decent negative sleeves, por favor

4

40oz

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does anyone have any suggestions for negative sleeves that won't encourage scratching of the negatives? I'm currently using PrintFile brand, and while they have a billion different versions and sizes, all seem to be the same essential design - a tight-fitting sandwich of a softer plastic. The problem is any grit will tend to stick to the sleeve and scratch my film.

I've noticed processing labs typically use a loose fitting frosted sleeve of a different type of plastic. That type seems far better than what I've ben using. The only drawback is they don't seem to be designed for use with 3-hole binders. This type would be OK if I could store them in a binder for easy oragnaization and retrieval. Does anyone know if such a thing exists, and where to procure them?

Ideally, there would be a clear, three-hole punched sleeve that used a fold or flap rather than a tight "sleeve" arrangement. Produced from a harder plastic that didn't allow for grit to be easily embedded. And it would be free (as long as I'm dreaming) :)

I knew what I was using was not the best idea, but I've never been able to find anything else. And I just discovered one of my favorite images is now scratched from the sleeve :grrrr:
 
I use paper pages in a four ring binder system. Similar things are available from a lot of suppliers. The paper seems a bit less static-prone than the plastic variety and, on the brands I have seen, the mounting holes are stronger too.
 
Hey, 40oz.

I've gone through similar troubles with my setup, but I settled on a hybrid approach - I put my negs into flapped sleeves and slide these into the storage pages. No scratching anymore.

There were a few discussions a while back on a similar topic, where I shared my methods (in exhausting detail, if you're interested) - this one and this one come to mind.

I like the Filmguard brand stuff; you can order it over the Web no problem. Printfile's Ultima series are a good alternative for storage pages that can hold sleeved negs. Hope this info is useful.


Cheers,
--joe.
 
Clear File Archival Plus works for me.

Now, before you blame it on the sleeves, make sure you load the negatives in a place where there's good air circulation. Otherwise, you'll get dust all over. I just found out that if I develop and load my stuff in the basement, I get some dust in the sleeves, so I take the film upstairs and sleeve it in the dining room or the kitchen (and my wife doesn't mind) with no problem whatsoever.

Take care! :)
 
I found that it was easy to damage my negs as they were slid into their Clear file sleeves and especially when I tried to drag them out. When I ran out of sleeves, as a temporary measure, I put them into the paper envelopes that come with junk mail. As I now scan them and label the envelopes, my need for the clear file is not so great. Now I have half a shoe box full, I will probably stick with it.
(It's cheap too, so appeals to my cheapskate side). I wonder if they will be OK in their paper home for years?
 
Not going to be anywhere near free, but Light Impressions makes several other styles of pages (or did I haven't checked lately). One thing I didn't like was they were sized to go into special binders- I shoot too much to shell out so much for their binders. I may still have some around that I was given by someone to try. I use the Print File 357B and some other number (talk about a wacky numbering system) for my XPAN negs, and haven't had trouble with scratching my b&w films. Binders are on a shelf right outside the darkroom.

In addition to plastic pages/sleeves of both polypropylene & mylar (sleeves only I think) Limp also had for years and may still have a paper based system of folders and envelopes that set in those flip top boxes. I like the flip top boxes for my Polaroids- which are stored in mylar sleeves- as they are easy to flip through when looking for something.
 
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