Negative storage- keep every strip, or individual frames?

[Gareth Rees]

All in strips of six

 

[mwoenv]

I keep all. A great pleasure is to go back over previous work and see something that is worthy of printing now that wasn't right after you took it years ago. It's satisfying to see it was worth taking at the time.

 

[Lauffray]

I keep everything too. when I first started with film I would cut out some frames or throw out some rolls (go figure), now I keep everything

 

[oftheherd]

One used to read how one could sometimes go back to rejects and combine them. I saw some good examples of that in magazines. So I always kept all mine.

However, I never tried making photos from those.

 

[sanmich]

At several occasions I discovered real pearls years after I decided they were not keepers.

I keep them all...

 

[crawdiddy]

I keep 'em all, but in 5 frame strips, and then put those in PrintFile pages, and then put those in 3 ring notebooks, and then put those in dust tight boxes. I have all of my negatives going back to 1979.

Also like this ^.

Reason for 5 frames per strip is because PrintFile makes nifty sleeves holding 7x5 frames on a single page. Also, you can contact print that page on 8x10. The contact sheet then slips into an extra sleeve on the same page. Nice and neat....except most 36 exposure rolls yield about 37-38 frames. If there are obvious bad frames, I sometimes cut out the bad one, and scotch tape the strip back together. Or if I have extra frames on the roll, I add them to a Miscellaneous page.

These are B&W only. The color negatives are more problematic.

 

[coelacanth]

I keep them in 5-frame strips because I've got bunch of 5x7 binder inserts. I shoot only 35 frame per roll so one roll can fit in one page.

 

[KevinS]

I cut 120 film into strips 8 inches or less and 35mm into 6 frames because that is what my scanner takes. I keep nearly everything, but throw out bad frames if it works out when I do the cutting. The strips go into appropriately sized clear pages, the pages go into archival print storage boxes. My oldest stuff is from about 1990.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

So, do you guys keep all your negative strips, or just the keepers?

I am very traditionalist, put all strips cut in six or seven frames length into paper container with a year, mount, roll id number ad a short description of where the pictures are from. I also mark on a page which frames I have printed and for each of them I preserve one of the test print and on it I write all the burning and dodging I have done in the final version.

GLF

 

[crawdiddy]

I am very traditionalist, put all strips cut in six or seven frames length into paper container with a year, mount, roll id number ad a short description of where the pictures are from. I also mark on a page which frames I have printed and for each of them I preserve one of the test print and on it I write all the burning and dodging I have done in the final version.

GLF

Yep, me too. I mark the back of contact sheet indicating which frames have been printed, and the details (size, as in distance of enlarger head from base, and also print size, exposure time, aperture, contrast, burn & dodge stats). The idea is that I could reprint much more easily without having to experiment all over again. Yes, it's a little OCD.

 

[t.s.k.]

I try to never leave less than 3 frames per strip (or roughly the same equivalent length). Wet printing and scanning become a tedious/impossible affair with anything smaller. Sometimes my rolls don't divide equally into 6 frame strips so I plan ahead when I cut, even if I must use another printfile sheet. Actually I use the oversize 6 by 7 sheets which always keeps things together.

So why keep everything? You'll be surprised at what you find important at different stages of life.

 

[L Collins]

Strips of 5, stored in plastic sleeves containing 35 negatives. sleeves go into three ring binders.

I have every negative I've shot since 1970. One binder per year. I'm working on my 43rd binder.

This is so my executors can discover my documentary genius and make me famous after my demise.

 

[williams473]

I can't imagine throwing away a single negative. Even rolls that have no prints within them are useful, and the time and effort to produce them makes them worth keeping. When I read this post I had to dig up one of my favorite quotes from Eugene Smith:

“Negatives are the notebooks, the jottings, the false starts, the whims, the poor drafts, and the good draft but never the completed version of the work. The completed version, a print, should be sufficient and fair return for a magazine’s investment, for it is the means of fulfilling the magazine’s purpose. The print and a proper one is the only completed photograph, whether it is specifically shaded for reproduction, or for a museum wall. Negatives are private, as is my bedroom.”

 

[DNG]

I keep all my negatives stored in a cardboard box in sleeves and that within envelopes. My digital images however I am concerned about! 🙂

I hear you....
On an unused HD, 20 -30 years.... IE,, a HD that is full and is stored in an air conditioned area...Not sure on SSHD's

Archive DVDs $4-6 each... only 8gig max... 100 years.... 1TB is 125 DVDs $650... BUT, it is 125 DVDS per Terabyte!

BlueRay... 128gig at over $120 each.... 100 years .... 1TB is 8 Blueray $1,000 almost double the DVD rate, BUT is less time consuming with only 8 BR disks to record...

 

[John Bragg]

I have always stored all my negatives in trans sleeves. I have everything back to day one, and dont regret keeping them. I operate on the principle that even seemingly frivolous and unimportant shots have meaning over time. Someone may die or a scene may change forever. I prefer to hold on to my slices through time....

 

[Tom A]

How much volume does 10K rolls take up?

Being a swede - I use IKEA shelving and so far they occupy about 30 feet of shelves. I am in the process of refiling them to thicker binder (2") that will hold 150 sheet each - instead of the current Booth binders that only will hold 50/binder. Should free up some space when done!

 

[MIkhail]

Just the keepers.

Unlike others, I am do not plan on living forever 🙂