Daylight loading of B&W IR - progress report

[ANDPPH@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This is sort of like an FYI bit ....

Sometime ago I mentioned I was going to conduct an experiment related to
accomplishing what some IR practitioners have wanted to do for a long time and
that is to have the ability to load their cameras with B&W Kodak High Speed
infrared film in daylight.

After my so-so unsuccessful attempt at accomplishing this with a leader made of
film processed to D-max I decided to try another tack and described it and
"warned" that I was going to try it. This "new" (possibly not since I have not
done a literature search) method consists of attaching a paper backing to the
film so that it extends the full length of the film or at least part way into
the cassette.                                               
                                              
Well, I tried it and it worked for me. If interested you could see if it might
work for you too. However, since it involves taking liberties with how film is
loaded and transported through your camera I disclaim any responsibility for
damages resulting from sharing my experiences, to wit:

The camera advance mechanism apparently is not affected by the presence of a
sprocketless backing paper behind the sprocketed film. Nor does it appear that
there is any difficulty transporting the film plus backing paper through the
film gate of various 35mm cameras ... maybe because the IR film is so thin to
begin with!

Anyway, the idea is this:

Cut a length of backing paper that you get from discarded 120 film in such a
manner that it is just a bit over 35mm wide by anywhere from 10 inches to 5
feet long (or as long as the 120 roll is). You can test the width of the cut by
trying to roll it up on a 35mm spool. It should fit snugly ... not loosely.

As you start to bulk load the film attach one end of the paper backing paper to
the film and then roll both the backing paper and the film into the cassette.
You will have to do this in darkness unless you (in darkness) roll up your
paper with the bulk roll in your loader. Make sure to stop loading film+paper
into the cassette before the paper runs into the cassette!. Now shape the leader
as usual and save in dark cannister for later loading into your camera.

You can also just cover the last few inches of the film with the backing paper.
This what I did. I did not try a full length backing but I have a hunch that
would be ok too.

Anyway, I used a length about 12 inches long and loaded a 20 exposure length of
film into the cassette at which time I attached the backing paper to the film
and wound off 10 more frames and attached the end of the paper to the film
reaching almost the end of it. The "composite" looked like this:
        
- ------/=================================================\--------.             
O O O/O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O\O O O O \            
    /                                                     \        \           
.--/--.                                                 .--\---.    \          
| |   |           <---- +/- 12 inches ------>           | TAPE |     \________
'--\--'                                                 '--/---'              |
    \                                                     /                   |
O O O\O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O/O O O O O O O O O O |
- ------\=================================================/---------------------'

Note that the tape holding the backing paper to the film DOES NOT GO ANYWHERE
NEAR the sprocket holes of the film. This it to allow the paper to bend, flex
and roll over the sprocket drive.

This assembly went through my Canon A1 with no problem and I loaded the film
into the camera in late afternoon sunlight but with my body shielding the
camera. The cassette was exposed to light in this manner for about 5 minutes.

good luck,

Andy  o o  0 0 o . o  Andrew Davidhazy, Imaging and Photo Tech
       \/\/\/\/\/\/   http://www.rit.edu/~andpph  716-475-2592  
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End of Infrared-Digest V0 #234
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