120 Film "Loose"

[Harry Christy]

I shot a roll through my holga the other day and the film is sort of loose around the spool. It doesnt seem like it turned onto it tightly, i'm able to see some of the black paper. Should I just send it in like this, not send it in at all, or try to re-wind it around the spool in a dark room?

 

[wclark5179]

Gosh, the 120 I use the black paper faces in towards the center of the roll as this is the side the film is on. The side, usually with some color other than black & numbers with info at the beginning of the roll, (some I lick) tape at the end of the roll to affix the paper so as it doesn't unravel, face out & I can see that.

If you see the black paper when looking on edge, then it didn't wind on to the take up spool with enough tension to keep it tight as it was wound. Need to correct that! If you having the film developed it depends how important the pictures are as to spend the money to find out how much light leaked on to the film.

Hope this helps you.

 

[fschifano]

It appears to me that you wound the film on backwards. If you did, and the film is facing out, it's ruined. The whole thing is fogged, so don't bother getting it processed. Rather, use this roll of film to see how the whole package is assembled so you won't make this mistake again next time.

 

[asp.artist]

I would tighten it up. Holgas have a habit of not wrapping the film tightly. So, be aware of it. Makes for some fun red streaks in color film.
Anne

 

[sly]

Twice I've had 120 rolls that weren't wound on tight. Sloppy and could see inside the backing paper slightly for the last round or 2. They were in the right way, but hadn't been wound on as tightly as possible. The frames at the end of the roll had some edge fogging. I've never had a Holga, so I'm not sure how it's set up inside, but there is a metal flange(?) near the take up spool in my camera whose job appears to be to press on the film and keep it tightly wound. I used a little pressure on this to make it exert more pressure on the film.

If you can tighten it up in the darkroom, do so, but the fogging has undoubtedly already happened. There should be usable frames from the beginning of the roll. I guess it will depend on how loosely it wound on.

 

[Valerie]

I fold up a piece of the film box and wedge it under the film spool in the Holga... then the film winds up nice and tight. (But not too tight or you will not be able to wind the film at all!)

 

[Harry Christy]

Twice I've had 120 rolls that weren't wound on tight.
If you can tighten it up in the darkroom, do so, but the fogging has undoubtedly already happened. There should be usable frames from the beginning of the roll. I guess it will depend on how loosely it wound on.

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to get it developed anyway but first i'm going to try to tighten it. Is there anything I should look for when I do it? I know there is the black paper and the film itself so is there anything I should do to keep them together? And will it matter if i touch the film?

 

[sly]

You shouldn't have to unwind it. Once in the dark, with the tape pulled off, just hold the spool between thumb and forefinger of the left hand and pull on paper end with other hand while turning spool to tighten (does this make sense?) Retape once it feels snug enough.

 

[Rick A]

You shouldn't have to unwind the film, just pinch the paper between your thumb and finger while turning the end of the spool in the proper direction to tighten it. If you must cut the tape on the outside just have a piece of tape ready for when you have it tightened. Do not unspool any paper at all.

Rick

 

[BetterSense]

I fold up a piece of the film box and wedge it under the film spool in the Holga... then the film winds up nice and tight.

This sounds like a good idea. My agfa folding camera has a metal tab that puts pressure on the films so that it winds on tightly. Once I had a roll that didn't windon tightly and I had to tweak the metal tab so that it pressed with more force.