I now put all exposed rolls in a zipped pocket which is only for exposed film.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom