4x5" Image area placement on film allingment

[Stephanie Brim]

It's pretty automatic for me now, too, but I have some scans I can show of the exact same thing. What happened was that I got it loaded crooked in the holder.

I make sure to fold the light trap as far open as I can get it with my left hand, and then I slide the film carefully to the top of the film rails. I use both hands, then. I hold the light trap with my fingers and slide the film with my thumbs. I do this with 5x7, too.

I've also gone to checking that the film is behind the rails every time I load, too. I feel along them and if I don't feel the rails, I know that I've not gotten the film seated correctly. Takes longer to do, but I don't have wasted film that way.

[Curt]

And 2x3 is easier than 4x5 too.

[Martin Aislabie]

Being new to 4x5", I've come across an issue with a few of my negatives that I've not experienced with 8x10" negatives. See:



My hunch is the film either wasn't loaded correctly or has moved out of position before exposure. Any comments?

Tom

Note: apologies for the spelling.

Tom, look at the "shadows" left by the film guides on the film you have displayed here.

On the left hand side the film guide goes almost to the top of the Neg (this is what it is supposed to look like)

On the right side, the film guide stops further down the film.

What I think you have done, is get the left side of the film correctly under the guide but you have missed on the right hand side and the film has sat behind the Darkslide support shelf.

I had this happen to me quite a few times when I started 5x4 - I guess its all part of the learning experience

Now, when I load film, I keep my thumb and forefinger on the front edge of the film guides on either side of the holder - so I can feel the film slide under the guides

Most of the time the film slides in without a problem but occasionally it needs repeated attempts.

I used some sacrificial film to improve and verify my technique first in the light and later loaded in the dark followed by a visual inspection.

Hope this is of some help

Martin

[Doremus Scudder]

Yep, classic misload.

I still do this more often than I'd like (which, thankfully is very rarely. Personally, I prefer the film to pop out of the holder when I pull the slide, then at least I know of the problem right away and can make another exposure).

Fortunately, all is not lost if you stopped down a lot and you had enough depth of focus. Your negative may still be sharp enough to print, that is, if there is enough cropping room to align the image as you would like.

It's amazing how nicely the film can slip in "incorrectly" and still feel alright in the dark. I now check each sheet to make sure it is under the guides by lightly pulling up on each corner. And, every now and then I have to pull the sheet and reload it correctly!

Best and good luck,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

[Tom Kershaw]

Martin and Doremus,

I checked the film loading and indeed you're correct in that one side of the sheet had loaded correctly but the other was resting over the film insert guide.

Tom