Film Holders
You can never have too many film holders, however you can have too many with you to carry easily...
While I am not a fanatic about record keeping, I do take field notes when shooting, mostly shutter settings. I have a filing cabinet full of holders recently acquired when I got back into large format. In the past I had notched the flap of the holder to indicate a "frame number" which transfers to the edge of the film sheet when exposed and then written in my field notes.
The holders were labeled with a Rhino labeller with a large text to make it very visible. I have enough holders that I can semi-permanently label them with the film type. This shot of Lower Antelope Canyon is frame # 6 where round notches are 5's and V notches are 1's. The notches can be covered with black photographic tape to eliminate them when contact printing, such as Kallitype.
Here is the notching in close up. This is holder #18 based in the current scheme. The updated holders have smaller notches.
Coding is as follows:
1's digits are a V
5's digits are a half moon
10's digits are a half square
I made some safety handles for the files using the 3D printer.
I also 3D printed a fixture to allow me to file the notches while not breaking the hinge of the holder.
I 3D printed a fixture to hold the film holder while filing the notches, It is too easy to damage or break the hinge flap, especially on some of the antique wooden holders I own. The white strip is an adjustment shim.
The flap can be held fairly firmly without risk of damage as long as the holder is slid as far forward as possible. There is a small shim added to precisely adjust the position that can't be seen in this view. On the right I have a fictitious example of a field note page, ignore spelling error. Mouse Graphics in Tempe printed and bound 75 sheet pads of these 3" x 5" sheets into typical tear off notepads. By doing this I do not need to pay attention to what sheets are where when processing batches that use the same development.
I have a "small" assortment of film holders... My collection includes 2¼x3¼, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 (L). You can never have too many sheet film holders (R), these are just the extras, not in use. There are about 30 4x5's in use or scattered around the darkroom and in camera bags. A little less than half are Fidelity Elite plastic holders the balance are wooden.
The 2¼x3¼ (I have 2) are left from a baby Linhof I once had. The 5x7 and 8x10's are used for negative reproduction in the darkroom. I have no intentions on going larger than 4x5 when it comes to cameras.
I bought a case-lot of old 4x5 holders and about 1/3 of them were plastic body Lisco/Riteway models, the balance are wooden. I have about a dozen wooden holders so far that are in good shape and are light tight. About a quarter of the 4x5's you see here are likely to need repair or be discarded. The two 2¼x3¼ holders are like new.
I found a nice insulated carrier for my film holders, It will hold ten. A divider made from Mat Board keeps fresh and used holders separate. Note pad and a (highly recommended) Fisher Space pen store in the pocket along with a edge viewing filter I made from a glass 6x7 Slide mount and an old Zone VI viewing filter.