changing bags for loading and exchanging in the field

pellicle · Oct 19, 2008

Hi

I've used these in the past but found it very annoying that the bag collapses over my 'work area' and makes it hard to change sheets. I've tried making a small frame to keep an "tent" type of arrangement to things, but it is a little annoying to set up all the time.

I'm presently trying to decide if I should look at a roll film holder (6x12) to allow me to take more images in the field (often I use a 1/2 board and take 2 2x5 expousres on a single sheet anyway).

my main issue is in preventing dust on my negs (at exposure time), film changing bags just seem to be magnets for it. How (if at all) have people solved this ?

AgX · Oct 19, 2008

pellicle said:
I've tried making a small frame to keep an "tent" type of arrangement to things, but it is a little annoying to set up all the time.

Thre are commercial changing tents out there by at least Photoflex and Harríson, but I have no experience with them.

richard ide · Oct 19, 2008

After using my changing bag, I vacuum the inside. Seems to help a lot. I made a frame from 2 small pieces of wood and 6 pieces of plastic tube. It takes less than a minute to set up and it just stays in the bag when done.

John Kasaian · Oct 19, 2008

My changing bag is an old, huge contraption made by Panavision, from the motion picture industry. They seldom come available but if you happen on one I'd recommend it

jpeets · Oct 19, 2008

I have a Photoflex bag, which has a rigid pop-up frame. Works great, but I guess I should clean it out more. Cannot say that I notice a difference between film loaded in it and loaded in the darkroom. Maybe that says more about my darkroom technique ....

raucousimages · Oct 19, 2008

I gave up on changing bags and just bought lots of film holders when I found a studio dumping them.

Martin Aislabie · Oct 19, 2008

I have a Harrison Changing Tent - and I love it - http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/product.asp?P_ID=1897&PT_ID=454

I would never go back to a "grovel bag"

I have about 12 Dark Slides which covers me for a days shooting

I always dust my Changing Tent with a clean, well washed, damp linen Tea Towel before loading film - I am always amazed how much dust & stuff is inside my Changing Tent

It hasn't solved it completely - but it has been a major improvement.

Other people I know just use Readyloads/Quickloads to overcome the dust issue

If you do come up with a good method - let me know

Thanks

Martin

snallan · Oct 19, 2008

I use a Calumet changing tent (or room, as they term it), quick and easy to put up/away, and large enough for (un)loading half-a-dozen 5x7 holders.

I've never had much trouble with dust inside mine, I hoover it out once in a while, and occassionally give the interior a wipe down with a damp chamois.

jeroldharter · Oct 19, 2008

I have the Calumet/Photoflex changing tent that has a collapsible, pop-up frame. It works well and is the least expensive option for tents. When collapsed, it is still quite large and barely fits inside my checked luggage. It is too unwieldy for a regular day in the field. I plan to get a Harrison film tent but they are quite expensive. Readiloads are an OK option, but if you shoot a lot of film, Readiloads are quite bulky and expensive. After 100 sheets of regular 4x5 film in holders vs. Readiloads you have paid for the film tent. Also, Readiloads greatly reduce film options and Kodak is giving up on Readiloads soon.

Vacuuming and wiping out with a damp cloth are good practices for reducing dust. Also, keeping film holders and film boxes clean and dust free are helpful. Otherwise, every time you introduce the holders and boxes into the tent you are adding dust. I carry a natural bristle brush to dust off things before they go into the tent and then I store film boxes in zip lock plastic bags.

reellis67 · Oct 19, 2008

raucousimages said:
I gave up on changing bags and just bought lots of film holders when I found a studio dumping them.

Same here. I've got enough holder for 80 sheets, which is usually enough for any given shoot, and still gives me the ability to have a good number of different films loaded and ready. As an added bonus, the total cost was less than a nice changing tent.

- Randy

jeroldharter · Oct 19, 2008

reellis67 said:
Same here. I've got enough holder for 80 sheets, which is usually enough for any given shoot, and still gives me the ability to have a good number of different films loaded and ready. As an added bonus, the total cost was less than a nice changing tent.

- Randy

Having a lot of film holders is good for local photography, but has its limit when traveling. When I travel I take 18 film holders, two lots of 9. I rarely take more than 36 exposures in a single day. Every night, I put up the film tent, transfer exposed film to a storage box, load unexposed film into the holders, record my notes from Palm to a written tablet for redundancy, and clean off everything.

80 sheets? You must do this for a living. Shooting large amounts of film creates some logistical problems for managing the sheets of film accurately after they have been removed from holders. I use BTZS so each sheet is processed for a different time.

reellis67 · Oct 19, 2008

jeroldharter said:
Having a lot of film holders is good for local photography, but has its limit when traveling. When I travel I take 18 film holders, two lots of 9. I rarely take more than 36 exposures in a single day. Every night, I put up the film tent, transfer exposed film to a storage box, load unexposed film into the holders, record my notes from Palm to a written tablet for redundancy, and clean off everything.

80 sheets? You must do this for a living. Shooting large amounts of film creates some logistical problems for managing the sheets of film accurately after they have been removed from holders. I use BTZS so each sheet is processed for a different time.

Heh, no, I just found a couple of really good deals on lots . As an example of how I like to work, the last time I went out it was for a week to North Carolina. I took 7 holders in the backpack with the camera, and ~30 in a long, narrow camera bag that is just the right size for a 4x5 holder. I used 47 sheets in total over the course of a week - both black and white negative and color transparency. In reality, I only shot with this camera for 3.5 of the 7 days, but still...

I don't usually carry all 40 holders with me at any given time, but I do have them if needed. Mostly I just like being able to drop off exposed holders in the film bag without having to mess with them in the hotel room or in camp after getting off the trail. Then I can sort them out at home where I have more room to work and process them as needed. Plus, it really give the normals a show when I break out the film bag and it's chock full of holders

- Randy

pellicle · Oct 20, 2008

Hi

reellis67 said:
Same here. I've got enough holder for 80 sheets,

which would be fine in the studio or near the car, but I go for 2 or 3 day hikes and take my gear with me. Perhaps I should follow Edward Weston's philosophy on choosing scenery more: "anything more than 500 yds from the car just isn't photogenic."

Martin Aislabie · Oct 20, 2008

The Harrison folds/rolls up nicely and comes with its own reasonably small stuff sack and isn't that heavy either

I have the 10x8 "normal" size tent which has plenty of room for separating loaded and unloaded Darkslides.

I use an Antistatic brush to clean the Darkslides before loading

I carry my Darkslides in a Lock & Lock food container - which will hold 13

It has the advantage of not only being fully sealed it also is fully water tight too

I don't camp and never bother to carry the Tent in its stuff sack with me on a days shoot but it leave it in the Hotel/House we are renting for the holiday

I then need a quiet hour to sort my film into the correct boxes.

Like Jerold, I too "zone" but unlike Jerold I cluster mine into ranges 6/8/10stops - marked with a pencil on the white window of the Darkslides

I find having only a limited number of sheets of film to expose in any one day is quite a good discipline (for me) - it makes me slow down, stop and really look at what I will choose to shoot

I have yet to find a day when I have missed that once in a life time shot with only 12 Darkslides but it might happen

I often don’t shoot more than 5 or 6 – I spend more time waiting for the light to come to me rather than shooting and hoping

Martin

pellicle · Oct 20, 2008

Hi Martin

water proof and dustproof is pretty important to me too, so I've been using zip lock bags on each holder within their soft case.

Martin Aislabie said:
I have yet to find a day when I have missed that once in a life time shot with only 12 Darkslides but it might happen

perhaps I'm way too skimpy with my photography, but I have never taken more than 4 double darks on day "out". This is of course not the case if I'm testing something for instance.

I do hate it though when I've taken a quick snapshot with my small camera only to find that it worked so well I wish I'd set up the bigger one

Perhaps for me and what I do (and how I do it) I'm going to have to consider a roll film back. Perhaps one of the plastic light weight ones...

Martin Aislabie · Oct 25, 2008

pellicle said:
Perhaps for me and what I do (and how I do it) I'm going to have to consider a roll film back. Perhaps one of the plastic light weight ones...

Pellicle - If it works for you - then great

However, I am not sure light weight and Large Format are in any way connected:confused:

Good luck

Martin

jonw · Oct 26, 2008

I use the photoflex for loading 4x5 and 5x7. It works fine, but I also use the Jumbo Harrison Tent for my 11x14 and 8x10. I find the Jumbo Harrison Tent superior to the photoflex, but the photoflex is more compact. If I was to only use one of these, then I would go with the Harrison Tent given the quality of the material used.

pellicle · Oct 26, 2008

Hi

Martin Aislabie said:
However, I am not sure light weight and Large Format are in any way connected:confused:

well my camera is a Toho FX-45C ... if you haven't tried one it'll change your views of field cameras. Try this review here. The basic facts are 1.4kg and 360mm bellows draw.

I find it to be as light as the 35mm camera with a TS-E 24, 50mm and 90mm I used to carry along, certainly lighter than any reasonable MF cameras.

so light weight can apply to LF if you want that sort of thing (I do).

PanaDP · Oct 26, 2008

Harrison and Harrison tent. Get the middle one. I change 35mm and 16mm film magazines, 4x5 and 8x10 in mine.

changing bags for loading and exchanging in the field

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