Got darn film reels!

panchromatic · Apr 11, 2005

heres my rant:

So my whole life i've used metal reels in loading film. When I first started of course i would stick a few frames together (hey it happens the first time you start) Well for a while i was having the film developed at my work and now that i've finally got my darkroom working i've started heavily developing my own stuff (especally since i've experimented with different developers) Well with my own tank and reel i've been having a hell of a time getting the film on the reel. I figured i was just rusty, but i didn't get the hang of it and its really been ticking me off. I explored past forums and someone mentioned cheep and slightly bent reels can make it more difficult. So i borrowed a hewes (old heavy metal) from work and bam first time, no difficulty at ALL.

man i'm so releaved... it was the reel not i.

i'm done just needed to vent haha.

rogueish · Apr 12, 2005

Understandable. Nothing much worse than thinking your doing something wrong when it's actually the tools with the problem. It's such a relief when you discover it really isn't you. (Usually it is me, but I like to blame my tools anyway ).
Personally I use the cheap plastic, self feeding, ratchet style spools (got them as a Christmas present). Have used the ss spools a couple times. They do take a little practice having lost a couple frames from poor loading technics myself.

bobfowler · Apr 12, 2005

I feel your pain. There is NOTHING worse than a bent SS reel (well, almost nothing). I prefer to use SS for 120 film, but for 35mm, I use plastic Paterson reels.

NikoSperi · Apr 12, 2005

bobfowler said:
I feel your pain. There is NOTHING worse than a bent SS reel (well, almost nothing).

The hell there isn't: wet plastic reels and 120 roll film.

garryl · Apr 12, 2005

NikoSperi said:
The hell there isn't: wet plastic reels and 120 roll film.

Obviously none of you have ever loaded one of those old Kodak tanks with the plastic lasagna aprons.

bobfowler · Apr 12, 2005

NikoSperi said:
The hell there isn't: wet plastic reels and 120 roll film.

Good point... Plastic reels and hair dryers - perfect together!

bobfowler · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
Obviously none of you have ever loaded one of those old Kodak tanks with the plastic lasagna aprons.

I haven't touched one of those since 1972 - and that was when I was throwing it into the trash!

mark · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
Obviously none of you have ever loaded one of those old Kodak tanks with the plastic lasagna aprons.

You are quite right garryl. Those things sucked.

titrisol · Apr 12, 2005

The aprons were AWESOME, easy to load and to process.
I never had a kodak tank to go with them, but I had a small tin can, later a plastic can I painted black, where the 35mm aprons fit perfectly.

garryl said:
Obviously none of you have ever loaded one of those old Kodak tanks with the plastic lasagna aprons.

panchromatic · Apr 12, 2005

i used them once in high school for developing 120.... i didn't much care for them, they were easy to use (i thought) but i felt that i was cheating haha so i went to the metal reels.

Bighead · Apr 12, 2005

See what you did?? You got all the old guys ranting now.........

I went through the same thing. My metal reels got a little warped and started failing on me... Instead of buying Hewes reels, someone through a set of two plastic tanks. I'm not sold on plastic but they have been working great so far.... Easy to load too. And I can use the same stuff for 120 or 135...

garryl · Apr 12, 2005

titrisol said:
The aprons were AWESOME, easy to load and to process.
I never had a kodak tank to go with them, but I had a small tin can, later a plastic can I painted black, where the 35mm aprons fit perfectly.

Then I envy you. You must've had a magic touch. I could never get the film to track down the middle. Finally had to switch the SS. AH yes, memories of the 1959-60's middle school.

panchromatic · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
AH yes, memories of the 1959-60's middle school.

I was born in 1985 my memories of high school is 1999-2003

garryl · Apr 12, 2005

panchromatic said:
I was born in 1985 my memories of high school is 1999-2003

Young whipper snapper!!

Ornello · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
Young whipper snapper!!

Paterson all the way, baby!

panchromatic · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
Young whipper snapper!!

haha yep.

Its funny i'm in a local arts group in my area... there is a large amount of photographers (say 70% of the group) i'm the ONLY ONE who uses film. Though the majority of them at one point did but have since gone digital.

rbarker · Apr 12, 2005

You guys are such wimps. In the old days, we had to make our own tanks and reels out of stone, using stone tools and wooly elk antlers!

garryl · Apr 12, 2005

rbarker said:
You guys are such wimps. In the old days, we had to make our own tanks and reels out of stone, using stone tools and wooly elk antlers!

You mean that, in your younger days, when you developered film that you were stoned?:rolleyes:

rbarker · Apr 12, 2005

garryl said:
You mean that, in your younger days, when you developered film that you were stoned?:rolleyes:

Stoned? Me? Although I must admit that memory of some parts of the '60s seems a little hazy.

mark · Apr 12, 2005

rbarker said:
You guys are such wimps. In the old days, we had to make our own tanks and reels out of stone, using stone tools and wooly elk antlers!

You forgot to mention that your negs were coated on a dino-hide base that was prone to serious curling as it dried.

Lee Shively · Apr 12, 2005

Hewes reels are great. I recently bought some Kalt "High Grade" reels from B&H that are an economical alternative. They're a little more costly than the pre-bent off brands but they are true, straight and well made.

It used to be the mark of a real photographer to be able to load a steel reel that was twisted into a pretzel shape and still never lose a frame. Thank God those days are gone!

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 12, 2005

Just out of curiosity, how is that different from wet SS reels and 120 roll film....

NikoSperi said:
The hell there isn't: wet plastic reels and 120 roll film.

mark · Apr 12, 2005

Thom. Those damned easy load plastic reels are impossible to load when they are wet. At least that has been my experience. The stainless ones load up easy because they do not rely on a ratchet motion to load the film, and the film does not slide along the runners. The film binds bad in a plastic reel as the emulsion gets wet and sticks to the plastic

rhphoto · Apr 12, 2005

Would you guys quit whining already?? I started in photography 25 years ago with a real camera (4x5), and sheet film. No friggin' holders to get frustrated over, just a lovely 15 minutes in absolute darkness sifting those SuperXX sheets through my fingers in the slippery soup. What a bunch of wimps!

garryl · Apr 13, 2005

rhphoto said:
Would you guys quit whining already?? I started in photography 25 years ago with a real camera (4x5), and sheet film. No friggin' holders to get frustrated over, just a lovely 15 minutes in absolute darkness sifting those SuperXX sheets through my fingers in the slippery soup. What a bunch of wimps!

You mean you never got to experience the Yankee sheet film slosh tank? Shame
Also, back in the 70's, Honeywell-Nikor used to make a SS daylight reel and tank for 4x5 sheet film. An back in the 30's, Kodak made a bakelite reel(?) and tank for daylight developing of 4x5(even came with an "easy Loader" device):rolleyes:

Shame you missed out on all that historical frustration

Got darn film reels!

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