Identifying uknown film before shooting.

[Krzys]

I obtained some self rolled (from bulk film) rolls and the film inside is uknown to me. Im thinking of cutting a small piece off and developing just that to find out the brand. How should I go about this? I really don't want to go through a whole process just for one two inch piece of film.

 

[Mark Antony]

Clip testing is about the best you can do really. If the film is totally unknown i.e you don't know if its colour or mono you can cut a little piece off and look at it. If it is greyish its probably traditional mono if it looks brown its normally colour.
Your best bet is to do a clip test though, develop normally in your favourite developer and assume it is medium speed say HP5/Tri-x 6cm should be enough make sure you do this in darkness or after you put it in your bulk loader.
Mark

 

[Krzys]

I just cut 1 inch strips off the start of each of the 11 rolls and jammed them into a film canister together. Used D-76 for 3 mins and could see that they are all Hp5+

 

[Mark Antony]

Cool, HP5 is a wonderful film – 11 bulk rolls? wow that should be enough for a good few projects.
Happy shooting
Regards
Mark