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Metal Reels: Am I the only one who can't use them?

The key to using metal reels is what I term the Carnegie Hall method. That is practice, practice, practice. Use a roll of scrap film and practice loading it with the lights on. Watch what you are doing to determine where the problem lies for you. When you can load film without any problem then try doing it with your eyes closed. Keep practicing until it becomes second nature to you. Try to see with your fingers. The film will provide you with tactile feedback. You should be able to feel when the film is loading properly and when it is not.

The only time I have had a problem was with plastic reels. With these the film tends to jam at times. No problems with metal reels ever.
 
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The reason Hewes are so good is the two prongs that you simply lay the film on. No clips. This ensures the film is straight and spools up perfectly every time. They are not cheap but how much time practicing do you want to spend or how many films wasted? They are also obviously a higher quality build too. I bit the bullet and bought Hewes and have never had a problem since.
 
The only problem I've had with plastic reels has been with some Patersons, in that some tend to be nearly impossible to ratchet and also tend to squeak. I've even had the misfortune of a brand new Paterson reel behaving this way.
Most of the time I develop with steel, unless I'm working with more than 2 reels or doing 4x5 taco method.
 
Use both, like SS for B&W, Jobo for color, using the Jobo film processor machine. With SS, only use Nikor, Kindermann, or Hewes reels.
 
I sold all my metal reels and just use Jobo reels now. It is so easy now. This is just for me.
 

Just get a 4 reel tank
With so much darkroom stuff being off-loaded, I've seen 4-reel tanks (35mm reels) at several camera shows.
They were so cheap that I was thinking of getting one, but I already have one, so I passed.
 
I prefer the Hughes stainless steel reels. The only plastic reels I will use are the JOBO reels.
 
I figure people are having problem with all kinds of reels.... So they hate some, and love some. All personal.

Since I use Jobo to process all my films, there is no need for any metal reels. The Jobo tanks use even less chemicals than the metal tanks. Inversion uses more chemicals.

Both the 1502 and 2502 are very easy to load. 135 is the easiest. 120 is not too hard either. 220 have to be careful.
 
Sirius Glass said:
I prefer the Hughes stainless steel reels. The only plastic reels I will use are the JOBO reels.
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Most of the plastic reels are just like Jobo. Look at the Paterson reels.....
 
I have only used those plastic "cheater" reels, such as Paterson. I would rather use them than steel reels. I always wondered if steel reels would be better.
 
Terry Christian said:
ac12:
I actually do have a 4-reel steel tank or two, and do use them on occasion.
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If you shoot a lot. It takes me a week to shoot one roll. So no need for multi-reel tank. It is waste of chemicals.
 
RedSun said:
If you shoot a lot. It takes me a week to shoot one roll. So no need for multi-reel tank. It is waste of chemicals.
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You don't have to fill up the tank all the way. Just enough to cover one reel. Then put other reels on top to prevent them from moving up and down the tank.
Or you can use combinations, like 1 x 120 reel + 1 x 35mm reel and another 35mm empty reel to hold them down...
 
ac12 said:
Just get a 4 reel tank
With so much darkroom stuff being off-loaded, I've seen 4-reel tanks (35mm reels) at several camera shows.
They were so cheap that I was thinking of getting one, but I already have one, so I passed.
Click to expand...

I went that route once. Cheap to buy yes. Most were bent and caused much frustration and a few lost rolls. Turned out to be expensive in the end. Threw them away.
 
Developing film is the most important part of the entire process. It is worth the investment to get a processor like Jobo. Unless you are strictly an occasional B&W shooter.

I have a Jobo CPE2 and it stays at room temperature for BW film, but it heats up really quickly for color film.
 
RedSun said:
It is worth the investment to get a processor like Jobo. Unless you are strictly an occasional B&W shooter.
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Even if that is not rather a sweeping statement, I suspect there aren't enough Jobos to go round the rest of us dilettantes who don't take our photography seriously and so mess about shaking our our dreadful plastic tanks by hand ...
 

Haha if only jobos and it's replacement parts were of a reasonable price. I can only dream of that day where I can walk away from having to shake and tap my tanks.
 
Newt_on_Swings said:
Haha if only jobos and it's replacement parts were of a reasonable price. I can only dream of that day where I can walk away from having to shake and tap my tanks.
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Just tell me what processor you'd use if you need to have color capability, from negative to large prints? The Honeywell inversion tank just won't do.
Also, what do you use to processor your 4x5 or 5x7 sheet films?

I do not even have a light-tight "darkroom". I can't use my bare hands to process the sheet films (say nothing about color) in tank in the dark.

So tell me what the best solution is?
 

I can't justify a color processor for myself as I am mainly a black and white shooter and printer. I send out for the occasional color rolls and prints usually through millers. They have a good ordering system and are really competitively priced. Saves me the investment on processor and upkeep myself and I am sure I don't have to worry about consistent results if I reuse chemicals I don't use often. For bw sheet films I process them in trays in my darkroom or bathroom if it's just a few sheets. I've got a larger Yankee 12 sheet tank but that's uses a ton of chemistry and I'd rather do a few sheets and alter development if needed for the next batches.

If you don't have a light tight darkroom how do you even get prints for drum processing? Or are you only developing film and scanning?
 

This is my whole point. If I only do rolls of BW films, then I can live with my Honeywell tank and my tray collection. But I do multi-format. For color, you can still get the 135 film developed locally. You may have to mail out 120/220 film. But it is really a pain to send out large format sheet film. Then the last, not the least, it is almost impossible to get large color prints without a processor.

I use my Jobo CPE2 most often. You can limit the total cost inside $500. It is not cheap, but it certainly expands your capabilities.

My darkroom is in my basement. The windows are blocked, but I do not want to seal everything. So I only work at night. No problem at all with color printing.
 
I do my 4x5 in an HP Combiplan tank - just as easy as a stainless tank with 120 or 35mm. If I ever get to 8x10, I'll likely do trays for that, though. I don't do my own color, but I DO do a fair amount of B&W. I don't even shoot enough color to make buying the chemicals worth it. The Jobos look great (I even have a tank and reel for 4x5, but that's all), but the expense is just too much for me. My results are fine without it.
 
Newt_on_Swings said:
Haha if only jobos and it's replacement parts were of a reasonable price. I can only dream of that day where I can walk away from having to shake and tap my tanks.
Click to expand...

If you amortize the cost over all the film that you will process with the JOBO reels, the cost is really quite small. It is more than worth the investment.
 
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