38 Frames Per Roll? How about 39?

Shawn Rahman · Jan 6, 2011

With my M7, I finally figured out a way to squeeze 38 out of a roll of Tri-X, with the first frame at 00, the next at 0, and the last at 36. Is there a way to squeeze another one at the end to make it to 37, and thus, 39 total frames? Just curious. Thanks!

Rol_Lei Nut · Jan 7, 2011

Roll your own....

degruyl · Jan 7, 2011

Am I the only person who prefers shorter rolls? (from both a developing and shooting perspective, I find it annoying to deal with 36 frame rolls).

In any case, the answer is above.

Toffle · Jan 7, 2011

degruyl said:
Am I the only person who prefers shorter rolls? (from both a developing and shooting perspective, I find it annoying to deal with 36 frame rolls).

The very first thing that my instructor said when I took a darkroom workshop was to always finish a roll at 35... which, of course, I don't do, but it is a pain dealing with the frames that don't fit on an 8x10 contact sheet. I usually end up with two extra frames on a roll, so I start building an odds and ends page with the leftovers. The thing is, those are often interesting shots that I just manage to catch at the end of a roll, which I might miss if I have to change film, or even worse, run out of film altogether.

One other thing to consider is having to cut your negative strips with such a small gap between frames. My scissors skills are not nearly as steady as my shooting.

Cheers,

Rick A · Jan 7, 2011

Why not buy a Nikon or Olympus and shoot with a 250 exposure back. Shoot all day, shoot a little longer.

Toffle · Jan 7, 2011

ralnphot said:
Why not buy a Nikon or Olympus and shoot with a 250 exposure back. Shoot all day, shoot a little longer.

Now, that would be some contact sheet!

perkeleellinen · Jan 7, 2011

I used to get 39.5* frames out of a Konica Auto S3 because of the very short length between the roll and the take up spool. But why stop at frame 36? Why not also shoot frame 'E'?

* Half of frame 'X' plus '00', '0' and 'E' at the other end.

Konical · Jan 7, 2011

"The very first thing that my instructor said when I took a darkroom workshop was to always finish a roll at 35... "

Good Morning,

Toffle is right, and, as others have indicated, the primary problem with extra frames lies in the contacting--unless, by great good fortune, an obviously worthless shot or two happen to lie at exactly the point where it/they can be clipped out and discarded as the roll is cut into separate strips.

Something no one has mentioned so far: With slide film, squeezing out an extra frame or two can be considered a bonus.

Konical

ath · Jan 7, 2011

Toffle said:
but it is a pain dealing with the frames that don't fit on an 8x10 contact sheet.

Just use the proper size for contact sheets - 24x30cm; 7 lines with 6 frames no problem ;-)

Shawn Rahman · Jan 7, 2011

ralnphot said:
Why not buy a Nikon or Olympus and shoot with a 250 exposure back. Shoot all day, shoot a little longer.

Funny - don't think I haven't thought about it! I have an F3HP and could get one of these backs, but they are so freakin' hideous to look at. I usually don't care at all about what other people think while I'm out shooting, but it might be hard not to be self-conscious with with one of these attached to my face.

Shawn Rahman · Jan 7, 2011

perkeleellinen said:
I used to get 39.5* frames out of a Konica Auto S3 because of the very short length between the roll and the take up spool. But why stop at frame 36? Why not also shoot frame 'E'?

* Half of frame 'X' plus '00', '0' and 'E' at the other end.

Aaah - just the response I was looking for. So now on a mission to get to frame E after #36. Don't ask me why. I have no valid reason to want to do this.

perkeleellinen · Jan 7, 2011

I wonder if you loaded the camera in a changing bag, would you be able to squeeze 40 frames?

ic-racer · Jan 7, 2011

You only get 38 frames, what a shame!

Shawn Rahman · Jan 7, 2011

ic-racer said:
You only get 38 frames, what a shame!

What is this?????? Is this legit? Me want!!

Rick A · Jan 7, 2011

Of course, there is another alternative, half-frame cameras. But then you would want76 or 78 exposures.

hpulley · Jan 7, 2011

I swear film used to be cut longer. I regularly used to get frames 37 and 38 in my Canon manual focus cameras but now it is tough to get the 36th frame sometimes. I can use the 00 and 0 frames but I swear I never had to do that before.

DWThomas · Jan 7, 2011

I once got 40 shots on a roll, but that was the point when I realized they were all on the first frame.

Coffeehound · Jan 7, 2011

I am not sure if this is still available. Ilford HP5! I shot this in the late 70s (78 - 79?) in Germany. Very thin base, but very tough. When loading it on spools to develop you had to cut in the dark and possibly destroy on image. There was no tearing this stuff either, it had to be cut with scissors! Really a good film..
Does anyone know where I might find some of the Agfa XL film? This was out about the same time that Iford XP1 came out. ASA (ISO) 125 -> 1600 on one roll.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 7, 2011

Shawn Rahman said:
What is this?????? Is this legit? Me want!!

It is legit, but haven't made any for many years.

Jeff

perkeleellinen · Jan 7, 2011

There was a special developing tank designed for it also.

perkeleellinen · Jan 7, 2011

ralnphot said:
Of course, there is another alternative, half-frame cameras. But then you would want76 or 78 exposures.

Or 156 with that Ilford film.

softshock · Jan 7, 2011

There's always the Leica 250: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_250_Reporter If you can find one anyway...

With my M3 & III I always roll the leader onto the takeup spool, close the bottom cover, and take two shots with the cap on to get to 0. After all this, I am guaranteed 37 shots without any frames cut in half from loading exposure. If I did it in a darkroom or changing bag, I feel I could easily get to 39.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 7, 2011

I used to like long rolls, but now I like short rolls. I use 120 film on my RB67 which uses 10 expourses, which is more enough for me.

Jeff

jp498 · Jan 7, 2011

If you load your own film, you can attach the spool to the bulk film roll in the dark, assemble the catridge and put it into place, shut the lid, and turn the lights on (optional) That way you can shoot as far in as the camera will let you. I never saw a need to cheat more than 37ish shots on a roll, just bring more rolls of film if the event requires more shooting.

hpulley · Jan 7, 2011

Agree, I like the RB67's 10 pictures per roll. Load it, shoot it, lick it, stick it, done. I can shoot it all in one short session instead of thinking of things to do for the rest of a 135-36 roll.

38 Frames Per Roll? How about 39?

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