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Are HEWES reels THAT much better?

GregY said:
Anything you drop from a height is subject to the laws of gravity & impact forces. Has anyone ever cracked a Paterson tank or reel or dropped a lens??
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I took a chip out of the base of a Paterson System 4 tank eons ago when I first started BW processing - I banged it on the bench top too hard. Now I just hold the tank in one hand and rap the tank bottom with the three middle fingers of my other hand. Three or four firm taps. Never seen any air bells on the developed negs.

I prefer Hewes reels for 120 as I was getting too many hangups on Paterson reels. My plastic reels are clean and I think that part of the problem with 120 is its thinner base resulting in lower stiffness and a tendency to 'resist' the action when effectively pushing the film onto the reel.

I've only tried my Hewes 35mm reel once and hat wasn't very successful. I'll have to practise a bit more with a sacrificial film.

Touch wood, I haven't dropped a lens or body yet and All of my camera straps are of the woven synthetic type. Not gonna trust old leather.
 
GregY said:
Has anyone ever cracked a Paterson tank or reel
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I set fire to one once, while it had film in it. I had just inverted the tank, and put it down, and I think I was about to mix a jug of hot- and cold tap water to 20°C for the water stop, when I noticed first the smell of burning polystyrene, then flames around the tank. I had put it down on a gas ring next to the sink, that I had stupidly left burning, on a very low flame that you couldn't easily see. I put the tank down in water to extinguish the flames, and finished the process ok, but I couldn't use that tank again. I have no excuse - I wasn't even old then.
 
I had a fine crack appear a few years ago in the side of a Paterson Super System 4 tank - oriented lengthwise and about an inch long.
The tank still seemed to be light tight, but liquid oozed out through the crack.
I repaired it with Cyanoacrylate Glue applied from the inside which I "encouraged" to migrate into the crack by doing my best to add some air pressure to the inside of the tank. I followed that up with the same glue on the outside of the crack.
It has been working perfectly ever since!
 
tokam said:
Touch wood, I haven't dropped a lens or body yet and All of my camera straps are of the woven synthetic type. Not gonna trust old leather.
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Hah. I tripped and broke my old 24-70/2.8 (Sigma EF HSM DG) Saturday. Meanwhile because my hands were busy trying to fling gear safely away from me into the grass (otherwise successfully) I landed on my chest with all my weight on a folded up Speed Graphic I was carrying (= metal cinder block) and now get to watch a hematoma turn from red to purple to green the next two weeks.

I don't use camera neck straps, ever. Sadly, somewhat, neither of the bodies I most use now is tall enough for a hand strap, which is my favorite thing in the world. But I carry cameras in my hand by my side, or in a tote bag. I don't like carrying a camera conspicuously.

I doubt the 15 year old lens can be repaired. Although it has served me very well, I was getting tired of its slightly busy bokeh and a couple of scratches that cause a little loss of contrast, and I have 1.2-1.4 primes that cover that range anyway so ... Probably will buy an old 24-70L later on, maybe get lucky and find one that doesn't back focus.
 
J N said:
I landed on my chest with all my weight on a folded up Speed Graphic I was carrying (= metal cinder block) and now get to watch a hematoma turn from red to purple to green the next two weeks.
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Glad you are okay.
I guess I've been watching too many shows about crime lately, because after reading this I immediately started thinking about those scenes with the medical examiner where they talk about how they just can't match the shape of the fatal bruise to anything remotely resembling anything that they are familiar with .......
 
I used Jobo, Paterson and AP plastik reels a fair bit (both in 35mm an 120) before switching over to Hewes reels and suffice to say that I'm not going back - ever.

with the plastic ones, the AP worked best for me, but even there I had the occasional film getting stuck which I had to reload several times, worrying about wrinkles.

with the Hewes never a problem in either format.

I use the ones made for the Paterson tanks, which is my favourite tank system so far. The downside that they are getting expensive and hard to find these days, specially outside of the UK.

speaking of which, anybody knows of a Hewes distributor in the EU?
 

I have used both the Hasselblad 70 back (perforated 70mm in a cassette that looks like a 35mm cartridge) and a long roll Camerz TLR that shot unperforated 70mm both were handy for their intended purposes.
 
I used Paterson tanks for a lot of years until I started to process E6 and then I converted to mostly Nikor tanks and reels to control temperatures better. I came by some Hewes reels and have become a big fan of them and have picked them up whenever I see a good price on them. A lot of my Paterson tanks and reels were bought by young people of high school age which surprised me. All I have left now are sone new reels and a new Paterson System 4 Multi Unit 3 Tank with everything else being stainless steel
 

Most likely eBay.UK.
 
Yes. Absolutely yes. I was extremely fortunate to get some for an extremely low price, and they are wonderful! Loading is as smooth as butter for all my formats (35mm, 120, 220). Love these reels to bits.
 
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