26 sheet boxes - how about it Ilford?

[tim atherton]

I'm sure there's probably some reason to do with master roll sizes etc - apart from some obscure quirk of history, but how about this Ilford/Simon?:

Market sheet films in boxes of 26 instead of 25...

Almost every LF photographer I know generally tends to load up their film in two's in double sided film holders (and even if it's a grafmatic it's six sheets)

Yes, occasionally I use one sheet - but that's the exception. I don't know how often I've ended up with a few boxes HP4/FP5/Delta in the fridge with just one annoying sheet in each.

So how about it?

[BrianShaw]

Why not 24 and 36 sheet boxes... like 35mm film?

[Nick Zentena]

25 is half of 50 or 1/4 of 100. Four 25 packets equal one 100 sheet box.

[tim atherton]

25 is half of 50 or 1/4 of 100. Four 25 packets equal one 100 sheet box.

well doh! - obviously

but it's also 12.5 film holders....

[PhotoJim]

I agree that it's a little annoying... but it's not the end of the world. It isn't that common that I buy a type of film and don't shoot a second box. If I do, well... I can load that straggler piece into a film holder. I label each side, so there's no requirement that each side have the same film, is there?

I actually have a film holder that's missing a dark slide... so that's why the slide is missing... for that straggler piece! (I need to find a replacement slide...)

[DannL]

How about this . . . take that last sheet (the straggler sheet) and the first sheet from your next new box, and together the make a pair. Hmmm. Nahhhh! Forget it, too much math. You people really scare me. ;-)

[tim atherton]

How about this . . . take that last sheet (the straggler sheet) and the first sheet from your next new box, and together the make a pair. Hmmm. Nahhhh! Forget it, too much math. You people really scare me. ;-)

Sure, I often get through a couple of boxes of HP5 at a time, but - I'll often work through one box of FP4 for something and then say a box of HP5 (or Efke 100). Then be working with 8x10 or colour.

Your idea works fine if you just work your way through 25 sht boxes of HP4 or whatever (in which case why not just buy a 100 sheet box... if you can find one). but only the truly boring stick to one film and one format... :-)

[Nick Zentena]

well doh! - obviously

but it's also 12.5 film holders....

But that's only an issue if you buy the 25 sheet box. If you buy the 50 or 100 then it works out just fine. Now if Ilford switched to 24 or 26 then what do they do with the bigger boxes? Do these get switched to?

[Robert Hall]

That's what I would like, a 100 sheet box. Or perhaps a 50 sheet box if not 100 -- might be good for a day of shooting--.

[pentaxuser]

We can't change what has gone before but doesn't Tim have a point about packets that are divisible by 2. Why wouldn't it be just as easy to change over to boxes of say 24/26 as to continue with 25. OK the price needs altering and for a period there would be boxes of 25 and the other number with a price difference but the smaller boxes would eventually disappear.

Remember how big and difficult the decimalisation problems were going to be in the UK prior to its arrival. We must have taken all of a week to come to terms with the "new money"

pentaxuser