Paterson vs stainless steel reels??

In a fit of delusion after reading another thread here, I got some Nikor reels and gave them a try. It was a failure, and I had to switch back to my paterson reels mid-load. With 120, I find it easier to load the Paterson reels if I clip a leader first. I think what this means is just use whatever works for you and don't worry about what anyone else thinks is better.

An update.

Ijust loaded my first roll of 120 on the Arista stainless steel reel from Freestyle. A piece of cake! For whatever reason it was easier than loading 35mm on ss reels. So I may consider Hewes reels for 35mm if the Arista continues to be easy for 120.

Many thanks to all who responded to my query!

Souped g.p. Surv Superpanchromatic in Paterson plastic tank, no fogging.

Ian Grant said:

I've used both extensively, and professionally so heavy usage.

Never had an issue with Paterson reels and that's all I use these days, but you do need to keep them clean. Some of my Paterson reels are probably about 40 years old and still load easily. (I have far earlier as well).

Ian

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This is the trick to plastic reels, gotta keep them clean and dry. When you do this they last a lifetime and are sooo easy to work with.

I have 4 Patterson reels that are 30+ years old. Also have 5 35mm & 2 120 Kinderman SS reels with Nikor tanks that are even older. I use them all. If the plastic reels are drying I just load up the SS reels and keep going. The point being that they are all easy to load and all work great.

I have both, plastic and stainless. I prefer the stainless as it uses 1/3 less chemistry than the plastic. I do use the paterson style tanks when I get a roll that is unruly or damaged. The last roll of 35mm that I processed was in a plastic tank as some of the sprocket holes and edging were damaged. For 120 film, you don't always have to use the clip if you don't want to. I have loaded a few without using the clip without problems.

The big advantage patterson that it can be switch from 35mm to 120.

Jeff

I use Paterson, and they work fine with 120-film. An advantage is that you can load two films on one reel. I don't think you can do that with a SS-reel(?).

I find Jobo-reels much harder to load. They drive my crazy sometimes!

Trond

Like many of you, I have used both plastic and SS for both 35mm and 120. I am using a Unicolor drum now and have been for some time. Although the reels are plastic, I've been told they are teflon coated (I can't verify this) and they very easy to load. One trick that I've found helpful with Unicolor and Paterson reels is snipping a small bevel at the end of the film that goes into the reel. It seems to eliminate the film edge catching on the reel. With 35mm, be sure to not leave a hook from a sprocket hole.

I've used both stainless and Patterson and I prefer Patterson. There are two BIG tips in using them. First, because you're essentially pushing the film through the reel, Patterson reels have to be bone dry before you can even think of using them. I let mine dry in a dehumidified basement for 24hrs and it seems to do the trick. Second, clip the corners off the leading edge of the film that you insert into the reel. It *really* helps the film not snag as it's pushed onto the reel. I use a 3 reel tank and I can get it loaded in a changing bag in about 10min. No dimples, no ")" marks, no film touching each other or jumped channels and very little frustration.

I developed 4 rolls of 120 on SS reels this morning - two double SS tanks (each tank holds two 120 reels and a 35mm reel). The loading went without a hitch -- don't know the brands of the reels -- a mixed collection. The reels and tanks were a little damp (someone used them the night before), so I dried them quickly with a hair drier. I started one tank developing 2 minutes before the other.

I do mosly LF, but learned photography with 120, and have always found that 120 reels load easier for the beginner than 35mm (both formats using SS reels). I have gotten good with 35mm on SS reels (all brands, but Hewes kick ass) after helping students for the last 20 years. We have plastic reels and tanks, but I have never used them. We have had to replace the plastic lids for the SS tanks, but the takns themselves are too strong to damage. We have boxes of them -- much more than we can use! The SS reels don't like being dropped, though.

We (the university) got a little extra money at the end of last year, so we bought 24 Hewes 35mm reels -- I see far less bad rolls of film from the students this year.

I use Jobo; to process two rolls of 120 I need half litre of solution for hand-inversion, and quarter-litre when doing rotation. That's much more economical than both Paterson and steel.

By the way I have no problem at all with Jobo reels.

Jeff Kubach said:

The big advantage patterson that it can be switch from 35mm to 120.

Jeff

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...and 127!

Nicholas Lindan said:

The trick to using 120 with SS reels is to be very, very sure the film is centered on that little clip in the center before winding the film on. If the film is off center at the middle it will kink and dimple as you try to wind the film.

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Best advice I ever got was to NOT use the film clip in the reel. I haven't used the clip in the reels for the last 12 years after getting that little tidbit of advice. I develop film usually every week or two and once I stopped used the reel clip, I never had another random dimple on 120 or any issues loading 120 or 35mm

Never felt the need to try out stainless reels (perhaps I would have had positive experience too) as I have never had any issues with Paterson 35 or 120 loading. I always dry reel with hair drier just prior to loading into the bag, low heat but thorough blow through. It is still warm when it goes into the bag. By the time film is being loaded temperature is bag to room anyways, but I have a dry reel to load. Current 120 film base is quite thin and takes a little getting used to, but poses no issues. When everything is nice and dry 120 goes in practically without ever using ratcheting motion. BTW, I never double load a reel, which is possible but I have found no compelling reason to take a chance on having second film "walk" onto the first during processing (yes, I know how to interlock them).

I've tried both and occasionally struggled with both. I find the Patterson tanks sometimes fussy to initially load and start the film winding. I've found ss reels difficult to load when the film has a lot of curl to it (usually ending up with the film jumping the track and touching the film one layer down. The easiest solution I've ever come up with is taking it to the lab and getting them to do it for me.

Ces1um said:

I've tried both and occasionally struggled with both. I find the Patterson tanks sometimes fussy to initially load and start the film winding. I've found ss reels difficult to load when the film has a lot of curl to it (usually ending up with the film jumping the track and touching the film one layer down. The easiest solution I've ever come up with is taking it to the lab and getting them to do it for me.

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Usually if I encounter a curl, it's strongest at the end of the roll and I'll load that end first. I'm pretty good at avoiding touching - by giving a gentle tug every revolution, I can confirm there is slack in the reel which tells me the film is loading correctly on my SS reels.