As we are all probably aware of by now, the PX100 and PX600 films, as well as the colorshade films by The Impossible Project are still sensitive to light as the film exits the camera, and will remain in this state for approximately two minutes after ejection.
The first ten seconds of which are the most crucial.
It is therefore important to shade the film from light for the duration of this time.
There are many ways of going about working around this. Depending on where you are, the simplest solution is simply to develop the image upside down on a table. However, when you're out and about that table or flat surface might be hard to come by, and the temperature of said surface might not be ideal for development either. This is where having another form of lightshield at hand becomes, well... handy.
When I encountered these obstacles myself, I decided to throw together the simplest and most functional lightshield I could imagine, and here it is:
As you can tell from the pattern above, this lightshield and camera sleeve uses only one component. A 50cm long, and 12cm wide piece of cloth. sown together with just two seams. It doesn't get much simpler than that, does it? Scroll down for a slightly more in-depth explanation of how to assemble it.
The real bonus of this setup is of course that not only does it shield your images from light, but when you're not using it, it will also shield your beloved camera from the elements, since it also doubles up as a sleeve, as shown in the illustration to the right of the video.
It doesn't stop here though. There has been put in a little more thought in behind the little flap which closes over the opening of the bag. This flap also serves as a handle for holding the shield in place once it has been slipped over the camera's film lid, and it will stay there until you let go of it. To me this made sense to do since your hand is already in the position to hold it in place, simply by gripping the camera.
Check out the demonstration video above to get a clearer view of exactly how it performs in action.
I've found that the ideal material for this lightshield is a single layer of black microfleece for the following reasons:
- It's easily available
- It's a durable and washable material.
- It's extremely light weight.
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It's smooth and soft so that the edges of the film doesn't get caught up in it as it exits the camera
- And last but not least, due to the tight weave, it blocks most, if not all light. (Depending on the thickness)
Of course you can vary the choice of materials on your own lightshield, however I advice you to consider some of the above points when picking out a material for your own lightshield. Especially the point about how easily the film's corners can be caught up in the material as it ejects from the camera. Throughout my own tests, I found that microfleece was the way to go.
Also, keep in mind that If you do decide to go with microfleece, it's a fairly elastic material, so you can adjust the tightness of how it sits on the camera by narrowing the width of the cloth. At 12cm, you should be left with a fairly loose fit.
In the pattern above, the dimensions for the piece of cloth you'll need is meant for an SX-70 camera. If you have an SLR680, like I do, you're going to have to expand the length of the cloth to compensate for the bigger size of the camera. (64cm in length, leaving 27cm for the actual pocket and 10cm for the flap)
1 - For the SX-70, cut a piece of cloth to the dimensions of 50cm x 12cm. (19.68 inches x 4.72 inches)
2 - Measure 20cm (7.87 inches) inwards from either edge of the cloth and fold it at the 20cm mark, as shown in the pattern.
3 - Now simply sew two seams at each side of the cloth and voilà! A fully functional lightshield and camera sleeve!
Congratulations, you're now the proud owner of a durable and functional light shield for your PX images!
The patterns and illustrations on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
