Film Sleeve Pages for Contact Proofing?

[F4U]

I put in my order last night for what I was after. Simple pages with just a front and back. I'd seen those negative pages since the 70's and never used them. So I had not ever examined one in my own hand. After 50 years, I can usually read a negative as well as the next man. But I figured it would still be nice to slap the whole page against a piece of print paper in my contact frame and make a down-and-dirty sample of it, just to narrow down a certain frame to concentrate on.

 

[MTGseattle]

Since we already have a whole thread (maybe more)? on the benefit or not of contact sheets here are 6 more of my cents.

I don't recall the loss in sharpness due to evaluating a frame from a printfile printed contact sheet biting me in the butt vs my first proof print of said frame.

The printfile pages ca be a pretty awesome source of static and dust if you let them. Overall cleanliness of your negative viewing area is a must.

A huge benefit of contact sheets to me is when showing them to a peer. You can say "Hey, do any of these compositions jump out at you?" It's much easier than hauling a light table and neg sleeves around. Otherwise, I agree than going from light table to enlarger is my most frequent workflow these days.

 

[BHuij]

I wonder if I might have figured out the source of some confusion here.

I use PrintFile sleeves for all my 35mm, 120, and 4x5 film storage. For the roll films, I always buy the ones that are designed to hold both the negatives (7 strips of 5 frames of 24x36 or 3 strips of 4 frames of 6x6) AND an 8x10 contact print. That's probably what the "center thickness" thing is - the thickness of the plastic that separates the negatives from the paper. It would a relevant measurement for people making contact prints and wanting the best possible sharpness.

Yes, theoretically you'd get better contact prints by having the film emulsion in direct contact with the paper emulsion, and enough pressure to hold it totally flat.

In practice, I make contact prints using the printfile sleeves all the time. Since for me they're just proofs, I don't care if it's only 95% as sharp as it could be. The convenience of having the printfile sheet to hold the negs with good spacing and in registration with the 8x10 paper outweighs the slight theoretical loss in print sharpness for me.

 

[GregY]

I suppose. Although I doubt that (1) everyone is capable of achieving this and (2) whether one should necessarily strive for it.
I've gone without contact sheets for a few years because I figured the same thing you just said. "Oh, I can tell the good ones from the bad ones alright", and sure enough, after having seen (and printed) thousands and thousands of negatives, I can find my way through an inverted world fairly well. But still...in many cases, I overlook nuances that are too subtle in a negative to properly judge and reject images that turn out to work very well as prints, but don't look all that promising as negatives. Why? I really couldn't say, but I think the bleak realization is that there's a clear limit (at least in my case) to my ability to interpret a negative.

I've gone back to making 'contact sheets', but presently make them by scanning the film at a moderate resolution, file it away digitally, and inkjet print a 'contact' sheet which is filed away in the folder with the negative. I find this works very well for me, and I sort of regret my earlier hubris of "oh, I can tell by the negs alright". I acknowledge that (again, in my particular case) it was just an excuse for a lack of discipline.

Yes, we do each come up with some system that works for us individually. I don't own a scanner so the digital thing is a different world. If i take a portrait on medium format and the 'standout image' isn't clear.... i'll make 5x7 prints from different negatives.....or only vary rarely make a contact sheet to simplify the choice. One person's lack of discipline is another person's system....

 

[snusmumriken]

I’m pretty good at reading negatives, except for one thing: judging whether I have ‘caught the light’. Quite often beautiful light conditions are the reason I want to take a photo. I find it easiest to check whether I’ve been successful in a scan of the negative, where I can quickly adjust the curve. But scanning every frame is time consuming, whereas contact prints are quick to make, if you have set everything up for a printing session anyway. So nowadays I like to do all three things.

What I never do is make a contact print through the negative sleeve. I’ve tried it in the past, and the results were horrible/useless. I use Secol (UK) sleeves, which are as clear as they come.

 

[F4U]

Here's the deal. I have a computer, yes. But in my ham shack everything is tube-based, no computers. Same for my photography. Film and paper. No scanning or photoshopping. No computers.

 

[Don_ih]

But in my ham shack everything is tube-based, no computers.

Do people use computers to smoke ham?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I can read negatives to some extent. I have been working to learn to do that. Only made some progress with black & white negative and not so much with color negatives, I only have been learning for 68 years. Therefore I use camera store prints and contact proofs for sorting and choosing negatives to work on.

 

[Vaughn]

I am spoiled with looking at 8x10 and 11x14 B&W negatives on a light table (5x7s are nice, too) -- and by the fact I have already had the opportunity to study a full-size color positive of the image before I even expose the film. Granted, it is upside down, but I manage.

 

[koraks]

in my ham shack everything is tube-based, no computers.

At least is warm in winter and all the utility companies want to be your friend. I guess that's something.

 

[abruzzi]

At least is warm in winter and all the utility companies want to be your friend. I guess that's something.

F4U's locations says Florida. Its already warm in winter there.

I use printfile for all my negatives, except 6x9 sheets. I didn't find anything they made that held them. I looked for a while and the best I could come up with was sheets for holding baseball cards. They seem ok, but they're a very different material . Thicker and glossy. The haven't seemed to harm the negatives, so I'll keep using them, but I don't shoot much 6x9 sheet film so the 50 pages I bought will probably last me forever.