do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel

removed account4 · May 21, 2017

i guess the title says it all ..
i used to but noticed tonight my eyes were wide open in the dark
what about you ?

michaelorr · May 21, 2017

John, i won't select a vote because the answer is - both! To your point, i have noticed that when i do something in the darkroom, eyes open when handling sheet films. So, loading reels if done in darkroom, i believe i would do it eyes open. BUT - when i am in a lit room and loading or unloading film holders in a changing tent, i have noticed that i do indeed often close my eyes. Funny how subconscious this all is.

paul ron · May 21, 2017

isnt it weird?

esearing · May 21, 2017

This was discussed on one of those brain science shows. With your eyes closed your mind is better able to manage spacial relationships than with eyes open in the dark. Your eyes tend to seek light sources and the brain will even create them sometimes which then fools the brain as to where your hands are. Try shuffling a deck of cards in dark with eyes open and closed.

michaelorr · May 21, 2017

That's cool! I am going to buy a deck of cards just to try this out.

jvo · May 21, 2017

Realised i close my eyes when loading film on development reels in a changing bag!!!!

bdial · May 21, 2017

I do it less now than I used to. But, yes, it does help to "see" what's going on.
Thank you @esearing for the info.

mshchem · May 21, 2017

I always closed my eyes until I got my IR goggles. I would be so concentrated on feel and sound. I've lost some feeling in my fingers. The goggles are a miracle. Sometimes I will close my eyes and load the reel while wearing the goggles, 35 mm is easy on Hewes and Paterson reels. 120 can be an issue with Jobo, the ir goggles are a life saver. Anyone with any kind of physical challenge I highly recommend trying ir goggles. Loading a Jobo 4x5 2509n reel with goggles is easy.

Patrick Robert James · May 21, 2017

I can't load film in a darkroom. Don't know why. I can only do it in a darkbag! When I try to do it in the dark I get completely disoriented and it takes forever. With a darkbag I can watch tv and load film super fast no problem, without even thinking about it.

Logan Becker · May 21, 2017

mshchem said:
I always closed my eyes until I got my IR goggles.

How much do those help you to see? Interested in a pair.

summicron1 · May 21, 2017

Patrick Robert James said:
I can't load film in a darkroom. Don't know why. I can only do it in a darkbag! When I try to do it in the dark I get completely disoriented and it takes forever. With a darkbag I can watch tv and load film super fast no problem, without even thinking about it.

I used to use a dark bag all the time because i felt i could see things better -- yeah, makes no sense.

Then i had to get a new bag which was so stiff i hated using it so went back to the darkroom, which does work fine.

Interestingly, my dark room has a number of little green glowing spots from the timers laying around, and one strip on an enlarger -- not enough to fog the film unless i waited hours or days, but enough so that, after a bit, my eyes have adjusted so i can almost see what I'm doing.

I asked a friend, once, what he did in that situation, and he said "I close my eyes."

Hey, whatever. Film never fogs, all is good.

Cholentpot · May 21, 2017

summicron1 said:
I used to use a dark bag all the time because i felt i could see things better -- yeah, makes no sense.

Then i had to get a new bag which was so stiff i hated using it so went back to the darkroom, which does work fine.

Interestingly, my dark room has a number of little green glowing spots from the timers laying around, and one strip on an enlarger -- not enough to fog the film unless i waited hours or days, but enough so that, after a bit, my eyes have adjusted so i can almost see what I'm doing.

I asked a friend, once, what he did in that situation, and he said "I close my eyes."

Hey, whatever. Film never fogs, all is good.

Interesting to note.

Last year I was working on the Kodak lot in one of the buildings that were re-purposed. A number of workers used to work for Kodak at one time or another. I was told that when they rolled the 120 there were receded dim green lights in the rolling room. When they rolled infrared though, there was no light and there was more of a tendency for accidents.

mooseontheloose · May 21, 2017

Patrick Robert James said:
I can't load film in a darkroom. Don't know why. I can only do it in a darkbag! When I try to do it in the dark I get completely disoriented and it takes forever. With a darkbag I can watch tv and load film super fast no problem, without even thinking about it.

Me too! And...I often (not always, but almost always) close my eyes at some point when loading reels. If I'm having a problem, then my eyes are definitely closed.

winger · May 21, 2017

I frequently close my eyes, especially if it's been awhile since I loaded that format. I do remember once seeing a post (here, probably) where someone said they always close their eyes and so didn't notice they'd left a light on. After that, I usually start with mine open, just to make sure. Sometimes they stay open, sometimes I close them once I'm concentrating.

mshchem · May 21, 2017

Logan Becker said:
How much do those help you to see? Interested in a pair.

I use toy Spynet Jakks Pacific, I bungee them to my head. Very narrow field of view, only 1 camera so no depth perception. Still I love them, has a focus wheel, I can read perfectly well in the dark. There's two sets of illumination leds. I taped over the near ir set because they give off very dim red light. The pure ir leds won't touch regular film a bit.
It's not cheating, for me it keeps me in the game, and I've never screwed up anything since I got them. I'm 60 and I want to be doing this a long time. For me it was a real miracle. I wear glasses under the goggles, that works too.
Takes some getting used to but for around 50 bucks it works fine. Kodak has been using stuff like this for ages.
If you look under my posts I've talked about this before, there's a lot of options, but for a toy around 50 bucks these work great.

NedL · May 21, 2017

I voted "I never noticed" because I'm not 100% sure, but I think I DO usually close them. I spool the film in a changing bag. Somehow it makes a strange kind of sense that closing your eyes helps visualize what you are doing, or at least concentrate a little harder on what your hands are feeling.

markbarendt · May 22, 2017

When I first started loading films having my eyes open made it really tough to load reels.

This isn't just for film reels, it's any situation where it's tough to see what my fingers are doing, mechanical stuff is a good example.

Over time the need to shut my eyes went away, I still do on occasion when a film is a bit recalcitrant.

MattKing · May 22, 2017

I don't usually, but I do avert my eyes from where they could see my hands. That of course makes no sense in a dark room.
The irony is that the room I use to load the reels has a really large mirror on the wall. If there was any light, I'd be able to see the reels from both sides.

Agulliver · May 22, 2017

When I had free access to a dark room, I would actually close my eyes loading the film onto the spiral in there. Though I'd open them for every other operation. I am unable to see in semi-dark so there was absolutely no way I could see a thing.

Now I use a changing bag and keep them open, but if a film is proving difficult to get started I do sometimes close them just to concentrate on getting the first inch of film onto the reel safely.

Pat Erson · May 22, 2017

I load my films with my eyes open and I turn off/on the radio that's at my feet with my right big toe. I hate commercials so when a "message" comes on the air, I silence the incoming BS.

tokam · May 22, 2017

I use a changing bag and I'm pretty sure that my eyes are open most of the time. When I've had a hard time with 120 on Patterson reels I would look at the changing bag intently, maybe trying to imagine what my hands were doing. Oh, for X-ray vision ala Clark Kent.

A few days ago I used a Hewes reel for 120 for the first time. An hour or so with a sacrificial film and when I came to load the film in the bag, the film just fell onto the reel. Too bloody easy. I hope I can repeat the trick in a week or so time.

LAG · May 22, 2017

jnanian said:
what about you ?

I never close my eyes whether with the Bag or in the Room, always open to see what happens inside and outside .

benjiboy · May 22, 2017

I voted no because I load my spirals in a changing bag.

pdeeh · May 22, 2017

jnanian said:
do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel?

If you don't, then it's clear you've lost that (film) lovin' feelin'

Neal · May 22, 2017

Not with developing reels (anymore!) but still when loading sheet film holders.

do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel

do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel?

yes

no

i never noticed

sometimes

removed account4

michaelorr

paul ron

esearing

michaelorr

jvo

bdial

mshchem

Patrick Robert James

Logan Becker

summicron1

Cholentpot

mooseontheloose

winger

mshchem

NedL

markbarendt

MattKing

Moderator

Agulliver

Pat Erson

tokam

LAG

benjiboy

pdeeh

Neal

do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel

do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel?

yes

no

i never noticed

sometimes

Moderator

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