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Keeping track of film and cameras


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I have two major uses of Evernote in photography. I use a lot of old cameras, and it can be hard to remember the quirks of each. The Canon IIS2 has a light leak on the lower left; the aperture on the FED is rusted wide open, etc. Evernote is perfect for recording these issues as I notice them and allowing me to review them later, when selecting a camera or deciding how to use whichever one I have with me.

 

More important on a daily basis, I use Evernote to track my film. ISO 400 color in the Leicaflex, Kentmere iso 100 black & white in the Exakta II, etc. If you don't go through a roll all at once, it's easy to forget what's in there, and if you no longer know what kind of film you're using, it's impossible to set the speed and aperture correctly. I also note subject matter for each roll as I shoot it, which together with the record of film type, allows me to identify which camera took which pictures when I process the negatives.

 

post-146594-0-92930100-1376582745_thumb.

 

That's a photo taken at City Streets last week on Kodak TMAX 100 with a Canon 7 that has focus problems.

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  • 1 month later...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses Evernote with film photography. 

 

When I fell back in love with shooting film this past Spring, Evernote became a clear choice for an assistant that I knew would help me in my new found adventure.  I started with 35mm and quickly acquired several SLRs and rangefinders for Street photography.  I then moved up to medium format using both TLRs (Rolleiflex and Yashica Mat 124G( and SLRs (Bronica SQ-A series) and finally large format using a 4x5 monorail view camera.  Having basically abandoned 14 years of shooting digitally, I realized I needed a way to record the exposure information since there was no longer the built in EXIF data that digital was giving me.  I also needed a way to track the films loaded into each camera and camera back or 4x5 film holder.  

 

Evernote to the rescue.  I setup a "Film Photography" notebook stack which has notebooks for: 

 

  1. Gear 
  2. Exposure Log 
  3. Film 
  4. Developing 
 

In the "Gear" notebook I keep a list of all film bodies, the lenses, film backs and filters I have for each, serial #s when they were available, when and where I purchased the gear from, types of films that work best for each and in what conditions.  I also add the PDF manual for each piece of gear after downloading them off of Mike Butkus's site(OrphanCameras.com).   

 

In the "Exposure log" notebook I have a note for each shot taken, primarily for the medium format and large format shooting.  I each note I keep: 

  • Aperture 
  • Shutter speed 
  • Film used, color or B&W and the box ISO rating of the film 
  • What ISO I actually shot the film at (helpful for pushing or pulling film) 
  • Any filters that were used 
  • For large format macro shots I record bellows extension 
  • For large format, the holder # and side (H1S1, H3S2, etc) 
  • Metered EV value and type of meter used (spot, incident or reflective).  For large format this includes high, mid and low EV values for the scene (per zone system) 
  • Reciprocity compensation (if any based on film speed, shutter speed and bellows factor)  
  • The weather conditions and light conditions (cloudy, sunny, raining, etc) 
  • Any other special conditions (helpful for developing where you may want to build up extra contrast based upon the shooting conditions) 
  • A 800X600 example of the final image scanned from each resulting negative.  Not all negatives get scanned but the ones that are have an image attached to the exposure log.   
  • The binder #, plastic PrintFile archive sleeve # and row/column where the negative could be found.  
  • Sometimes I'll also use the "Pocket Light Meter" app on my iPhone to take a reflective reading of the scene and that resulting image file I drag from Dropbox, which the app syncs to, into the Evernote exposure log note so I have the reflective Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, the GPS location and a reference image of the scene.  
 

In the "Film" notebook I keep notes for current Film Inventory in the fridge, notes on film suppliers, links to purchasing pages and upcoming sales for stocking up.  I also keep a note for each camera, detachable film back or large format film holder which records: 

  • Type of film loaded 
  • Box rated ISO of film 
  • Name of camera, film back or 4x5 sheet holder/side 
 

In the "Developing" notebook I keep technical data sheets for each film I use.  These are helpful for knowing developing recommendations, reciprocity factors, etc.  A lot of this information is also available as iPhone apps like the "Massive Dev Chart" and "Reciprocity Timer" but it's also good to have the official documentation from the manufacturer squirreled away in Evernote.  I also keep developing recipes I have collected from various sources and sometimes examples of the results of each recipe.
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  • 1 year later...

 

In the "Exposure log" notebook I have a note for each shot taken, primarily for the medium format and large format shooting.  I each note I keep: 
  • Aperture 
  • Shutter speed 
  • Film used, color or B&W and the box ISO rating of the film 
  • What ISO I actually shot the film at (helpful for pushing or pulling film) 
  • Any filters that were used 
  • For large format macro shots I record bellows extension 
  • For large format, the holder # and side (H1S1, H3S2, etc) 
  • Metered EV value and type of meter used (spot, incident or reflective).  For large format this includes high, mid and low EV values for the scene (per zone system) 
  • Reciprocity compensation (if any based on film speed, shutter speed and bellows factor)  
  • The weather conditions and light conditions (cloudy, sunny, raining, etc) 
  • Any other special conditions (helpful for developing where you may want to build up extra contrast based upon the shooting conditions) 
  • A 800X600 example of the final image scanned from each resulting negative.  Not all negatives get scanned but the ones that are have an image attached to the exposure log.   
  • The binder #, plastic PrintFile archive sleeve # and row/column where the negative could be found.  
  • Sometimes I'll also use the "Pocket Light Meter" app on my iPhone to take a reflective reading of the scene and that resulting image file I drag from Dropbox, which the app syncs to, into the Evernote exposure log note so I have the reflective Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, the GPS location and a reference image of the scene.  
 

 

Do you keep this information is pure text form or do you have a template into which you enter data?

 

I also shoot meduim and large format film photography (along with digital) and am looking for something like an exposure record template so that I don't forget things like which holder I used for which shot, and if my film development time needs to be modified (I use the Zone system - N+1/N+2/N-1/N-2).

 

Thanks,

 

jdg

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Hi,

 

Evernote is such a great way to keep information on your hobbies. I am a digital photographer and keep a number of Notebooks in a section I surprisingly call 'Photography'

 

I have Notebooks for my club - Calne Camera Club - where I am the competition secretary:

CCC - Docs Shared

CCC - Emails

CCC - General

CCC - Spreadsheets Shared

 

I scan and keep articles before throwing the paper copies away:

Magazine Articles

 

I have a shared Notebook for the Olympus OMD Camera which I have now moved to:

OMD - Shared

 

I was a committee member of the Royal Photographic Society:

RPS

RPS - Emails

 

I did some research:

Contemporary Photography

 

There is a catch all Notebook where I keep all receipts, pdf's of manuals, etc:

Photo - General

 

Then there are these shared Notebooks which are not mine, the owner puts some very useful information on there:

PH Composition

PH Gear

PH Landscapes

PH Photograhers

PH Portraits

PH Technique

 

 

A very useful way of collecting data and being able to refer to it whenever I want. Many times, I have been in the field and cannot remember a setting on my camera. A quick look in Evernote and my manual, job done! Or perhaps a link to a fellow photographer who has taken shots of something I am doing, maybe a wedding. I can remember how they achieved something, but not how they did it. Again, I will have saved that information and can quickly research it wherever I am.

 

I hasten to add, I prefer to use Notebooks because the Business version of Evernote which I use, has a problem with tags which do not work very well. Having said that, I prefer Notebooks as I can find what I want much quicker.

 

Best regards

 

 

Chris

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