DUSTLESS LF NEGATIVES

John Kasaian

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Messages
1,021
Vacume the inside of your camera as well as your holders on a regular basis, like every other loading for holders (use a micro attachement for the light traps) and a couple of times a year for your camera. Store your holders in zip lock bags when not in use. Keep your loading area immaculate. This works for me (and my store room looks like the snake pit/tomb scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark!)
 

PKM-25

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2004
Messages
1,980
Location
Enroute
Format
Multi Format
So my wife helped me out on this a bit. Being the calculating scientist she is, she remembered that the last time I re-loaded was when we were at 12,000 feet in our camper and I was using my changing bag which is quite old. I thought it was really clean because I hardly used it but I guess not.

So last night I went through the cleaning ritual and loaded in my partially steamed bathroom. I then cleaned all my gear, my holders live in bags full time. I shot six sheets this morning, exposures ranging from 1/8th of a second to a full 16 minutes. By and large, the film came out much much better with one sheet being spotless and most of the other with just one or two tiny specs. The hairs I referred to we're lint sized hairs, not large hairs like some might have misunderstood. Only on the 16 minute exposure did I find a couple of those lint hairs, not too bad I guess.

I also got to talking with the friend of mine who gave me a lot of the fine darkroom equipment I own like the jobo and the Ecowash. He told me he is a very good neg and print spotter and could help me deal with problem negs. Since he is local, I am going to outsource the spotting to him for a mutaully agreeable amount.

So I am sticking with this for a bit, the film is looking wonderful in the Jobo and battle with dust will be met with robust execution...

Thanks for the tips, I hope the thread revival pays off for others who will read it.
 
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mrsmiggins

Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
43
Location
Melbourne
Format
Holga
... powder-free latex food preparation gloves for handling film and film holders, and when cleaning lenses.
 
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