Submitted by Al …
(Adapted from The Encyclopedia of Photography ©1963)
When a photographer has no darkroom or other light-tight room available, a changing bag will come in handy for the loading of film into cameras or into developing tanks.
There are a variety of inexpensive changing bags on the market. The main purpose of changing bags is to let the photographer slip both arms into a dark area, through sleeves of black material with rubber or elastic bands around them to keep out the light. With this procedure cut-sheet film or bulk roll film can be loaded into holders, jammed cameras can be fixed, or daylight loading developing tanks can be filled.
The bag must have some opening in the working area, a zipper top for the loose bag and a hinged cover for the box type, through which the tanks, film, scissors, and other working materials can be passed. This must be tightly closed before the work proceeds. Particularly handy for the traveling photographer, it can be used in the field as a light-proof and dust-free ‘darkroom’. The bag should not be too bulky. Scrupulous care must be taken not to damage the bag in any way, since repaired bags are never absolutely reliable afterwards.
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