Ilford making it easier for new users to understand their film packages

[Ces1um]

Fortunately, the film cassettes are.

+1

 

[MattKing]

PE has posted that the black cans with grey tops that Kodak uses are not light tight.

 

[AgX]

So what?

 

[pentaxuser]

PE has posted that the black cans with grey tops that Kodak uses are not light tight.

Thanks. I am trying to get to the bottom of this "light-tightness" or otherwise.
1.Are the black cans( forget the tops) made by Kodak and Ilford light-tight?
2. Are the black tops made by Ilford light-tight?
3. Are the coloured tops made by Ilford light-tight
4. If Kodak once made/still make black tops are they light-tight?

The coloured tops are solid so if not light tight what is it in their composition that makes then non-light tight? Maybe what I should be asking is: Is it simply the fact that any solid plastic which is any colour other than black will be non-light tight so a Jobo plastic tank which was say red would not be OK as a a developing tank, even if the tank was the same thickness as the black tank, simply because it wasn't black?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[faberryman]

Why would you need/want a light tight film canister?

 

[Luckless]

Why would you need/want a light tight film canister?

Safety: Why would you want a seat belt or airbag in your car if you never plan to crash it?
If your film cartridge has a small flaw, a light tight container for it can be the difference between having a barely noticeable defect picked up on the film from the small exposure time it spent going from the canister to the camera and back, vs having it completely washed out due to prolonged light exposure while it sat out somewhere before/after use.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I really don't care if they package in Tupperware, as long as they keep making film for me.

 

[Agulliver]

I've just realised that I have some of the new Ilford boxes. Last month I bought some FP4+ well in advance as a Christmas present for someone. I just looked at them and they are the new design. So as suspected, one end is unchanged and the other is black with the new wording...black trim on the bottom of the box with "Harman" on it. It's nice, and does no harm if you already know your FP4+ from your Delta 400.

As for the canisters, I do prefer the balck ones as provided by Kodak and Ilford over the near transparent ones from Fuji...but I am under no illusion that they are light tight. I re-use them for when I take bulk loaded cassettes out and about having once had such a cassette work its way open in a ziplock bag full of the things.

 

[faberryman]

Safety: Why would you want a seat belt or airbag in your car if you never plan to crash it?
If your film cartridge has a small flaw, a light tight container for it can be the difference between having a barely noticeable defect picked up on the film from the small exposure time it spent going from the canister to the camera and back, vs having it completely washed out due to prolonged light exposure while it sat out somewhere before/after use.

I always considered myself pretty risk adverse, but since I haven't had a problem with a film cassette in nearly fifty years, I am going to go out on a limb and not worry about it. YMMV.

 

[sepiareverb]

I always considered myself pretty risk adverse, but since I haven't had a problem with a film cassette in nearly fifty years, I am going to go out on a limb and not worry about it. YMMV.

Only 40 years here, but +1.

Might the orange Pan F top help with darker skies?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Some people tear those off and put them in the little slot on the back of their SLR, right? So this makes good sense.

+1

I will not lose any sleep over this change.


.

 

[bdial]

Light-tight film cans are handy sometimes. It's a rare occurrence, but having a light-tight place to stash an opened (in the darkroom) roll can be useful.
"back in the day" when bulk loading was more common with color, it wasn't unusual to unload the reusable cassette into a film can to send off to a lab. (with the film can appropriately labeled).

Or else, a light-tight film cans facilitates making really small pinhole cameras.

 

[jeffreyg]

As a user mainly of Ilford Delta 400 2 1/4 a nice retro touch would be to return to a flavored adhesive on the sealing strip once the roll is exposed. At one time it was mint flavored.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[darkroommike]

Is there a requirement for them to be so?

(Special films aside.)

Not required until someone tears the film off a spool, had to go into a changing bag to recover their film, and then puts the salvaged film into a cannister with a lid that passes light. And our school bulk loads and reuses the cannisters and students seem to delight in trying to "stretch" the bulk loads to get one more shot.

 

[AgX]

Light-tight film cans are handy sometimes. It's a rare occurrence, but having a light-tight place to stash an opened (in the darkroom) roll can be useful.

Industrial labs use all-black canisters to store film with that something went wrong in the splicer. In the dark, maybe under IR vision the film is taken off the machine still inside the cabinet and put into the canister.
All-black canisters are a rarity at such labs and put aside for such jobs.

 

[cmacd123]

As a user mainly of Ilford Delta 400 2 1/4 a nice retro touch would be to return to a flavored adhesive on the sealing strip once the roll is exposed. At one time it was mint flavored.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

back when Simon Galley still posted here, he mentioned that they had to stop that as by adding flavouring, the glue had to meet food safety regulations in some regions. He even said that he preferred the flavoured version for his own use.

 

[Kilgallb]

It must have been a really slow day around the office when they decided to change the packaging.

I work in product development. Packaging may need more attention than the actual product. The labels and printing can allow or deny access to a market. The packaging must protect the product. It is a science.