Keeping Track of Films, on the film...

[morback]

I want to find a system that would allow me to keep track of films, on the films...

I remember my dad used to shoot a color card with his name and adress on the first frame of every roll. I want this, plus the ability to put the date or a series of numbers.

For now writing the date on the canister and repeating to the lab people to not lose track of which film is which worked, but I wouldn't mind burning that info on film.

Any ideas?

p.s.: here's the card my dad used. (.pdf file).

 

[FrankS]

Good idea, just do that. Write whatever you want on a piece of paper and photograph it at the beginning of each roll.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

It shouldn't be too hard to write it down and photograph it, or buy a Minolta 7000i. I make a note of the camera body's number and the lens number in my notebook, plus the date and exposure details for each shot. But only when testing lenses or cameras: it stops me taking every shot at f/5.6...

Regards, David

 

[Murchu]

Cool idea and habit to get into. Thanks for highlighting such a simple solution to something I'm sure most of us have thought about at some point 🙂

 

[FrankS]

Due to using a bunch of cameras, I sometimes take a pic of the camera in a mirror with the camera, so I know which camera shot that film.

 

[Kenj8246]

Buy a Nikon F6 and write on the film.

 

[redisburning]

write a note on your phone and take a picture of it?

 

[Spanik]

All very well but if you are using a 6x9 with 8 shots it isn't very efficient.

 

[literiter]

It's too bad we can't get autographic films any more. It was the perfect answer.

 

[FrankS]

All very well but if you are using a 6x9 with 8 shots it isn't very efficient.

And just forget about doing this with sheet film!


😉

 

[hepcat]

When I was running a crime scene unit, we always called that "making a slate." You can include whatever info you deem necessary on the slate and then shoot it. It "wastes" a frame, but it becomes a permanent record in the roll. I still do that from time to time if there's technical data I don't want to lose.

 

[Murchu]

write a note on your phone and take a picture of it?

Or simply jot your notes on the back of the cardboard film box..

 

[Ljós]

Totally agree that keeping better track of dates, details etc. is something that leaves room for improvement with me, too.
What I do, most often at the end of a roll, is to take a picture at minimum focus distance of the New York Times (online) etc. That way I have the date (even from the negative, with a loupe, it is easy to see), and also a quick sense of when in the grand scheme of things the roll was taken.

Here is a method that Cartier-Bresson apparently used:

"From each cassette there protruded a three inch tail of film. He took each cassette and trimmed that tail to half width making about a 3” skinny tab ready to be wound onto the camera spindle when ready. He licked his index finger and wet the emulsion on the tab. With a pen-like tool with a sharp metal end he scratched the wet emulsion and wrote the month, year and the number of the cassette."
http://www.ishupatel.com/bresson.html

 

[Aristophanes]

If you use an iPhone or other smartphone there are a few excellent database apps to do this. FilmTracks and AnaLogger are ones I use.

 

[Gumby]

When I was running a crime scene unit, we always called that "making a slate." You can include whatever info you deem necessary on the slate and then shoot it. It "wastes" a frame, but it becomes a permanent record in the roll. I still do that from time to time if there's technical data I don't want to lose.

I did the same for engineering studies that were being formally documented.

For anything else, though, I just use a notepad and pencil. That's not foolproof and sometimes I find that my notes aren't as meaningful as I thought they were when originally written.

 

[sepiareverb]

When I was running a crime scene unit, we always called that "making a slate." You can include whatever info you deem necessary on the slate and then shoot it. It "wastes" a frame, but it becomes a permanent record in the roll. I still do that from time to time if there's technical data I don't want to lose.

I did the same for engineering studies that were being formally documented.

I've used this method also. Worked for a studio a long time ago that did a huge job every year where the sequence was integral to the coverage. We shot a self portrait and then our hands counting (or someone else's hands when we got beyond the 5th roll) every time we loaded.

This is a vastly easier prospect when developing your own. When I shot stock the slides got sent out, and the lab was always 100% right with keeping films keyed to my numbering system on the cassette and in my notebook. A careful lab is a good lab.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I carry a Moleskine notebook in the field and write what I shot, where it was, when, and what gear, film, etc. I used.

After I develop the film, the roll goes in a print-file page, which has a roll number written on it, and in another notebook, I record the roll number, developing info (developer, time, temp, agitation, etc), gear used to shoot the photos, subject, location, date, etc.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

write a note on your phone and take a picture of it?

I type out a note on my computer and then photograph the screen.

 

[Clay]

Back in the day, newspapers filed notches in the film guide rails
so the set-up guys, editors, and printers knew which
photographer to credit with the shot. Don't know how or if
they identified the film.
Best regards,
/Clay

 

[sepiareverb]

I carry a Moleskine notebook in the field and write what I shot, where it was, when, and what gear, film, etc. I used.

After I develop the film, the roll goes in a print-file page, which has a roll number written on it, and in another notebook, I record the roll number, developing info (developer, time, temp, agitation, etc), gear used to shoot the photos, subject, location, date, etc.

Similar to my method, except I assign the roll number in the Moleskine and write it on the film cassette as it comes out of the camera. I've done this since about 1989 or so, after a long road trip and no clue which roll was which.