How do you tell if your film holders are full?

[Loose Gravel]

I'm wondering what others do. After you shoot a little and the film holders are sitting around the darkroom and you've developed some. Maybe it's time to reload holders, how do you check to know if there is film in the holder or not? Do you turn out the lights and check? Do you keep good track? Can you tell if there is one sheet or two?

Personally, I shake the holder. If there is film, I can hear it. I can't tell about one or two sheets. Sometimes I remember to mark the holder with 'MT'.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I write the film type on the holder, and when the holder is empty, there is no film type written on it.

 

[John Kasaian]

Turn out the light, open the flap end and feel for the edge of the film. If its not there, then niether is the film

This has happened to me more times that I'd care to recall.

Cheers!

 

[ron mcelroy]

Here's my system. I store all my holders in zip lock bags. Each holder is numbered and after both sheets have been exposed the exposure record goes into the bag. It stays there until both sheets have been processed. This works for me.

The problem I have is when traveling and unloading/reloading film into boxes. It seems that no matter how organized I think it is, some of the shots get mixed out of sequence.

 

[Jeremy]

My film holders are numbered with one of those electronic labeling machines. These numbers are then used to delineate the exposure times and such for each shot. Once a holder has been used it is put on a shelf while those that have not been used yet are still in the bag.

Jeremy

 

[Nige]

I'm keeping two piles, empty and loaded. Each DD is numbered (eg 1A & 1B, 2A & 2B)and I keep track of what film is in it in a booklet... however I need to make sure i expose the DD I think I'm using and write down, cause I've had a couple of double exposures and accompying blanks!

If I'm really unsure i use John's method

 

[BradS]

Empty holders go in a special drawer where loaded holders are never found. Loaded holders are kept in the "film bag". After loading the film holders, they go in zip lock bags with individual post-it note lables. While film is in the holders, I do the usual thing with the bumps on the end of the darkslides - bumps out: un-exposed, bumps in: exposed.

 

[Lee L]

Well, all the studios I've worked in used a similar method, and it's what I've always used.

White/silver darkslide face out = loaded and unexposed

Black darkslide face out and hook/lock in place = loaded and exposed

Black darkslide face out and no hook/lock preventing removal = empty

I always turn the white darkslide face out again as I blow out the holders and prepare a stack for loading.

Lee

 

[Robert Hall]

I shake them.

 

[joeyk49]

I wait till they burb...then I know they're full. They usually want a nap soon after, too.

 

[George Papantoniou]

This has always been a big problem, as I often confuse loaded and unloaded holders... So, I have decided to give an end to it all by training my dog to smell the film in the holders and give me a sign if they are loaded or not. The thing is, I want him to be able to tell the difference between Tri-X and Agfapan, but I don't know whether this will be possible. I've spoken with a dog trainer that works with police dogs (narcs etc) and he told me that loaded/not loaded detection will be easy to do. He is not sure if the dog will be able to tell if the film is exposed, though...

 

[Graeme Hird]

For me, if the the tab is white, the holder is ready to shoot.

If it's black, it either has exposed film or is empty - either way, I can't shoot on it.

Exposed film does not stay in the holder long. I unload the film into a box ready to be sent to the lab. I then immediately load new film so that I'm ready to shoot any time.

I see no good reason to leave exposed film in a holder - it takes up useful space.

Cheers,

 

[Dimitri]

I try to stick to the following.

White tab and locked > Film in the holder
Black tab and locked > Film (exposed) in the holder.
Black tab and unlocked > No film in the holder.

Since I normally shoot and then unload the holders (as soon as I get home at night) the system seems to work.

So until the first major cock-up this method stays. After that I will re-evaluate (After all, if I worry about too many things there will be no fun in photography, and in any case, I have a short memory, so I cannot worry about too many things )

 

[removed account4]

Turn out the light, open the flap end and feel for the edge of the film. If its not there, then niether is the film

This has happened to me more times that I'd care to recall.

Cheers!

ditto

 

[Deckled Edge]

I use the Dimitri method. I also have a white sticker on each holder, where I write processing info in the field. I then erase these after the film has been dunked.
The important thing is to get a method, and stick to it. Taking your holders into the dark to check is no method.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I have a variety of holders of various vintages and don't trust the locked vs. unlocked distinction. On most of the holders they're okay, but on some, they're just too easy to move out of position. I do leave the white side out for unexposed film, black side for exposed and empty, though.

 

[Flotsam]

I open and close them really, really fast and peek inside.

 

[juan]

I, like David, have many different sized holders - some with the locks and some without. So, I've set up a foolproof system. Loaded unexposed holders - white side out. Exposed holders - black side out. Exposed holders stay in the camera bag or in a box in the room where the cameras are stored. When the holders are emptied in the darkroom, they are stored in a cabinet in the darkroom until reloaded.

Then, of course, I frequently follow up with John Kasaian's system.
juan

 

[photobackpacker]

I open and close them really, really fast and peek inside.

Its not the sutter speed, its the aperature.

 

[Struan Gray]

Weigh them at the nearest post office.

 

[bennoj]

Interesting... I use the black side/white side method too, but the reverse of everyone else who posted. My logic has been black = no light (unexposed), white = light (exposed). Not all of my holders still have the locks on them so I don't include them in my system.

 

[chuck94022]

I use the method Lee describes exactly. I also write the film type on the label of the holder when I load the holder, and erase it when I unload, but I don't count on that because I found I could get careless. But I find I'm never careless about leaving the holder unlocked when there is no film inside.

 

[jimgalli]

Is this a trick question? You pull the dark slide, see the pretty color, say "Oh Shit!" Push the dark slide back in, say to yourself, "I only screwed up 1/2" of the picture whatever it was." Then say to yourself "Well if it was so *(&%^&&*^( unimportant of a picture that I can't even remember what it is...&^#$ I'll throw it in the trash. Then you know that holder is empty. Or was it this one?

 

[joeyk49]

Hold it to your forehead and it will come to you...

 

[jp80874]

Here's my system. I store all my holders in zip lock bags. Each holder is numbered and after both sheets have been exposed the exposure record goes into the bag. It stays there until both sheets have been processed. This works for me. .

I start with Ron's method. I process in Jobo Expert tanks. Once both sheets of film are exposed I gather holders in larger Zip lock bags, batching to fit the Jobo tanks. 8x10 tanks hold five sheets, 4x5 tanks hold ten sheets. This Zip Lock bag gets a Post it note saying “Develop”. When I have enough to process film, I transfer in the dark to the tank and put the empty holders in another large Zip Lock bag. This bag gets a Post it saying “Load” At all times I follow the above conventions of white and black markers. At some point I load film in the holders, put the white marker out, and put single holders in single size Zip Locks.

This may seem anal, but I live with a Labrador Retriever and no matter how clean I try to keep things, hair is a fact of life. Dust is easy to avoid by comparison. The process is working well. I rarely need to spot finished prints.

John Powers