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Efke and plastic reels

Tony-S

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Messages
1,170
Location
Colorado, USA
Format
Multi Format
I just processed my first roll of Efke (25) film and discovered that it wouldn't load onto my plastic reel. I had to use my stainless steel reel. Does anyone else have this problem? The plastic reel works fine with my Ilford and Fuji films.
 
I never use plastic reels.
 
Well, it sure is a curly film. And the emulsion seems to come off in spots during development. Processed in Rodinal 1:50. Any tips from those who use this film?
 
Tony-S said:
I just processed my first roll of Efke (25) film and discovered that it wouldn't load onto my plastic reel. I had to use my stainless steel reel. Does anyone else have this problem? The plastic reel works fine with my Ilford and Fuji films.
Click to expand...

I've shot a couple rolls of Efke film, though I think I only used 50 and 100. Never had a problem with plastic reels though.
 
I have been using efke 25 and 50 extensively and I have not had any problem with plastic reels that I don't have with Neopan 400 (I have some old reels and one of them is a bit tricky to load with any film).
Unfortunately they have stopped selling it (under any name) in Sweden.
 
Never had any issues with loading efke on plastic reels. But the reels need to be really dry, otherwise all sorts of gremlins wake up and make your life miserable.

If you want Efke in Sweden, you need to get it in Germany (Fotoimpex), as Adox film.
 
No problems with 120 Adox/Efke CHS films on a variety of plastic reels, not tried 35mm, but I second the need to make sure the reels are really clean and dry.

Ian
 
Tony-S said:
Well, it sure is a curly film. And the emulsion seems to come off in spots during development. Processed in Rodinal 1:50. Any tips from those who use this film?
Click to expand...

As has been stated in many threads on EFKE, use water instead of stop bath and be delicate in handling it. I use SS reels for the most part, but when I have used plastic, I've found that snipping the corners off the lead end of the roll just before inserting in the reel helps it avoid the hang-up. Tricky at first, but you can do it.
 
I used to use it in sheets and the stuff would scratch if you looked at it too hard.

I do have a roll of the PL50 or whatever it is called in the fridge that I guess I better send through my SS process and skip the plastic just in case.
 
I have a terrible time loading the Efke R100 127 film on Paterson reels. Unfortunately, I don't know of any other solutions for daylight processing of 127.
 
A tip with Paterson reels is apart from ensuring they are dry is mke sure the ball bearings move freely. I've used a lot of ADox/EFKE film over the years 35mm & 120 in Paterson reels with no problems.

Another thing that helps with Roll films us to remove from the backing paper & load the taped end first, with Tmax i used to clip the corners that helped a lot.

Ian
 
I don't find efke any different to load in plastic reels than any other film, 35 or 120. Keep your reels clean, particularly rinse well in HOT water to rinse off any photoflo. In my experience, it's the photoflo used in the final rinse that gums up the reels.
 
Freestyle Photo sells "Premium" plastic reels under the Arista brand—they have little plastic tabs which help guide in the film. I almost gave up on plastic, until I switched to the premium reels; no problems since I switched, even when the reels are (very slightly) damp. I've loaded lots of Efke through these; if you really don't want to use SS, then I'd wager the Premium Arista is the way to go...

LINK TO PRODUCT

Note: this double-reel system will also dev 127 films (one at a time)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DLawson said:
I have a terrible time loading the Efke R100 127 film on Paterson reels. Unfortunately, I don't know of any other solutions for daylight processing of 127.
Click to expand...

Film aprons, like the ones Kodak use to have. Available at Freestyle and others.
 
Just my 2¢ - Efke's base is a lot flimsier than Kodak etc. This may be your issue - you just have to treat it with more "care" - like slower shorter winding strokes, etc.

Personally I hate the Efke base so much that I will probably not be using it again for more reasons than loading - I have no issue with loading but why the F couldn't they make the base just a bit less crappy and curly. I'll stick with my PXP

RB
 
I've had horrible experiences loading Efke IR820 on plastic reels. Very thin and the emulsion scratches like crazy. Never use a squeegee. I only use stainless now and it goes a lot easier.
 
My experience with Efke films is that because the plastic base is so thin, it's hard to load on any reel...be that plastic or stainless steel.
 
We sell the Efke films at the lab I work at and therefore get a roll or two in a week. I have never had a problem with them on plastic reels and we are dip-n-dunk sink line. I absolutely love the 25 and 50. It is curly on the long and I understand it doesn't have the anti curl layer, but never had a problem loading it. I do find in these dry/cold day/months that film in general curls in the drying process a lot more. So much that we don't use the drier on E6 rolls because it makes it difficult to mount them. We also run a humidifier in the darkroom to combat these problems.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I'll try the water stop to see if that helps with the emulsion issue. Using the stainless steel tank isn't a big deal, it just takes a bit longer to load.
 
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