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Help with 35mm reels--not a loading question

silvergrahm

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Location
Boston
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Hello, I've processed quite a few rolls of 35 in my day. Just getting back into it now. I sent away on eBay for two reels. I've received them now and it seems what I THOUGHT were the hooks that latch onto the sprocket holes, are actually just the ends of the wires, and there are no clips in sight. I used to process with nikkor reels, and they had the little hooks coming off of them.

Would love any help. Do I need to send these back?
 
I've had experience with two different types of reels: Stainless steel hub-loading with a film retention spring clip on the hub, and plastic rim-loading using a “walking” action to load from the rim to the hub along the guides. I've never had a reel that uses hooks to catch the sprocket holes.

Do you have any images of the reels? without those I don't think I'll be able to help you that terribly much more than with what I've already said.

Thanks!
 
I wasn't aware I could post photos--I can't look at them...

Let me try.

Ok, that works. Here is a link to the kind with the hooks, that I'm used to.

Dead Link Removed
 
On that kind of reel you probably don't need a retaining clip. The film will want to curl in the direction of the spiral, and the spiral itself is slightly smaller than the width of the film so that the film will rest in place. Use a fingertip to hold the film in place against the hub at the point where the spiral arms are bent inward axially. You will need to maintain a slight curve across the width of the film as you load the reel. Once the film is engaged in the spiral, you should be good to go as long as you don't apply significant lengthwise tension.

Try loading the reel in daylight with a practice film a few times. Get the feel of it. It'll take a bit of practice.

Good luck!
 
Good Afternoon, Silvergrahm,

The reel you have is basically the Nikkor-type available under numerous brand labels, although it lacks the spring device in the center which is commonly used. It's the type I avoid because I long ago found the Kinderman-style (punching pin in the center) or the Hewes-style, as in the link you give, to be superior.

Konical
 
The only reels I have used with sprocket hole-tab type of film attachment were Hewes or King Concept. The genuine Nikor reels I have used came with a variety of attachment methods ranging from the one you have acquired to spring clips to 'slip-in' types depending on the vintage.

The one you have will work just fine if you be sure to hold the leader in place as you start the film and then don't pull too hard while loading. I have used your type about as often as I have used the Hewes type.

The spring clip type (usually non-Nikor) will sometimes allow the leader to be secured off center, a sure guarantee that the film will not load properly. The type you have allows proper centering of the leader and easy loading.
 
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Those are my favourite type of reels.

First you need to cut off any leader.

Then just insert the end of the film fully into the centre core area, under the strut two away from the hooks (actually guides) and over top of the strut that is adjacent to the hooks/guides. Essentially, you crimp the film on that adjacent strut, and roll it in to the spiral, going over top of the hooks/guides.

It is much easier to do or show this than it is to describe it.
 
Konical said:
It's the type I avoid because I long ago found the Kinderman-style (punching pin in the center) or the Hewes-style, as in the link you give, to be superior.

Konical
Click to expand...

Never knew the name before, thanks.
 
I am confused by now...

So, there are stainless-steel center-loaded reels each with a different type of fastening mechanism at the center and there is one such center-loaded reel that has no such mechanism at all?

That one in the first photo above (inserted into post), without mechanism, still seems to have the wires bent in a way that film might be stuck inbetween.
 
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NNever like the clips of any kind anyway. Just stick it in the hub and keep a positive pressure into the spiral as you go. By the time you're a couple tunrs out, it's not going to pull back out. Any sort of clip or spring-wire always annoyed me. Be glad there's no clips.
 
A photographer colleague of mine used to remove any wire clips at the center of stainless reels to render them similar to yours. I never had problems loading them. Just put the end of the film in, hold the edges in place from either side of the hub and wind.
One of these days I am going to do that mod to my current reels.
 


Would anyone try to make me wiser?
 

The hooks aren't used as hooks, but rather as starting guides.

135 film is stiff enough that when you crimp it slightly over a bar it won't slip out. So when it goes from the crimp into the spiral, it stays there.
 
This is one of those times you're over-thinking a non existent problem. If you have a box full of reels, then use the ones that have no fastener of any kind. Every reel I've ever used that had a fastener was the reel that was a btch to thread, and the most likely to buckle the film and cause totally undeveloped and unfixed areas that ruined the roll.
 

Agree. I always had trouble with hooks and clips - seemed the film was always off-center so it buckled. I have a couple of reels with clips, but just stick the end of the film into the center of the reel and wind it on. No problems.
 
Most of my Nikkor 35mm reels look like that, w/o anything to clip or hook the film. And I prefer it like that.
For me, like some of the other here, a clip or hook just makes loading the film more difficult.
It is just the way I was taught. And once learned, the "aids" get in the way of doing the job.
 
Well I'll be dipped... I've got upwards of a dozen, all with spring clips... Sure I have my problems if not careful, but when I heard about all the raves about Hewes, I didn't realize it fitted to a pair of sprocket holes. That would be positive traction for sure.

But since I have enough reels, guess I'm not going to change just for the sake of change.
 

I agree. If you needed additional reels, and could find some Hewes at the right price, that would be different. The Nikon and Kindermann work fine. JMHO
 
Yes, there are all kinds of these reels, and usually you don't even need to attach the film at the end, even if the reel has a clip or a Kindermann-style punch in the center. It's often quicker to load without the center clip, because the film centers itself naturally when it isn't held in place, so there's less risk of a misload or crimping later down the line.

The only problem with leaving the film loose in the center is that you can start pushing the film so it spools up in the core, if you're not paying attention. With 35mm this isn't usually a problem, but it can be with 120 or 220, where you don't always have so much leader between the end of the film and the last frame (depending on the camera, the format, design of the camera back, etc.).
 

Good advice, thanks David.

What amuses me is that all my reels are, shall I say, independently sourced. Yet every single one has a spring wire. Just a West Coast thing maybe? Or maybe the Hewes and non-clipped never make it to swap meets and garage sales
 

Often these are marked Taiwan or China, or, if unmarked, probably Taiwan or China. Some work, most are PITA.
 
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