Do you ever use Date Stamps?

[Archiver]

As a kid, having a date stamp on a photograph was always a cool thing, as it meant that it was taken with a 'modern' camera, and not one of Dad's clunky SLR's.

With digital cameras, you only need to look at EXIF data to see when a photo was taken, even though some offer the option of a date stamp in jpeg mode.

But now, as I look back through my family's film photos, I'm finding quite a bit of difficulty in working out when photos without date stamps were taken. And when I shoot film a whole year or more can pass before I finish a roll, so a date stamp on a film photo can be quite valuable.

Does anyone use the date stamp function these days?

 

[bence8810]

Not date stamps, I use filmtrackr.com and label all my negative sleeves with the same name I keep it on filmtrackr. I only shoot film since 2013 Dec so this isn't a historical problem for me obviously.

Ben

 

[Pherdinand]

i think there was an option on some cameras to stamp between frames.
I would never use a date stamp within the frame. It practically ruins the image. It's ok if you are only shooting family snaps without any specific purpose and you KNWO you won't want to enlarge etc.

Of course if it's digital in the workflow, it's mostly easy to remove the stamp

 

[bjornkeizers]

Oh gosh no, in fact, I highly encourage everyone to not use that, ever.

I know the date stamp once served a valuable function, but today it looks incredibly dated. And once it's on there, it's on there. I'd hate to take "the shot of my life" and have a big date stamp on the negative.

Probably the best thing to do is just keep track of it on your smartphone. There's probably a few apps that can help with that, or even put something in Excel if you really have to.

You could also write the date on the film leader, which I've seen a few times. I personally save my lab-developed negatives in their envelopes which have dates on them already. That at least gives some indication as to when you shot it.

 

[c.poulton]

My Fuji GA 645Zi prints date and settings information in tiny text underneath each frame. (You have to use a loupe to view it, but I find that it does come in very useful). My Olympus Mju II has a "Quartz Date function" that stamps the date right over the exposed frame :bang: I never use it...

 

[burancap]

The Contax with the GD-2 back allows "collective imprinting" of all exposures on the first two advanced blank frames and/or singularly between frames.

 

[pvdhaar]

Many labs print the processing date and the negative number on the back side of a photo..

 

[hamradio]

My Fuji GA 645Zi prints date and settings information in tiny text underneath each frame.

I love this about my GA645. I get the date and exposure info neatly printed into the film's rebate. It's super slick.

 

[vbsoto]

Guess I'm a contrarian here. I used it heavily when I was shooting film with my EOS Elan IIE. I actually bought it for that feature. I would shoot a blank frame each day with the date stamp on. 90% of my photos are of family life and I always caption my prints with a date so this method worked great. If I ever did forget to turn off the date stamp I simply used the healing bush to clean up the image. The date is legible on the negative and this allows me to add the date tag at the time of scanning as well typing it in the appropriate field using Vuescan.

 

[MrFujicaman]

I did when I was taking pictures of my house being remodeled. I have the negs in a safety deposit box in case I ever have to file an insurance claim.

 

[john_s]

i think there was an option on some cameras to stamp between frames.......

I print the date between negatives with my Nikon F6. The F4 had an alternative film back that did it too, as well as other functions (MF-23 Data Control Back)

 

[Archiver]

Having the date stamp between frames would be a great option. Most consumer cameras put it right on the image, though. Boon and bane, because many photos exist only as prints and not negatives, but it does clutter the image.

In going through our old photos, I found that very few prints had the date of printing on the back. Most of them had some code for the processors but no date, unfortunately.

I don't mind a date stamp as long as I can clone it out in post. I'm of two minds about using date stamps on a trip, as a photo I really want to print large might be beyond my ability to clone or heal. On the other hand, it would show me exactly when an image was taken, which I value pretty highly.

 

[hamradio]

Having the date stamp between frames would be a great option.

Well, the Fuji GA645s do exactly that, in the rebate area of the negative...

 

[farlymac]

I have a habit of buying interesting P&S cameras in the junk shops. Some of them are the higher end models with date stamping, and my plan always is to put the stamp on the first pic, then shut it off. Only problems with that plan is 1: Forgetting to turn it on, and 2: Forgetting to turn it off. Usually a little magic work in PS, or some judicious cropping takes care of the unwanted stamps.

PF

 

[Bill Clark]

After developing a roll of film, dry, I cut into strips of 6 exposures. After I make a contact print, using an 8 x 10 sheet, I write on the outside of a plain white standard envelope information that includes the year and month. Negs go into the envelope and taped to the back of the contact print.

Simple.

Works for me.