Talus
pan sin sal
I always inadvertently nip one frame with scissors. Interested in a better solution.
How do you cut your negatives?
- Thread starter ChrisPlatt
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Beemermark
Veteran
With scissors
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
Not happy with other alternatives, I have decided to give the Tonic Studios/Tim Holtz 6¼" mini guillotine cutter a try.
It's inexpensive; about $20 brand new, shipping included. I will report back on how well it works in this application.
Chris
It's inexpensive; about $20 brand new, shipping included. I will report back on how well it works in this application.
Chris
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JeffS7444
Well-known
I just tried a Matin film cutter for the first time, and it worked great. In some ways, I thought the JJC product looked nicer, but the need for USB power and spare blades meant more clutter too, and I wanted to avoid that.
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
I cut my first roll of film with the mini-guillotine cutter.
It's fast and not fussy to use like some other options.
IMO less handling means less chance of scratching.
I expect the large blade will stay sharp a long time.
Chris
It's fast and not fussy to use like some other options.
IMO less handling means less chance of scratching.
I expect the large blade will stay sharp a long time.
Chris
Cascadilla
Well-known
A safe bet--I've been using the same pair of scissors for at least the last 20 years for this over a lightbox and they still work perfectly.
Andrew Sowerby
Well-known
Scissors, lightbox and a steady hand.
I nip the left side corners of each five-image strip at 45 degrees so they slide into negative sleeves more easily. I think I got that tip from Chris Crawford's website?
And I always shoot 35 frames on a roll so it fits into a Printfile 35-7B page with no extra scraps hanging around.
I nip the left side corners of each five-image strip at 45 degrees so they slide into negative sleeves more easily. I think I got that tip from Chris Crawford's website?
And I always shoot 35 frames on a roll so it fits into a Printfile 35-7B page with no extra scraps hanging around.
chuckroast
Well-known
I finally broke down and retired my old Bogen light box with fluorescent lighting and switched to a flat LED artist's light pad. Much lighter and brighter. Under $20.
Bonus - you can use it as a makeshift transparency/negative backlight for scanning on a conventional flatbed scanner. Perfect? Nope, but a useful hack nonetheless.
Ljós
Well-known
With scissors. And as others pointed out, it's a good idea to use a known pair of sharp scissors with thin blades. In my early days of film developing I discovered some strange marks at the borders of my negatives, sometimes even affecting the margins of the images themselves, even if the cut did not touch them. It turned out that the scissors had warped and marred the negatives. I've been using a dedicated pair of scissors since then and never had any further problems.
OmegaB600
Member
this is almost word for word a repeat of a thread i saw on leica forum few months back.
DownUnder
Vamoosed (for a while)
I chop them in strips of five, and put them in archival folders.
Had an uncle by marriage, who had been a banker in Asia in the 1920s and 1930s. He owned a Contax and a Rollei TLR. His negatives were (35) rolled up and put in film canisters, in those long ago days all made of metal. The 120s went in a cardboard box.
I borrowed the negatives from my aunt to make contact sheets for her to look at.
It took me years to get the '35 rolls out of those damn cans and carefully, slowly unrolled so I could contact print them. Even then I had to hang them up on coat hangers with film clips attached, for a week or even two weeks before they were 'unstiff' enough to be contact-printed.
She was most grateful, even if almost all the images were mostly tourist snaps, none of which we could really identify as he was overfond of Asian rural landscapes. Far too many terraced rice fields and rows of pretty palms - I'm good at taking those too, I had enough of my own already.
For all that we didn't lose one roll, tho' some were scratched or had bits of film emulsion rubbed off from age.
The only plus in it for me was, years later I sold all those ancient film cans - they were all the old 'tropical' canisters - on Ebay to collectors, for surprisingly good prices.
Had an uncle by marriage, who had been a banker in Asia in the 1920s and 1930s. He owned a Contax and a Rollei TLR. His negatives were (35) rolled up and put in film canisters, in those long ago days all made of metal. The 120s went in a cardboard box.
I borrowed the negatives from my aunt to make contact sheets for her to look at.
It took me years to get the '35 rolls out of those damn cans and carefully, slowly unrolled so I could contact print them. Even then I had to hang them up on coat hangers with film clips attached, for a week or even two weeks before they were 'unstiff' enough to be contact-printed.
She was most grateful, even if almost all the images were mostly tourist snaps, none of which we could really identify as he was overfond of Asian rural landscapes. Far too many terraced rice fields and rows of pretty palms - I'm good at taking those too, I had enough of my own already.
For all that we didn't lose one roll, tho' some were scratched or had bits of film emulsion rubbed off from age.
The only plus in it for me was, years later I sold all those ancient film cans - they were all the old 'tropical' canisters - on Ebay to collectors, for surprisingly good prices.
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DownUnder
Vamoosed (for a while)
So, well, dutiful (to put it nicely) of you to tell us this, you must now feel - virtuous!!
It shows you are spreading yourself around, and hopefully learning some new things along the way.
#18 and #20 should be of great interest to you.
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Erik van Straten
Veteran
A safe way is making a blank shot (cover the lens) after every exposure.
PRJ
Another Day in Paradise
Scissors. The key is to place the bottom blade against the film and look at the film from a slight angle. You will see exactly where the scissors are going to cut through the film. If you see daylight, you are gold. Then just drop the top blade through the film.
I sleeve and cut at the same time. Slide the film in the sleeve, then cut it. The less handling the better.
I saw a documentary years ago on Japanese scissor manufacturers. One of the types of scissors they covered was spring scissors I think they are called which are one piece of steel. Someone was using them to edit a film. The way they used them was pretty cool, so I picked some up. I use those for fun. Haven't missed yet. Now watch me butcher the next roll.....
I sleeve and cut at the same time. Slide the film in the sleeve, then cut it. The less handling the better.
I saw a documentary years ago on Japanese scissor manufacturers. One of the types of scissors they covered was spring scissors I think they are called which are one piece of steel. Someone was using them to edit a film. The way they used them was pretty cool, so I picked some up. I use those for fun. Haven't missed yet. Now watch me butcher the next roll.....
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
I use scissors and sometimes mangle a frame but chances it’s a keeper will be slim so that’s ok.
webouser2
Member
I use the JJC Negative Slide Film Cutter. It has a lit panel under the cutting blade so you can see the film. It works well for both 35mm and 120 roll film. Amazon sells them.
Doug A
Well-known
I just bought a JJC cutter when I found that a strip of 120 Kentmere Pan 400 I recently developed was too wide to lay completely flat when passing through my old Matin film cutter. I didn't want to wrinkle the film more than I had with the first couple of frames so I set it aside until the new cutter arrived. It got here today and I finished cutting the strip with no issues. I really like that the JJC has its own light source. Much simpler than getting out the big Logan light box just to cut a roll of film with the Matin.
