Storing 'peel apart' negatives whilst travelling?

[Roundabout]

I'm taking a bit of a road trip with a land camera and some Fujifilm 3000b film.

I was planning on keeping the negative backing paper of shots that I take and so wondered if there was a good way of storing these whilst I am on the road. I.E. until I can get back and scan them in a couple of weeks.

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Lench]

Storing I can't help with as im trying to work out the same problem but I've used coat hangers and bulldog clips to dry them in my boot (or trunk).

There was another idea I saw a while ago where somebody put them in a cardboard box with a long spring in each corner of the box and used them as a 4 point hanger system so the negatives didn't touch. No idea how effective it is

 

[FM2N]

Dont peel them apart until you return. Take a test shot or 3 of the same image at the same settings. Peel one at the correct time then one 1-2 days later then 4-5 days and compare. I have a feeling you will not see much of a difference. I have waited a few days before peeling apart the fuji color instant and they all looked great.

 

[xya]

fuji film is self-terminating indeed. waiting an hour or two isn't a problem, I have tried this, but waiting too long can cause problems. the film dries and sticks together. putting the unpeeled film into a plastic bag delays drying.

I have also tried the "spring" solution. it works well indeed if you get tear off the tabs and just keep the negatives. it's good for the positives as well.

 

[joshgladstone]

After they dry, it's no problem to store them, but if there's still goop on it it's an issue. It's especially inconvenient when you're out and taking multiple shots. This bothered me recently as well, and I may have a solution to this exact problem in the works. Will let you know in a few days!

 

[Roundabout]

That would be good.

I went out and took some shots recently and put the unpeeled sheets in an A4 plastic sleeve with a an A4 board in it to keep them flat. When I peeled them apart they had smudged and bubbled up a bit. It was a very hot day though. Perhaps a shoe box might be a better idea?

 

[joshgladstone]

Okay, so here's what I've got: I made a prototype packfilm print and negative holder. The problem arose when I was out taking photos. I'm not a fan of waiting to peel apart your film until you get home. I think part of the fun is the immediacy of getting a print. Plus, you get to see that the exposure and everything is right, (and occasionally I like to give the prints away). But I do like to keep the negatives and prints most of the time, and there was just no way to store them. I'd sandwich them back together and stick them in the polaroid case, but of course they would become stuck together, and when you pull them apart it can mess up the emulsion. Doing it under water helps, but still there had to be a way to store them while keeping them separated until they were dry.

I googled polaroid pack film wallet, thinking that this must have been an issue back in the day, and there was probably something out there that someone had come up with, but I couldn't find anything. I had an idea of something that might work, so I set out to 3d print a prototype. I actually only ended printing the center section of my design to keep costs down, but it definitely worked out better that way. Okay so here it is:
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It's basically a case with slots for the photographs. It has four slots for two pairs of prints and negatives.
The center is 3d printed (via Shapeways), and the top and bottom were cut out of a plastic clipboard I got from Staples for $2. Then it was just a lot of sanding.


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I think it looks like an ice cream sandwich.


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Yum.


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So here is just the 3d printed piece as it was delivered to me.


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The slots.


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A print sliding in.


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It fits! 3d printing is so neat.


More in part 2...

 

[joshgladstone]

Part 2:

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You can see it works fairly well. Although, I think it would be a definite improvement to increase the space between slots.
I was trying to keep size and printing cost down, but upon trying it with goopy negs, it definitely needs more space. More on that later.


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Here it is with a print and a neg. These were completely dry, so no problems sliding them in or out.


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Here it is with a top and bottom. Again, I just cut these out of a cheap plastic clipboard with a Dremel. I glued them on with superglue, and then sanded down to finish. At first the top and bottom were identical, but the little lip definitely helps with sliding things out.


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Here it is with a print sliding in


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Print and neg


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Here it is with a fresh one. Both print and neg are in there.


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Same fresh print and neg, but I tore the goopy paper off. This is how I intend to use it.
I can take some pictures, slip them in here, and throw this in my back pocket ready to take a couple more! Sweet!


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Here it is with alternate spacing, which is probably better (also note, these two did dry just fine in the case). It wasn't an issue to get the print and negative in spaced normally, but to slide another print on top of the negative was difficult. The negatives are not quite as rigid as the prints, so they warp and bend a bit, plus they are goopier too, so an increase in spacing should help with that. I'd also like to increase the capacity so it can hold more than 2 pairs of prints and negatives. My very first design had slots for 5 pairs, which I think is probably about right, but I didn't even know if it was going to work at all, so I printed this smaller version as a test.


Okay, so I think that's it! Here's the full album if you'd like to see a few more photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.744728692289112.1073741842.490316441063673
And if you dig this, why not like my page? facebook.com/photochemicals

Comments and questions welcome! Thanks!

 

[NedL]

Very cool! A great solution. I'd love one of these with about 6 or 8 slots. Need to find out what "shapeways" is!

 

[joshgladstone]

So here's an update:

I've got a second version done. It has wider gaps between slots so that wet prints/negs can slide past each other and remain in the case without touching (which is sort of the whole point). Here are some photos:

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I finished this version in bamboo


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This is a "triplet" version. It has 6 slots, so it can hold 3 pairs of prints and negs (or just 6 prints if you don't like to keep your negatives)


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A negative sliding in


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And now a print in the adjacent slot. No problem!


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Fully loaded. I think the new spacing is perfect.


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It is significantly larger than the last version, so it doesn't fit in my pocket as nicely (but it does fit!). Fits well in my hand though!!



So now that I've got this version, I'm pretty happy with how it works, and it's proved really useful, I figure it's time to let everyone who wants one buy one!
Here's the link to my Shapeways shop where you can buy the 3D printed part! There are many versions available depending on the size/capacity/price you want, from the "Quintuplet" which has 10 slots for 5 pairs of prints/negs, all the way to the "Twin" which has just 2 slots for 1 pair of prints/negs. There's even an "Individual" version which has just 1 slot, in case you just want to try it out without spending much money (or maybe you want a sort of print frame? Who knows!)

Keep in mind that there's a bit of assembly required. You will have to clean out some extra plastic and printing dust out of the slots (an x-acto and canned air make this pretty simple). And you'll have to fashion a top and bottom piece unless you want to leave it completely open. In my first version, I cut pieces out of a plastic clipboard and superglued them to the 3D print. This time I used a piece of bamboo and gorilla glue. Both ways worked great.

So let me know what you think! Questions, comments, improvement suggestions, everything is welcome! Thanks everybody!