Loading the spool with 35mm film

[Chris Harvey]

I usually expose and develop 120 film but I've just bought myself a Nikon F4 and will be developing my fist roll of 35mm film for many years. My question is do people open up the 35mm canister, take the film out then load the spool, or do people pull the film through the velvet slot on the canister? I'm going to be using a changing bag and I'm pretty used to having metre or so of 120 film and backing paper floating around in there! Also if you open the 35mm canister, is there any good techniques to doing this?

BTW I must say the F4 is an awesome camera. goes well my Bronny SQAi and my panoramic pinhole.

Thanks

Chris

 

[R.Gould]

Personally I always pull the film the velvet slot, and I have yet to have a problem in over 30 years, think about it, the film has already been though the cassette at least twice going though the camera and then being wound back,

 

[Rick A]

+1 for pulling through the slot. The less time in the "sauna" conditions of a changing bag the better. BTW, I find loading 35mm in a bag a real PITA, I've blacked out a small bathroom and load on the counter top, much easier.

 

[Felinik]

I open the canister top using a capsule opener (that I got for free from our local chinese takeaway) and pull out the spool.

I have a bathroom that I easily can cover up and use for spooling onto the reels and load my paterson tanks. It's a quite small room, no counter, so instead I have a plate of wood that entirely covers the zink, which I attach using a bagage strap around the plate and the zink.

 

[Jesper]

I open the canister as well, widen the opening and remove the film before spooling it. All done in a darkroom (no bag).

 

[spatz]

i pull out the film through the velvet. never had a problem really.

 

[Alan W]

I pop the top of the cassette off(the one with the longer side of the spool protruding)with the side of a scissors,pull the spool out,cut the leader and load.

 

[mablo]

There are many good reasons to rewind the film entirely into the cassette. I open the cassette in a dark bag using a bottle opener.

 

[Steve Smith]

People do both with equal success so neither method is better. Personally, I prefer to rewind with a bit of leader sticking out. This way I can trim the end, start it into the reel in daylight then finish loading in a dark bag. When I get to the end I tear the film against the exit slot so no need for scissors in the bag.


Steve.

 

[jm94]

Personally when I rewind the film I leave a tiny bit of leader poking out so I can just pull out a bit, cut the leader off, feed the beginning of the film onto the reel by light of a torch in the darkroom, then pull it out in the dark bit by bit and wind it onto the reel. If your reel jams rather than trying to seal the film in something light tight you just wind it back into the cassette. When I get to the end I cut off the end from the cassette or tear it and wind that final bit onto the reel, job done

 

[Worker 11811]

When using bulk loads, I just pop the caps off the cassette with my fingers.

When using factory loads, I use a cassette opener like this one.



But a church key will work in a pinch.

 

[tkamiya]

I just pour my chemicals into the canister.... (just kidding!)

I pop open the canister.

 

[albada]

After rewinding, I leave some leader out, avoiding the hassle of retrieving the leader. In the dark bag, I pull the film out of the slot. The advantage of this is if something goes wrong, I can rewind the film. Also, it's easier for me to handle a cartridge than a spool while loading.

BTW, my Hewes reel arrived yesterday from Freestyle. Nice! Certainly superior to the no-name reels I've been using.

Mark Overton

 

[Sirius Glass]

I pop the top off with a church key [bottle/{beer}can opener], slide the film out and hold the film in the palm of my hand while I load the reel. All of this is done in a changing bag. I use Hewes reels if I am developing in at tank or Jobo reels if I am using a Jobo processor.

 

[kokoshawnuff]

I open the canister as well, widen the opening and remove the film before spooling it.

That's what I do, but in a bag.

I used to pull film out until once when shooting in sandy sweaty conditions, sand stuck to the velvet and had scratches the length of my film. Also I've had a couple accidental double exposure roles by not rewinding the film fully into the canister

 

[cepwin]

I have a canister opening tool (yes, I know...I should have just gotten a bottle opener for a lot less $$$...n00b mistake.) I go into a small bathroom and turn out all the lights in that and the surrounding rooms and have struggled loading the patterson tank with no light issues. BTW...any advice about dealing with/avoiding jammed reels? I ended up being so concerned about getting it into the reel after several attempts that I rushed and some of the film stuck during development ruining some of the images. I bought some bulk film and I will hopefully be able to simply pop the top off manually so I can reuse the canisters.

 

[Katie]

I pop open with a church key. Sometimes it takes me forever to get it though ... Love my screw top reload able canisters!

 

[Chris Harvey]

Hey folks, thanks for all your advice. As I suspected there are two schools of thought with people doing what works best for them.

Thanks again

Chris

 

[Sirius Glass]

Hey folks, thanks for all your advice. As I suspected there are two schools of thought with people doing what works best for them.

Thanks again

Chris

Regarding two schools of thought:

"There are two types of people. One type divides people into two groups; the other does not."

 

[cmacd123]

I have tried many ways, and came back to using the "pry off the end" method. I actually recently got a Minilab leder extracter to try and found that it was almost more trouble than not.

The tool that works best of the A-P black cassette opener. although bulk loaded cassettes can just have the end pried off by hand. I did get the wall mount A-P opener, but find the hand held one easier to use.

One item to consider is having a black film can - like one from Ilford HP-5 or the older Kodak cans handy, just in case you have to stash the film in the dark if the tank gets balky.

With the AP opener, it is slightly easier to pry off the cap on the Big end of the cassette. I twist the spool in the rewind direction while pulling it out of the cassette.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The tool that works best of the A-P black cassette opener. although bulk loaded cassettes can just have the end pried off by hand. I did get the wall mount A-P opener, but find the hand held one easier to use.

So does the A-P Black Cassette Opener or the A-P Chrome Cassette Opener work better? Better than a church key?

 

[mhcfires]

I just use a film leader retriever, takes only a few seconds and I can do it in daylight. I trim the end with scissors, then load it onto a stainless Nikor reel in the changing bag, snipping the end with a pair of blunt end scissors.

 

[nicholai]

i usually just pop it open with a bottle opener. i find it easier, as i dont have to remain traction whilst loading the spool.

 

[mr rusty]

What's working for me is to pull the leader with a puller then cut it straight and just relieve the sharp corners slightly to make feeding easier. Then in the dark I pull the film letting it coil in my hand until I can cut it off the can. I then re-coil it back into my other hand so the trimmed leader is back at the top and goes straight into the spiral. Works for me.

 

[Bill Burk]

I'm a fan of cracking the film can and cradling the spooled film in my palm while spooling.

My least favorite method involves opening the camera back prior to rewinding (in the darkroom) and cutting the film... pressing rewind button and pulling the film off the takeup... holding this loose film and winding it onto reels.

It reduces the number of passes by the felt opening... But I do not recommend it because many cameras reverse the wind direction on the takeup spool... The result is a straight piece of film that resists spooling... (Leads to too much film handling).