Has anyone found a way of not doing this in complete darkness, eg.
night-vision, infra-red or special safelight filter?

Yes. Look at this thread :
http://www.apug.org/forums/showthrea...night+vi sion

When handling the film, how important is it to keep your fingers off the
actual film face? Obviously handling on the edges would be better, but in
complete darkness with my clumsy fingers, I can imagine when loading the
developing reel I'm gonna grab the film face at least once.Would this ruin
that patch, or is it ok as long as the touch is light?

Fingerprints from loading modern film onthe spool don't show when
developed immediately afterwards. The developer is alkaine which seems
to dissolve the skinoil. But IR film does show the fingerprints.

Gilbert
Gilbert

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