Different question about drying your film

[Pirate]

Does anyone use their standard developing tank to dry their film?
Such as, a final clean water rinse, shake it out well, and leave it in the reel and tank to dry? This certainly would be the best way to keep dust from getting on any of the film.


Question 2, while we're here... Does anyone load their film Emulsion Side out on the reel to counter the curling effect? Yes I understand it would be more hazardous of scratches, so I'm just curious if anyone does or did use this method of loading the reels.

So there we go, 2 more questions for the masses....

[marcr1230]

I would think that air drying on the reel would not be ideal, because water drops would tend to collect at the contact point between the film and reel

I've seen rigs for blow drying film in a reel, you put it in a PVC pipe section and attach a filtered blower


re curling, if you hang the film with a weighted clip and allow it to completely dry curling is not an issue IMHO

[oftheherd]

As to the first question, I think it would take an inordinate amount of time to dry, and would increase the curl of the dried film. I wouldn't do it.

On the second question, I don't recall that I ever did that, even by accident. I wouldn't do it on purpose. I don't know that it would scratch the film as long as the reel was handled properly. What if anything it would do to the emulsion I don't know. But probably nothing that drying it on the reel with the emulsion side in wouldn't do.

[Pirate]

About my second question... the Rollei Ortho 25 ISO film curls very badly. Kodak Ektar 100 lays flat as can be. Fuji Pro 160S has a curl to it that takes me a while to get out. Those are mainly what I use, so that's why the question came up. And I do use the weighted clips for hanging, and still get a bad curl with those films.

My first question... I didn't think about the water laying in the edge areas. That's a very good point. Maybe I'll look into making my own filtered PVC Tube Dryer.

[crawdiddy]

I hang my film with a weighted clip to dry, but then I reload it onto the reel with emulsion side out. I place the film on top of my DVR for about 15 minutes. The DVR always puts out a small amount of heat. After 15 minutes, I remove the film, slice it and store in archival sheets. This works pretty well for removing the curl.

[Pirate]

This might sound silly, but, what's a DVR?

[crawdiddy]

Digital Video Recorder. The cable box.

Congrats, Pirate! You hit the 1,000 post milestone!

[GSNfan]

Magnum photographer Trent Parke dried his negatives out in the open of Australian outback, his reasoning was, "i wanted that rough look to the pictures."

[Pirate]

Wow, surpassing 1000 posts. Never thought it would happen!

I like that rough look too, but I don't think Michigan would do the same thing to them.... especially right now in the freezing weather :-)

[calebk]

Regarding loading the film emulsion side out, I've done it a couple of times, by accident. All I can say is the last few frames are especially prone to scratches from the slightest mishandling, and both times, the last few frames did indeed get scratches.

Hanging the film out to dry with some weight on the bottom will do more than enough to counter the curl. Done it with Tri-X and FP-4+

[nikon_sam]

I hang them to dry with a weight (clothes pin) on the bottom...I have never thought to dry them in the tank or on the reels...
I've never loaded them emulsion side out either...
Question #1...No
Question #2...No

[venchka]

I know someone who develops on Jobo 2500 reels. After the final distilled water + 1/2 strength Photo-Flo rinse, he shakes the reels & film like mad to get as much excess water off as possible. He then sets the reel + film on a paper towel & covers with a paper towel and lets the reel + film sit overnight. I've never had the nerve to try it. I may try it the next time I run film.

ps: My 120 Efke 25 curled so badly I traded away about 15 rolls.