I must be the odd one out ... stainless steel reels are WAY easier than plastic!

Cromlech · Dec 29, 2010

Judging from what I've read, SS does take more practice. I guess it is preference, eh?

Richard

tkamiya · Dec 29, 2010

It's not much of practice though. I learned how to do it by playing with a dummy film for about 30 minutes in light and another 30 minutes with eyes closed. It's not as hard as one might imagine. As said earlier by someone in this thread, quality of reel makes a big difference. Hewes 35mm kind has larger wires thus deeper grooves. Less expensive ones has thinner wires. I find Hewe's are so much easier to load although once one gets used to the process, any non-damaged reels aren't big deal.

markbarendt · Dec 29, 2010

Cromlech said:
Judging from what I've read, SS does take more practice. I guess it is preference, eh?

Richard

Yep, preference or need.

Practice is the great equalizer.

mfratt · Dec 29, 2010

I messed up a few rolls using the metal ones and have stuck with plastic ever since, even though it can be a real PITA to get on, you at least know when its loaded properly and that your film isn't touching itself.

I much much prefer tray processing sheet film over those roll-film reels, though.

mikebarger · Dec 29, 2010

If 120 Hewes reels are much easier to load than my 120 Nikkor reels, they must load themselves.

Mike

Jeff Searust · Dec 29, 2010

DAM1970 said:
I incorrectly spool a roll about once every two years and that can probably be blamed on my having had about 3 beers before starting.

Damn--- that is undoubtedly my problem--- LOL

I can't do 35mm on SS reels, but do all my MF on SS-- It's a matter of stubby fingers.

wclark5179 · Dec 29, 2010

I have two stainless reels/tanks, one for 120, the other for 35mm.

Also I have a few Paterson tanks, reels and use them as well.

I like both.

The Paterson loads from the front to the center. Stainless loads from the center to the front.

Either works for me.

With the Paterson plastic reels they should be dry as I find it's easy to load when dry. I have enough of them so as by the time I work them all, the first are dried. And I can use a hair dryer to make sure!

Jadedoto · Dec 29, 2010

Oh you're not crazy. I can't load a plastic reel to save my life. Learned on SS, live on it.

AgX · Dec 29, 2010

tkamiya said:
I learned how to do it by playing with a dummy film for about 30 minutes in light and another 30 minutes with eyes closed.

But why should I practice for an hour with one system, if I can handle another system intuitively and at once?

But..., I guess we are likely to compare apples and oranges.

As there are different systems, even more makes and different filmsizes and some say film type is of influence too.

mikebarger · Dec 29, 2010

To take an hour, beer must have been involved.

Curt · Dec 29, 2010

SuzanneR said:
It's a wise idea to invest in good SS reels, because they are way easier than the cheap SS reels, for sure. I've never used the plastic reels, but I've used plenty of stainless. Once you've made the investment in the good reels... DON"T DROP "EM!!! I've never found the plastic ones very easy, and think a lot of people give up on the SS reels, because they've learned on ones that aren't good in some high school gang darkroom. Another advantage... they needn't be bone dry like the plastic reels, so you can do a second run of film the same day. Glad you like them!!

I think that's why people have problems with SS reels, if they get bent just a little they can be hard or impossible to load. I like SS reels better than plastic, I have a bunch of both but always load the SS first.

While I was at Brooks Institute of Photography they had us bring in any plastic reels and remove the ball bearings from them. I have some without the bearings but I never notice any difference in loading with or without them. At Art Center they didn't care about the ball bearings, all they were interested in was results.

I believe the higher quality reels are the Hewes brand, they are expensive too. You get what you pay for but I have the regular ones and they work just find. Always work over the counter and don't drop. Compare the Calumet brand reels to the Hewes reels.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/1/3/calumet-tanks-reels

Curt

Katie · Dec 29, 2010

I never practiced. Just googled "loading 120 film on stainless steel reels" and watched a youtube video. I rolled my first one in seconds.

I would sit in the dark, cursing, trying to get that &*%$^$ plastic thing to load. I HATED it.

Mainecoonmaniac · Dec 29, 2010

I hate plastic reels

Katie said:
In my recent darkroom equipment purchase were about 25 stainless steel reels (both 120 and 35mm size) and 3 or 4 tanks.

I decided to take the plunge and attempt to use SS tonight because I had four rolls to develop and my tiny plastic patterson tank only holds 1 120 reel at a time.

WOW. I went from spending 5 minutes crinkling my film on the plastic to about 10 seconds gliding in onto the SS reel. What a difference...

Just to put it out there - I read many things about how easy the plastics load and what a learning curve it was for SS. Don't be afraid to try it. I am very pleased!

I've been loading reels for 3 decades and sometime I struggle too. Especially with 120 film. You'll get better and faster with time. Good reason to shoot more film. Plastic reels suck because they don't last a long as steel reels. Also you can't load a wet plastic reel. I went to eBay and bought a bunch of steel tanks and reels. I like especially like Nikor stainless steel tanks.

cjbecker · Dec 29, 2010

I have been using the plastics for a while and have decided its time to move over to the SS. I just spent about a hour learning and am feeling pretty good. Its time to invest in SS equipment.

AgentX · Jan 1, 2011

I was hopeless with plastic on my first try, way back in high school. I promptly went and bought myself some stainless, with no moving parts. (Or did I borrow the teacher's old ones? I forget.)

People thought I was crazy and couldn't understand how I loaded them at all.

I couldn't understand how they used those awkward moving plastic things that jammed the beginning of each load and only got worse from there.

hpulley · Jan 1, 2011

After my third 120 roll on the Paterson Super System 4 reels I have it! I popped the ball bearings out and it is now smooth loading, no more crumpled film. Thanks for that advice!

Ronald Moravec · Jan 5, 2011

You are not odd, just normal coordinated human with half a brain at least.

2F/2F · Jan 5, 2011

You are not the odd one out. I am with you. I dislike using plastic reels for a variety of reasons.

bblhed · Jan 5, 2011

I will jump in and say that too like SS reels over plastic, but only for 120. For some reason I keep making errors loading 35mm onto stainless reels and every now and then I end up with a section of film that was touching so I use my Patterson for doing 35, and SS for doing 120.

A trick I use for loading the 35 into the plastic is that I pluck the film, and then feed it into the reel while it is still in the cassette, pull a little out, wind, repeat until I reach the end then trim. When I do 35mm on SS I just pull all the film out and wind it on just like I do with 120, only it doesn't always work so good for me as stated above.

Sirius Glass · Jan 5, 2011

Katie, you got it right.

aroth87 · Jan 5, 2011

I got a bunch of SS reels and a few tanks with a lot of stuff I got on Craigslist. I've never used a plastic reel but I can't imagine how they can be easier than SS reels. I practiced with a few rolls of expired film I got in the lot as well and have only had one mishap thus far. I'm happy enough with SS that I have no reason to try plastic. My only issue is that 2 of my tanks have tops that don't fit so tight and leak quite a bit upon inversion. I just have to be sure to grab one of tanks with a tight lid and I avoid that problem altogether.

Adam

guitstik · Jan 7, 2011

Aggggggh, This is one reason why I don't use plastic. I found an old roll of exposed 620 film at an antique shop and when I say old I mean OLD. I have been wrestling with trying to get it on the Paterson reels now for about an hour. I have had to stop and re-roll it and take a break several times now and still having trouble. If I had set of SS reels I would have had it done by now. The problem is that the film keeps curling when I try to feed it onto the plastic reels.

mwelsh · Jan 7, 2011

I always mess up my 35 film on ss tanks. I use the plastic reels and they work fine. I think I could do a better job with ss tanks if I used a darkroom instead of a change bag. Taking the little balls out of the plastic reels sounds like a good idea. I like my reels to be somewhat dry but I don't bother too much anymore. I did use my compressor in the garage to blow them off but I don't do that anymore. The biggest thing I find spooling 120 film onto a plastic reel is to pull the lead of the film far enough around the reel to almost make a full wrap. Then it seems to spool on quickly.

heespharm · Jan 7, 2011

mwelsh said:
I always mess up my 35 film on ss tanks. I use the plastic reels and they work fine. I think I could do a better job with ss tanks if I used a darkroom instead of a change bag. Taking the little balls out of the plastic reels sounds like a good idea. I like my reels to be somewhat dry but I don't bother too much anymore. I did use my compressor in the garage to blow them off but I don't do that anymore. The biggest thing I find spooling 120 film onto a plastic reel is to pull the lead of the film far enough around the reel to almost make a full wrap. Then it seems to spool on quickly.

It's more about pushing the film onto the reel instead... Look up push pull method.... I have never ruined film that way

2F/2F · Jan 8, 2011

Greg Davis said:
One school I teach at uses the Hewes 35mm reels. They are so good, I can't make them mess up to show students what a mistake looks like.

Give it a few terms. They'll be mangled by the students enough so that you can show them what a messed up rolling job is like in no time! I know this first hand!

I must be the odd one out ... stainless steel reels are WAY easier than plastic!

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