Dust free negatives.

[Neal]

Century Storage Album

Something like this Neal? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...d8x4p98-Ky3XGOxoC_tLw_wcB&Q=&is=REG&A=details

The album you linked to is nicer, larger, and more expensive. It will work well for you I try to keep each year in its own box so the smaller and less expensive box works better for me.

Neal Wydra

 

[Truzi]

For items like clam-shell binders, do they "breath?" Does lack of air-flow have a negative effect on the longevity of the negatives?

 

[mauro35]

For items like clam-shell binders, do they "breath?" Does lack of air-flow have a negative effect on the longevity of the negatives?

Exactly! This is another point that is not very clear to me. I definitely know it is not good to store RC prints in a way that does not allow air to be exchanged somehow, but always wondered what the effect of "air tight" storage has on negatives. The plastic sleeves I used in the past seem to adhere very tightly to the negative strips with little to no air space in between the surfaces and I had to apply some force to get them out, which definitely did not help avoid scratches.

 

[Denverdad]

Mark, I had similar issues with film tending to get scratched when sliding in or out of those plastic storage pages. One thing I learned (as tkamiya already mentioned) is that the film needs to be more than just dry to the touch - it really needs to be "crispy" dry, if you know what I mean. Whether that alone was enough to avoid scratches I am not sure, because in the end I found excellent results by switching to long film-storage sleeves as my primary method instead of the binder pages. This material is basically the same sleeving as what your film comes back from a commercial developer in. Once in the sleeve there are options for how to store it. Assuming it is cut into sections, these can go into envelopes and then into boxes. Or alternatively, I think there are some of the traditional storage pages that have wider pockets so that they can accommodate the sleeved film. I found that it is more economical to buy the stuff in rolls, and what I ended up purchasing was a roll of this Ar-Kive brand sleeving. That roll is still going strong after several years now.

In terms of dust, the best improvement to my workflow occurred when I purchased a Senrac rapid roll film dryer. The dryer itself has a built in filter so only clean air blows across the film. The workflow involves taking the roll out of the developer tank and immediately into the dryer, and then once done drying, unrolling it and quickly inserting it into a length of the sleeving. Aside from leaving very little opportunity for dust to get on the film, the best part about the dryer is that it only takes minutes to dry a roll!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I wait at least 24 hours. Dust in not a problem for me, I use DustOff!

The film needs to be more than just dry. The film needs to be completely dry.