Processing found 116 film.

[Chrismat]

Hello,
I bought a Kodak No. 1A Junior Model A folder and it arrived yesterday. To my surprise when I opened the camera there was a roll of exposed 116 film completely wound on the take up spool. I want to process it but I would like some suggestions on the best way to process the film. I do not have a 116 reel but I do have an adjustable reel that goes as far as 120 and I can expand it to the size of the film, I'm thinking of using some kind of tape on the reel stem to hold it in place then manually rolling the film but that may not be the best idea if the chemicals start to eat away at the tape and the developer and fix become contaminated.

The spool that the film was on when new is wooden so that obviously indicates the film is quite old. I'm not sure when Kodak stopped using wooden spools.

The only developer I have with me at the moment is Adonal (Rodinal). I did process a very old roll of 127 (probably from late 1930s) this past spring with Rodinal and I there were a couple of images on it that my Epson scanner was able bring up.

I am thinking of pre soaking it for about 5 minutes and using Adonal 1/25 for about 8 minutes.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[snederhiser]

Hello;
Go to the hardware store and buy a stainless steel bolt, nut, and washers to hold the expanded film reel together. I would use D-76 (Kodak) to develop this. 12 minutes would be the time, I would use in full strength. I believe that D-76 has been used since the 1920's. Steven.

 

[Chrismat]

The bolt, nut and washer idea sounds great, I'm going to do that. Thanks.

 

[bdial]

If that doesn't work, or you want to try the tape anyway, masking tape should work fine. Won't be a problem in the chemistry.

 

[Jim Noel]

Use a tray. PUt enough developer in the tray tot cover the rolled up film. holding the film lightly with one hand, pull the film across the tray and let it roll up again. then repeat the process the other direction.
No bolts, no new reels, just th old fashioned method of developing roll film

 

[limnidytis]

116/616 (70mm) reels occasionally turn up on ebay. I got one in a large lot of reels recently. I've not processed a lot of really old film, but I would think a low fog developer would be best - maybe HC110.

 

[Chrismat]

Since I last posted I did find a tank that expands to 116 on Ebay so I decided to purchase it, the price was good. Even if nothing comes out with the film I can always use it for 35mm or 120. I think I will go with HC-110 for the developer, I'll order that next week.

 

[wblynch]

Nice find. I hope you get pictures. I found a similar roll in my sister's garage sale Brownie #2. We got 5 pictures out of 8 that were readable. Pictures appeared to be from around 1959.

 

[limnidytis]

Hope you get some images -

I've found that old film sometimes has a lot of "spring" from being wound up for decades. Sometimes so much it's hard to put on the reel. I've found that unreeling the film (in the dark, of course) and putting it in a developing tank (without reel) for a few hours can help the film "relax" so it's easier to roll onto the reel. I've also had old film break when trying to unreel it - but it was probably hopeless anyway. Good luck.

 

[Chrismat]

That's a good idea about the putting the film in the developing tank for a few hours. I'll give it a try.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Try using the old method in which you put clips on the film ends and then move it back and forth through the processing solutions. I can't find a photo of that here, but it is very effective.

PE

 

[Chrismat]

Well, I finally processed it. Nothing came out. In a couple of areas you can see a black bar which separates frames but no discernible images. Thanks for all the advice. I loaded the film with an adjustable spool that fits 116 film. I used HC-110 1:7 for about 9 minutes @ 68 degrees.