I REALLY Hate Loading 120 on Patterson Reels

[grat]

I used my 2x135mm 1x120 Paterson tank for a while and rolls kept jamming on me. First, I hate the tank because its always messy and sprays like a deodorant when opening the lid after inversion even with practice and holding a tissue in front of it it's always a gamble.

The Paterson reels are terrible the ball bearings destroy the film border 90%, most the time they can never grip the film fully when turning the reel. Sometimes my reels were dry and loaded terrible, sometimes my reels were wet and it loaded perfectly fine, and the other way around. I read every post online I could find what I do wrong, I started cutting the film border edges in different angles and sizes dried reels over night between development it never stopped.

Sorry, but that's completely not my experience with the Pattersons. I do occasionally let off some pressure if it looks like the top is starting to bulge-- that may be why mine never sprays, merely dribbles a little when I let the excess pressure off.

Your ball bearings are jammed, which you should check before using the reel. There's no other explanation for them damaging your film. The stock Patterson reels are mildly irritating with 120 film-- the AP reels are no problem whatsoever.

I would suggest sacrificing a reel in the light to see what's going wrong, but it's obvious you've made up your mind and moved onto other things. In the USA, anything with the word "Jobo" on it is double the cost of any equivalent accessory.

 

[Wayne]

I would suggest sacrificing a reel in the light to see what's going wrong, but it's obvious you've made up your mind and moved onto other things. In the USA, anything with the word "Jobo" on it is double the cost of any equivalent accessory.

And that's why I've never bought anything from Jobo before. But after reading thread after thread and review after review of these same complaints about Patterson I decided in this one case it made no sense to buy anything else. Only time will tell how I feel about the decision, after I actually use it. But this thread only makes me feel stronger that it was the right decision.

 

[unwantedfocus]

To give a more in-depth perspective into the jobo reel I attached some images:

Spoiler: Disclaimer

Ideal would be of course a video of someone loading the reels I would suggest going on YouTube for it, but the server has a upload size limit and people on a later date should be able to read the post and not find a deleted video because they usually don't survive that long if they are not directly hosted on the server

Two major points, first as you progress loading you will have more surface of the film to touch which makes it generally easier and if the reel jams you can wiggle the film compared to a paterson reel because you can touch more "rows" overall your have more control over the whole procedure. Secondly the Feeder/rail is easy to feel/find while in the Dark.

Spoiler: Loading the reel

 

[Auer]

In the USA, anything with the word "Jobo" on it is double the cost of any equivalent accessory.

Jobo tanks also have an upgrade path which the Paterson does not.
I don't find it equivalent to the Paterson at all.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

Generally, I prefer all-steel Jobo reels with the special Jobo steel reel cores.

 

[MattKing]

We need a "Religious Subjects" sub-forum. The existing thread on that just isn't enough .

 

[radiant]

We need a "Religious Subjects" sub-forum. The existing thread on that just isn't enough .

Or broken record sub-forum

 

[hadeer]

Dirt or moisture are the cause of most problems. If the weather is hot, I use cheap disposable rubber household gloves in the bag. Works all the time and prevents fingerprints on the film too.

 

[LouisGR]

I often get frustrated loading both Patterson and Jobo 120 reels. Sometimes they work like a charm, sometimes it seems like an eternity with an accompaniment of cursing. I trim the corners of the film with a corner-rounding device, it seems to help. I have heard you can lube the grooves of the reel with graphite (pencil lead) but never tried that.

The graphite trick works well to reduce stickiness for both 35mm and 120 film. Before loading plastic reels I separate the spirals and run a blunt 4B pencil along the insides of the grooves. This reduces sticking markedly. I have seen no effect of doing this on the negatives.

 

[Ces1um]

Anyone else feel my frustration with this system and 120?

Have you considered this?
TUTORIALS | Lab-Box

 

[David Polanski]

1 Take a sharp pencil and run it round the groves on both top and bottom of the reel
...

That's a great tip—many thanks!