Need good stainless steel reels and tank for 120

B&Wpositive · Jul 16, 2009

I may be making an order from B&H tomorrow morning. Can anyone suggest reels made of stainless steel that are for 120 film and are easy to load? It is a bonus if they fit my Patterson tanks. The Patterson plastic reels are just near impossible to load 120 onto. Whichever reels you suggest need to be in stock at B&H.

Thanks.

Christopher Walrath · Jul 16, 2009

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Everyone says go name brand. But I gotta tell ya. I got the house brand from Freestyle a year and a half ago and everything is running smoothly. Granted, the center clips aren for lack of a better term, crude in my opinion, but they have proved to be more than functional.

MattKing · Jul 16, 2009

You cannot use stainless steel reels in Paterson tanks.

The plastic reels that come with the Samigon tank that B & H sells are probably the same as the AP reels (and tanks) that I have. They are compatible with the Paterson tanks, and I find them easier to load 120 on than the Paterson reels, due to the fact that they have much wider feed flanges.

If, however, your difficulties arise from humidity or something else that afflicts all plastic reels, that may not make enough of a difference.

That being said, the better stainless steel reels ($55.95, and apparently actually Hewes reels) at B & H are more likely to be straight and smooth, so they are less trouble to load.

I can make them work, but not by using the clip (applies to all 120 reels).

Matt

Anscojohn · Jul 17, 2009

SS, to the best of my knowledge, won't work with Patterson because the film will fog when you pour in the chems.

The trick with plastic is to keep it scrupulously clean. Use a vegetable brush, warm water, and Bon Ami, Zud, or Bar Keepers Friend and rinse, rinse, rinse. After that, make sure the reel is 100% dry.

I use SS. The key for them with 120 is not to use the clip. If you just hold the 120 film towards the core until you turn about 1/8-1/4 turn; friction holds it in.

I have used the same cheapo reels and tanks for more than 40 years.

dwdmguy · Jul 17, 2009

Here you go, without a doubt the very best because of the "platform" where you load the film leader. They are awesome!
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/122989-REG/Samigon_ESA325_Multi_Format_Autofeed_Reel.html

B&Wpositive · Jul 17, 2009

Christopher Walrath said:
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Everyone says go name brand. But I gotta tell ya. I got the house brand from Freestyle a year and a half ago and everything is running smoothly. Granted, the center clips aren for lack of a better term, crude in my opinion, but they have proved to be more than functional.

Thanks, I may be ordering from Freestyle later today anyway. (Change of plans due to B&H being out of stock of Kodachrome).

MattKing · Jul 17, 2009

B&Wpositive said:
Thanks, I may be ordering from Freestyle later today anyway. (Change of plans due to B&H being out of stock of Kodachrome).

The Arista Premium plastic developing reels appear to be the same as the AP, wide flanged reels that I referred to in my earlier post.

As far as SS reels are concerned, you will want at least 2 reels, and you will need to get one or more tanks as well. Both the Arista and the Hewes reels will work in the Arista tanks. You may wish to consider getting both 16 oz and 30 oz tanks, because you need 30 oz tanks to do 2 rolls at a time, but if you have just one roll to do it is nice to be able to use the smaller quantity of chemistry needed for the 16 oz tank.

If you are doing standard inversion processing, the plastic lids are slightly easier to use. With some roller bases you can use continuous roller agitation, and for that the metal lids are sometimes better (if slightly more likely to leak).

Matt

Nicholas Lindan · Jul 17, 2009

Anscojohn said:
The key for them with 120 is not to use the clip.

The key to loading any SS reel is getting the film exactly centered when you start loading.

Hewes 35mm reels accomplish this by engaging the sprocket holes on either side of 35mm film, and as a result they are very easy to load. Aiding this they are made from much thicker SS wire for the spiral and supporting arms so they are less likely to get bent out of shape.

With 120 film I find it close to impossible to center the film in the clip. The more I try the more half-moon kink marks I put in the film.

B&Wpositive · Jul 19, 2009

I ended up ordering an Arista one-reel tank with stainless steel 120 reel. Hopefully this will be easy to work with.

Sirius Glass · Jul 19, 2009

FreeSyle steel tanks and Hewes steel reels. You can't go wrong with that combination.

Practice loading with an old roll of film several times before doing it in the dark. If the film feels high on one side of the reel you have a kink, then unwind part way and retry. Also, if the film that has been placed on the reel has bumps, then reload the film again. It takes time and can be frustrating, but eventually you will get it on the reel correctly every time.

Steve

John Koehrer · Jul 20, 2009

As Sirius says Practice, practice, practice. Soon you can do it with your eyes closed. Then, do it in the dark. Practice loading the reels, that is.

Need good stainless steel reels and tank for 120

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Need good stainless steel reels and tank for 120

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