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Touching film

BetterSense

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Location
North Caroli
Format
35mm
Is it ok to touch exposed film when putting it in the reels and when bulk-loading?

So far I haven't had any trouble from touching the sides and base side of the film with my bare fingers when loading developing reels; I figure it just washes off in the chemicals.

I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to get away with this when bulk-loading unexposed film. I find it pretty easy to bulk-load but only if I'm "allowed" to touch the sides and base of the film with my bare hands. I would have a lot harder time if I had to wear gloves.

Thoughts?
 
You should get to the stage where you asre proficient enough to touch just the sides but not the base. If you load onto stainless steel reels you have to touch the sides anyway. Even with plastic reels you have to touch them at least for the first part of loading. But there is no reason why you should have to touch the base.
 
All reports I have seen so far which are critical about touching film are only about touching the emulsion. The idea is that residues of sweat could have reducing properties.
 
I've always bulk-loaded by hand and find it virtually impossible to avoid touching the base side. That said, I always wash my hands before loading (then dry them thoroughly). On occasions when I've tried to handle the film by the edges only I find that I struggle to get enough tension on the film to get the full roll on to the spool and once when I tried edges-only I ended up dropping the film on the floor and then worrying in case it had picked up dust, so it got used for testing only. Likewise with loading into plastic reels, I invariably touch the base side (but never the emulsion) and suspect, as you say, that the chemicals do a good job of shifting fingerprints as I've never seen any make it through the developing/fixing processes.
Best wishes,
Steve
 
Yes, best avoid touching the emulsion, as any moisture on the hands can easily mark the surface.

The base seems less critical, and I have a couple of old Paterson/Johnson type tanks where the instructions show the film being fed in using thumb pressure on the base.

Nevertheless, I'm still careful not to touch the the base side more then necessary, and, if I'm being extra careful (or if my hands are particularly warm), I sometimes use cotton gloves.
 
Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Avoid touching the image area, especially the emulsion side when possible, and when you do, do it as lightly as you can.
Then don't worry about it.
 
bdial said:
Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Avoid touching the image area, especially the emulsion side when possible, and when you do, do it as lightly as you can.
Then don't worry about it.
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I completely agree. Also, this is why I am pretty anti-changing bags.. I just use a darkened room. The bags get sweaty, your hands get sweaty, the film gets sweaty.. Also the bags are dust traps.

With film, i'm pretty careful not to touch it but I have before and things are fine as long as my hands are dry.
With prints, if i'm careless, i'll end up with brown thumbprints, or white thumbprints on the edges.. I'm probably more careful with the prints these days.

Also, if you feel like you really mangled up the film you can always give it a prewash.
 
  • Deleted member 2924
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Alessandro Serrao said:
Why not use the very inexpensive latex gloves, provided them washed to remove any talcum powder?
It's guaranteed 1000% not to damage anything, since it doesn't damage even the very delicate focusing screen available.
Tested.
Click to expand...

Use nitrile powder free gloves.

Steve
 

Speak for your own bags. Mine are neither dusty or sweaty
 
I will wash my hands thoroughly, and then with a cottonball soaked with 90% isopropyl I'll rub down all my fingers thoroughly. Then I'll dry my hands thoroughly again with a clean towel just prior to handling the films. It works well for keeping the hand oils at bay. I'll wear one cotton glove for handling and cutting sheet films and photo papers. Hand oil on film and photo paper can prevent the developer from acting on the emulsion underneath. I have had a lot of trouble with this in the past. Especially with some RC papers.
 

Wash your hands and dry them before handling film, and avoid touching the film as far as you are able. That's all that anyone can do.

Incidentally, you need to be far more intensive about washing your hands if they might be contaminated with fixer.
 
Sirius Glass said:
Use nitrile powder free gloves.

Steve
Click to expand...

I can't remember the name of the company I ordered from, but I found them by googling for nitrile gloves. When I started doing the darkroom stuff, I ordered a case (10 boxes of 100 pairs) of nitrile gloves for something like $50. That case has lasted me 2 years (almost time to order another one though). It's well worth it. My hands never touch the chemicals, film, paper, etc. without being gloved. For $25 a year I never have to worry about fingerprints, etc. Buy gloves, I guess, is the gist of this post.

Paul
 
Paul Cocklin said:
My hands never touch the chemicals, film, paper, etc. without being gloved. For $25 a year I never have to worry about fingerprints, etc. Buy gloves, I guess, is the gist of this post.
Click to expand...

But powderless gloves.

Steve
 
I shall recede to my dark corner once again!
I still hate my changing bag. I've cleaned it, laundered it, vacuumed it.
I'd rather find a windowless bathroom and stuff a towel under the door.
*shrug* Then again, if you drop the film on the floor it's a whole other set of problems, many of which are worse than potential fingerprints on film (bent SS reels, grit, sand, hair..)

sends shivers down my spine!
 

It really depends on the gloves, some gloves allow for no feeling, and when your in the dark, (doesn't really matter what your doing in the dark ), you need to be able to feel what your doing. Especially when your trying to get a roll of film on a plastic reel, where both the film and reel are being obnoxious. This is when your hands are most likely to be sweaty inside a changing bag. It's also why, when working with 35mm film, I keep a Kodak film canister handy, if it really doesn't work, I wind the film back onto the spool, pop it into the canister and close the lid. Then open the changing bag, take everything out, make sure everything is clean, dry and happy, then try again at a later time.

A piece of aluminum foil would probably work with 120 film, just put it back on the spool, wrap the foil around it, to keep it out of the light.
 
Sirius Glass said:
But powderless gloves.

Steve
Click to expand...

Yes, of course. I couldn't find the TerraMedical website that I bought mine from but what you're searching for is Powder free, nitrile examination gloves. Usually blue in color, they're used by the medical professions, particularly dentists.

http://www.supplydoc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=94

The ones I have are distributed by Terra Medical Inc., in Fort Mohave, AZ. Their phone number is 928-577-0237 according to the box of gloves I'm looking at. I have no affiliation with this company other than being a very satisfied customer.

There are a number of different companies that offer basically the same thing. All I can say is that for what I would consider a minimal investment I never have to worry about my prolific skin oil getting on any negatives or prints.
 
Costco in Canada sells nitrile gloves fairly cheaply.

Matt
 
Save yourself a lot of grief and just spring for a bulk loader. You won't regret it. They come up often in ebay and they don't sell for a lot of money either.
 
Save yourself a lot of grief and just spring for a bulk loader. You won't regret it. They come up often in ebay and they don't sell for a lot of money either.
Click to expand...

I already have a couple of bulk loaders but I don't like them. I have to use them in the darkness or else I lose the last frame or two from each roll, so what's the point. I typically roll a whole 100 ft roll in one go so there's just not much point in putting in the bulk loader just to use it up right then.
 
Well, you won't need to worry about getting grubby fingerprints on the film, 'cause the loader will do the holding for you. So, use the loader in the dark.
 
You shouldn't be losing frames at the end of the roll by using a daylight loader, because the roll needs a trailer anyway, so there's some space between the last frame and the spool in the camera, and it's not a bad thing to have a little extra buffer to avoid overwinding after the last frame.
 
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