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why no film canisters?


This reminds me of a device created by MI6 to conceal microfilm in...the agent's rectum :rolleyes: .The device was made from... knurled aluminium - OUCH!!!! . Mind you, the CIA created 'The Rectal Toolkit' which made its users walk like they had just stepped off a horse after a long and uncomfortable ride. Not surprisingly neither invention lasted in use for long!

Lachlan
 
DirkDynamo said:
why doesnt mf come in a canister like 35mm?
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Because most are bulk products ("professional"). Many of my professional 35mm films too come without canisters (including Delta 100).
Its easy, however, to make a canister for rollfilm out of two plastic 35mm canisters, there are pill tubes available from pharmacies that fit the bill and there are even dedicated solutions. I have, for instance, a pair of plastic boxes from Fuji to hold exposed rollfilm: each box takes, I think, 5 films. I've found it usefull on the road.. I also have a rubbermaid box with locking lid and its my deposit box for exposed films.
On the topic of boxes.. There are now various food boxes available made of special plastics and with good seals. In Germany the "Clip-and-Close" series marketed by Emsa are my favorite and I've found one of the available sizes to be just perfect to store 10 rollfilms in their boxes for refrigeration (or deep-freezing).
 
The problem with most substitutes like pill bottles are that they are not light tight. However, they do protect against moisture.
 
ADox film

kraker said:
Adox film also comes in canisters. I bought a few especially for that, then switched back to Ilford ;-)

(Honestly, I still have the Adox film and I will try it someday...)
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I use Adox from Dead Link Removed

If it's the 125 professional it IS FP4+ (not a clone, I believe it's made in the UK at ILford'd factory - if I'm wrong someone will put me right ) and is good film. The canisters are really useful for cable releases, thingamybobs, spare batteries and exposed films.
 
I always keep a few J&C conatiners in my bag. Come in handy when using some of the lesser known brands where the end tape has no adhesive or gets mangled when winding the film off the spool.

Great value those J&C containers $0.25 each and I use them to hold all sorts of goodies.

Mike
 
To protect my exposed 120 film from rain and other water damage, I store it in pill tubes.

To protect my exposed 120 film from light, I store the pill tubes in a light proof plastic bag.
 
Nick Zentena said:
Dead Link Removed

Come filled with edible packing material so the cannisters aren't damaged in shipping.
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Picked up some of those today, in two colors. The brown ones are a little tight, but the green are too tight. So look for brown.
 
Canisters for storing roll film are available separately at some of the larger mail order firms.

I think the reason for not using canisters with roll film is mostly historical. The backing paper system was developed very early, and it has worked very well. Since it worked well, and there was a lot of existing equipment, why change? Until a few years ago, everyone knew how to handle roll film. It was slow, but so what. There is always the possibility of dropping a roll and losing all the exposures, but that seldom happens. When the Instamatic was developed (and later the 110 and disk cameras), Kodak decided that quick and easy film handling would be a selling point - and it was. Roll film for these (OK - it was 35 and 17mm stuff, but it was treated like roll film) became packaged in an easy to handle canister. The history of 35mm (and 70mm) was different. These films were originally movie films, and the equipment was designed to use the sprocket holes. The metal cassette was an easy way to make small lengths of film available. Up until about 45 years ago, all the 35mm cassettes were reloadable. The system worked, and it became a standard.
 
Trask said:
Look at www.acratech.net -- if you can stomach paying over $13 for 120 film canisters machined from billet aluminum.....
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Unless a bunch of you buy them, don't expect to get any of these. I "ordered" a few yesterday. Today Acratech sent an email message saying they're out of stock and don't intend to produce any more unless the demand grows. They apologized for the inconvenience. I replied that they ought to update their Web page to indicate the actual situation...
 
It's hard enough to get film these days but I would certainly pay a dollar for a plastic can for the film.
 
I can't apologize for acratech, because I'm as disappointed as you are that they're advertising a product that they don't have available. I certainly didn't know that when I put forward their address -- I'm as fooled as you were.
 

Hmmm... now if someone wanted to organize a group purchase at a better price with the APUG logo, I'd be in for a few.
 
I actually just went to the local drug store and bought 30 canisters that fit 120 film they cost me 25 cents each....

R.
 
I was going to ask this same question - Why does 35mm film come in plastic canisters and 120 film doesn't? But I did a search first.

To update, Porter's has a pack of 3 120 film tubes for $3.99 ( http://tinyurl.com/255aub ) I ordered some awhile ago because I'm not used to using roll film and I didn't like the whole just tape it shut and throw in a bag idea. It's good to know it's not a problem but I think I'll stick with the tubes. I also ordered some Adox Art 120 film from Freestyle and was happy to find that that film comes with it's own handy dandy plastic tubes.

Still not sure I understand why it's this way, but like much of life I guess it just is the way it is.
 
The Walmart 'Airborne' knock-off comes in a plastic tube that will hold 120 film very comfortably. The original 'Airborne' will also hold 120 film but is more expensive. Although, recent studies have raised concerns over the effectiveness of airborne. I still like the tubes and think they are great for holding film on trips to the beach, vacation, hiking, etc. Also, there is what seems to be a silica gel packet built into the cap. Handy.
 
I bought 10 ADOX canisters from www.fotoimpex.de and problem solved.

But, when used 120 film without cannisters, it never happened to me that film was unrolled or had any problems with light leaks or other,once I exposed it and glued with provided "licking" tape.
 
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When I shot 35 kodachrome I wished I could find a use for those cool canisters. I even have an aluminum screw top canister someplace- but I inherited that one.
Much less packrat angst in MF and never any film damage.
 
I bought some of the Adox cannisters for 120 film when J&C was running, and they work well, but before that I used to use small squares of alum. foil to wrap the film in....cheap and works well. You can reuse the foil if you're really frugal.
 
I can't believe it - a 2 year old thread and nobody mentioned it..!
Well, the reason why 35 mm film comes in canisters and the 120 film not is purely technical. The 35mm film cassette must be protected from dust - due to the velvet trap that can harbor it and then both scratch the film or pollute it with dust after its introduction in the camera. Rather than the film the canister protects the light trap. The 120 film doesn't use any light trap so the danger is not there. What is more, the 120 film has its protection - partially with the cover paper and also with the packaging paper - today the plastic foil cover - an excellent way to protect the film from humidity, dust etc. The exposed film can easily be put into any container you find useful - no reason to waste material for individual packaging. If you want hermetically closed containers you can use - in all possible sizes - the very good Lock&Lock plastic containers, available for whatever number of film rolls you need. I'm even glad they stopped putting the 120 film into their paper boxes - it only took much more space to pack. To hell with individual 120 canisters - who needs them?
 
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