Next reloadable cassette question - IXMOO on the road

[sanmich]

Next question on how to move from preloaded cassettes to reloadable ones:

How do you travel?

I mean, if you don't have the many dozens of cassettes necessary to cover a full trip, do you take a few bulk rolls and reload the cassettes.

This, in itself, doesn't sound problematic. Even sounds better on the chapter of weight and bulk.
The real question is: what to you do with the exposed film?
Find a way to process it on the road?
If not how would you safely keep them until the return home? (sounds a bit tricky)

 

[Tom A]

Micheal, as a rule I dont travel with IXMOO's - particularly if it involves airtravel. Security keeps thinking that they are cartridges for 50 cal. guns! "So you say these are film canisters - prove it!"
Traveling on the road, train or car, you can take a small cache, 20 or so and a changing bag and reload (lots of band-aids as using sharp scissors in a changing bag usually involves cuts). You can put the exposed film strips in the 100 ft film can (re-use the plastic bag as a safety measure.
Salgado did something like that when he shot the Sahel book (Ethiopia). Loaded and stored the exposed film in the cans until he could process them.
A friend went to Russia some years ago and did the same thing. Brought back multiple cans with strips of film. He did not have access to a darkroom when he returned so I volunteered to process the film. He had stuffed the cans full! Amazing how many 37-38 exposure strips you could get in to one of them. Opening them in the darkroom was like a Jack-in-the Box - film kept flying out until I got the hang of it. 4-5 cans held more than 150 rolls of TriX and Russian Type 17 film. Cans have to be taped shut though with multiple strips of tape!!!!
IXMOO's are also heavy - more than 5-6 in a pocket causes you to list heavily! Always take enough to do a full 100 ft can of film (19-20 IXMOO's) as then you can put the exposed film in the now empty can and seal it up - and you will at least a couple of days stock for shooting.

 

[sanmich]

Security keeps thinking that they are cartridges for 50 cal. guns! "So you say these are film canisters - prove it!"

exactly my concern, and even more so: "nice round tin can. Please open it..."

Good story too...🙂

 

[Tom A]

exactly my concern, and even more so: "nice round tin can. Please open it..."

Good story too...🙂

Interestingly enough - they dont seem to mind the tin cans - particularly if you write "Exposed Film" and "Do Not X-ray" in large red letters on it. They have never asked me to open 100 ft cans in my travels. The X-ray ting is another story - but if you use TriX or something below 1000 iso you should be safe.

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

Tom I learned a tough lesson recently when flying to germany. I left about 10 IXMOO`s in my luggage 400 iso RPX. when arriving in Köln. the luggage had orange stickers all around, with letters. When developed it was hard to see the images from base fog, it was that bad.. never again IXMOO`s on air luggage...

 

[sanmich]

Tom I learned a tough lesson recently when flying to germany. I left about 10 IXMOO`s in my luggage 400 iso RPX. when arriving in Köln. the luggage had orange stickers all around, with letters. When developed it was hard to see the images from base fog, it was that bad.. never again IXMOO`s on air luggage...

Maybe the IXMOOs raised suspicion, but I think that regardless of the type of cassette, sending films in check in luggage is the wrong thing to do due to much higher Xray doses.

 

[Tom A]

Checked luggage is "fried" with X-rays - dont really know why as you cant access it while in the plane. Only reason would be explosives in the suitcases or something like that.
A couple of years ago we were coming back from Sweden (via Dusseldorf Airport) and I had found 20 IXMOO's in Stockholm. Not loaded - but security insisted that I open each and everyone to check the insides! On the screen they did look strange - round, cartridge looking objects - and I had to explain how they were uses. The security guys swabbed each and everyone - and were quite interested in how they worked.
We dont check luggage - just carry on - and these days the fact that you dont carry a cell-phone, I Pad or lap-top makes you a suspicious character to start with!

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

yes, I think my case was severe, as I was asked to the check room after arrival: quite lenghty interrogation on where I was traveling, why I came to germany etc.. maybe it was not very wise to have a fatah white / black scarf around my neck after all... During that time, everything I had with me was checked in another room. Just makes me stick to my habit of traveling with my R 25 turbo on the continent...

 

[sanmich]

Interestingly enough - they dont seem to mind the tin cans - particularly if you write "Exposed Film" and "Do Not X-ray" in large red letters on it. They have never asked me to open 100 ft cans in my travels. The X-ray ting is another story - but if you use TriX or something below 1000 iso you should be safe.

Well, I'm don't think I'm gonna risk it, but if It's gonna be a simple trip back and forth, I wonder if I could just make sure to carry only empty cassettes (or unexposed remaining ones to limit the risks to damage actual pictures).

Nahhh...
I'll just buy some regular film. This alone is already strange enough our days...😉

 

[johannielscom]

Michael,

If you got a firm grip on your nerves and somebody staying at home, you could send the can home as a parcel. But, given the location of your home stead, parcel mail might be scanned and inspected too...?😕

 

[ChrisN]

In this article, a young Indian photographer who had the good fortune to briefly travel with HCB as his assistant describes the way that Henri managed his film while travelling. It sounds very like the approach Tom describes above.

 

[sanmich]

Michael,

If you got a firm grip on your nerves and somebody staying at home, you could send the can home as a parcel. But, given the location of your home stead, parcel mail might be scanned and inspected too...?😕

Good solution.
I don't think there is an Xray problem for regular post, but the films could easily get cooked by the heat in transit (during summer at least)

In this article, a young Indian photographer who had the good fortune to briefly travel with HCB as his assistant describes the way that Henri managed his film while travelling. It sounds very like the approach Tom describes above.

Great read Chris, thanks for sharing.
This indeed is the kodak box drill I had in mind, although the time HCB was travelling was a bit before all the post 911 measures. even before the first security issues in civilian air transportation in the 70's, so one can't really know how easy or safe it was back then.

 

[Ljós]

In this article, a young Indian photographer who had the good fortune to briefly travel with HCB as his assistant describes the way that Henri managed his film while travelling. It sounds very like the approach Tom describes above.

Thanks Chris, I was gonna reference this article too, since it is right up the alley regarding sanmich's question - you beat me too it 🙂 Truly a fun read:

"After changing in to his night clothes, he sat on his bed and assembled two large Kodak film cans, each distinctly marked “Exposed” and “Unexposed”, a black cloth zippered bag, a dozen or more film cassettes, a pair of scissors and a roll of black plastic tape. He arranged them neatly on his bed and asked me not to disturb him or talk to him for an hour, but just to watch what he does and if I have any questions he will answer me later."

🙂

Greetings, Ljós

 

[sanmich]

Just wondering about the small details:
If you have films already in the metal box, how would you insert the next one?

 

[Ronald M]

I would use for air travel cans of 100` and empty IXMOO. Load them there, transfer to cheap cassetts before returning marking them used or not.

I use a bench winder, so a trip requires something creative. A Watson loader will open/close cassettes , but there is exposed film on the tail out of necessity. Tom uses a hand winder tool so a changing bag works for him. He has a You Tube Video on how it is done.

Digital is really the savior at airports. X ray always damages film to some degree. Multiple passes cause more and more damage. Even one pass puts some fog on film, maybe light and hard to see, but it is there.

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

I think a daylight loader of IXMOO`s would be a great thing. one that opens and closes the cassettes in the same way as leica body.

 

[ChrisN]

Just wondering about the small details:
If you have films already in the metal box, how would you insert the next one?

For the exposed film? I would tape the end of the latest strip of exposed film to the end of the previous one, and roll it on.

I've just had a thought - for the unexposed film you could do something similar, after cutting the film into the correct length for the number of exposures you prefer to work with. Many years ago you could buy strips of film this way, pre-cut for loading into your own cartridges.

 

[sanmich]

Short update:

I flew to Berlin and back, and I grabbed four cassettes (FILCAs) and a round metal kodak film box.
three X-ray passes.
No reaction.
Now of course, it's far from a statistic, and worse, it doesn't answer the question: what do you do if...
Which reminds me that I traveled with 16mm cine rolls several times with no issue either.
I wonder if the security persons are aware that film come in all sorts of formats and tastes?

 

[Pioneer]

I have traveled to South America and back twice carrying Contax cassettes (very similar to IXMOO's) and did not encounter any problems, even coming back into the US. I made sure they had no film in them so if questions were asked I could demonstrate their use, but nothing. Actually it was a bit anti-climactic. They were way more interested in making sure I was carrying no liquids, and that my laptop was out for them to inspect then any of my film gear.

I use my Watson day loader to load the cassettes on the road, it works out great, and I off-load the exposed film into one of my empty film cans. Tape one end to the end of the most recent, and wind it up some more. Put it back in the black bag and into the can. It is actually more of a pain to load onto my reels for developing when I get back home than it is working with the cassettes on the road.

I do have a couple observations though. I have noticed that the film did not seem to be as apt to curl up after developing. Maybe being wound onto the larger roll in the can helped relax the curl a bit...but it was probably just my imagination! 🙄

My other observation is that those that preceded us had their own difficulties to work with. I have heard some gripe about having to download their digital pictures after a day of shooting, but that really doesn't compare to unloading 15 to 20 cassettes after a day of shooting, and then reloading them for the next day. It kind of puts a different spin on things. And I can certainly understand why assistants were so popular! 😀

 

[Tom A]

I just finished loading 1200 ft of XX in my IXMOO's! I think there is an IXMOO version of "Karpal tunnel syndrome" - once you have wound up 30 or 40, the right hand is hanging rather limply! However, now I am set for a while with XX (and about 70+ rolls of TriX in Nikon cassettes).
I am keeping my "regular" loads, Arista 400 Premium and TriX as "travel" film though.
Happy Holidays and f8 1/250s and be there.