# Unexpected casualty of digital photography **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848 "2008-05-03T03:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/21 "2008-05-04T01:57:45Z")
The plastic ones are just right for holding a nice metal pencil sharpener and shavings. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/22 "2008-05-04T03:38:34Z")
Some 9 years back, when I worked at a newspaper, and they still used film for all their photography, I used to save the film canisters, the semi-clear white ones like in [postcard’s collection](http://www.photochimps.com/pp/data/782/Film_Cans.jpg). They are so useful! I used them mainly for a pill bottle, but also for sewing needles and other sewing notions, jewelry, and various other little things. Unfortunately I only have a couple left ☹ I love those things, they are SO handy. I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/23 "2008-05-04T03:47:14Z")
When I was doing a lot of painting with acrylics, I found film canisters are perfect for saving colors. It doesn’t dry out as fast so you can go back and fix stuff without trying to mix the color again. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/24 "2008-05-04T22:44:26Z")
My boyfriend just, as in yesterday, opened a film photography shop. Camera shop, darkroom, studio. My fingers are crossed so hard they may fall off. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/25 "2008-05-04T23:50:40Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I know, right? Now where are we going to stash our weed? [/QUOTE] Like someone else said, Altoids tins, pill bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/26 "2008-05-05T00:14:35Z")
Go to a photo store and ask for some. They’ll probably have drawers full of them. ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/27 "2008-05-05T00:21:51Z")
I used them to store batteries while I traveled. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/28 "2008-05-05T10:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] A film can is a perfect measure for exactly one serving of pasta. [/QUOTE] 😕😕😕 If you’re a _mouse_, maybe! ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/29 "2008-05-05T11:23:44Z")
Take a plastic film cannister and put a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the bottom. Lay a single ply sheet of toilet paper on the top and add about a teaspoon of baking soda. Snap the lid on securely and keep upright. Flip the cannister upside down and immediately toss it as high in the air as possible. With practice it will a’splode at the apex and look like a tiny moist firework. For more fun flip the cannister upside down and hand it to a friend, quite a lovely grenade. ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/30 "2008-05-05T11:39:32Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] 😕😕😕 If you’re a _mouse_, maybe! [/QUOTE] Just in case, I thnk Postcards is referring to measuring the amount of uncooked pasta and not after it’s cooked. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/31 "2008-05-05T12:26:21Z")
Confess. You were all in gifted classes, weren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/32 "2008-05-05T13:02:32Z")
When I was in High School, we used to take 35mm film canisters, cut one end off and sellotape a finger from a rubber glove over it, then load it with small balls of paper (or, in my case, plastic Soft Air Gun BBs), resulting in a short range relative of the slingshot, but with the ability to fire multiple projectiles. Best of all, they were ludicrously easy to conceal, and (if fired with only one pellet in them) could get quite a respectable range out of them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/33 "2008-05-05T13:07:31Z")
[QUOTE=dbuzman] Just in case, I thnk Postcards is referring to measuring the amount of uncooked pasta and not after it’s cooked. [/QUOTE] So? What’s that, three penne tubes? A tiny morsel of pasketti? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/34 "2008-05-05T13:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] I have a small chunk of [Belvedere Castle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belvedere_Castle) in a film canister. I was there in the mid-80s, when they gave you a sliver of granite if you donated money to the preservation fund. [/QUOTE] I hope to Jebus you have that thing labeled “Irony.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/35 "2008-05-05T14:16:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Confess. You were all in gifted classes, weren’t you? [/QUOTE] Hmm… Let’s see… 4 posts concerning illegal (or at least illicit) smoking material. 1 post concerning turning object into a ballistic device. 1 post concerning turning object into an IED. And, of course, there’s **blondebear** ’s post about “superworms” and the pun at the end that seems almost unanimously a whoosh. Yep, you got it, always wondered just exactly we were doing in those “special” classes weren’t you? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/36 "2008-05-05T14:30:06Z")
The beauty of living in NYC is that I have B&H, Adorama, and a few other places where I can walk in and have a wide variety of film available for purchase. A bewildering variety and not just 35mm. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/37 "2008-05-05T16:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=nd\_n8] And, of course, there’s **blondebear** ’s post about “superworms” and the pun at the end that seems almost unanimously a whoosh. [/QUOTE] I got it. I adore puns. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/38 "2008-05-05T17:26:23Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] So? What’s that, three penne tubes? A tiny morsel of pasketti? [/QUOTE] At a guess, a serving of spaghetti. Of course, why would you want to cook just one serving? ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/39 "2008-05-05T17:26:28Z")
That’s what my life has been missing! My wife is a hobby photog, and ever since she went digital, I’ve been hunting for little containers for odd nuts and screws for the small woodworking projects I do. Best of all, they were free! I loved the Fuji cannisters – they were clear plastic (or pretty much clear) and I could see what was in 'em without opening them up. They’re not that good for packing shots of whiskey on a hike, though. Not water-tight (or liquor-tight, as the case may be) without supplemental sealant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848/40 "2008-05-05T17:30:53Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] What else have you used them for? [/QUOTE] I taught myself to juggle with them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-casualty-of-digital-photography/447848.md?page=3)