Taking the film out of the canister

modafoto · Nov 1, 2004

Hi

I know two ways of getting the film out of the canister, but what are the pros and cons?

1) Open the canister at the bottom with a bottle opener and take the spool out. (I use this now)

2) Use a leader receiver to get the film leader out and wind the development spool directly from the canister. (I stopped using this as I suspect this method to make small scratches on the film when unloading the canister).

Morten

titrisol · Nov 1, 2004

I use method 2 usually. I hand rewind wo I leave the film leader visible.
Scratches from the leader rettriever only on the 1st turn of the film (which is fogged anyways)

Sometimes i just rip the canister (when I haven't bulk loaded) open by putting my finger in the felt area and rip the cartridge open.

David A. Goldfarb · Nov 1, 2004

I figure it's less risky just to open the canister. Why take the chance of damage by pulling the film back through the light trap?

garryl · Nov 1, 2004

While I use method one, I have also use (in the distant past) the pair of pliers method.
In my reload years, using the old "snap caps", all I needed was a solid flat surface to band the nipple on.

TPPhotog · Nov 1, 2004

Morten my vote is method 2. I have in the past needed to keep changing rolls mid-way through and never had any problems with scratches. Also I find loading the spirals easier with the film coming out of the canister a few frames as a time.

Andy K · Nov 1, 2004

Only been developing my own stuff a couple of weeks, but I too prefer method two. If the film jams or sticks while winding it into the spirals I figure I can carefully wind it back into the cassette. Then I can open up the changing bag and check out the spiral for any wet spots. Have had no scratches. Yet.
If I ripped open the canister , the way I see it, I think I'd lose a roll of shots trying to sort things out!

baronfoxx · Nov 1, 2004

film canister

modafoto said:
Hi

I know two ways of getting the film out of the canister, but what are the pros and cons?

1) Open the canister at the bottom with a bottle opener and take the spool out. (I use this now)

2) Use a leader receiver to get the film leader out and wind the development spool directly from the canister. (I stopped using this as I suspect this method to make small scratches on the film when unloading the canister).

Morten

I use method 1 and in addition I cut the leader off the film before opening the canister and trim the corners off the film to make loading into the spool easier.

I also dry the spool with a hair dryer which helps with the loading and I have no problems with film sticking while loading.

garryl · Nov 1, 2004

Andy K said:
If I ripped open the canister , the way I see it, I think I'd lose a roll of shots trying to sort things out!

But you can always roll the film up and put in the developer tank with the lid on as it also is light tight. But to each his own way that works!

Blighty · Nov 1, 2004

Morten,
The method I use is simply to leave the film in the canister. Pull out 6 inches or so (maybe I should rephrase that!), wind it onto the spiral, pull out another 6 inches or so and continue 'til you're at the end of the roll. When you reach the end, simply cut the film from the canister. Never had any scratches or problems whatsoever with this method. Obviously it helps not to mistake your fingers for the film. Couldn't agree more with rounding off the leading edge of the film. Makes loading up a doddle and works well with 120 as well. Regards, BLIGHTY.

Monophoto · Nov 1, 2004

modafoto said:
Hi

I know two ways of getting the film out of the canister, but what are the pros and cons?

1) Open the canister at the bottom with a bottle opener and take the spool out. (I use this now)

2) Use a leader receiver to get the film leader out and wind the development spool directly from the canister. (I stopped using this as I suspect this method to make small scratches on the film when unloading the canister).

Morten

Morten -

I use a modified version of (2).

I bulk load my film, and my cameras require a manual rewind. So I try to stop rewinding as soon as I sense that the end of the film has come off of the take-up spool in the camera. Then, I use the scissors on my Swiss Army knife to cut the end of the film off, and trip it in preparation for loading onto the processing spiral. This assures that I recognize that the film has been exposed, and therefore not double-expose it.

In the darkroom, I pull the film back out through the felt light trap. I know that there is a theoretical risk that grit in the felt could scratch the film. But I've been doing it this way for 25+ years - almost 1000 rolls of film - with no problems so far.

Robert Kennedy · Nov 1, 2004

Yeah, but now that you have said that, your next roll WILL be scratched.

Brac · Nov 1, 2004

I usually use method 2 mainly because I mislaid the special tool I had for opening these crimped cassettes. But I hate them and they aren't very environmentally friendly (correction they aren't environmentally friendly at all). I liked the cartridges with the removeable caps as they could be reloaded.

rbarker · Nov 1, 2004

#1 and #1a

For commercially-loaded film, I've always used method 1 - pop the end cap off with a bottle opener. Ya never know what the light trap might pick up while roaming aound in the bottom of the camera bag. For what I bulk load myself, one end of the plastic cassette simply unscrews. Those cassettes get their light traps cleaned with tape prior to reloading.

joeyk49 · Nov 1, 2004

Humph...you'd think that, by now, they'd make a Non Scratching Film Canister Taker Outer Tank Spool Loader Thingee...

Did anyone check Ebay??? I'll bet Amvona's got one.

Konical · Nov 1, 2004

Good Evening,

Didn't someone (Leica?) once make a special cassette which did away with the felt light trap?

Konical

modafoto · Nov 2, 2004

Thank you all for your answers. My camera can rewind the film so the leader is left out of the canister, so I may try nr. 2 again.

Morten

sparx · Nov 2, 2004

I now use method 2 as it makes it easier to load film in my change bag (my darkroom being more of a very dim room) but i have noticed scratches on some of my recent films. Don't know if it's the camera or method 2. I'm devving a film tonite so i will try method 1 and see how i go.

Andy K · Nov 2, 2004

garryl said:
But you can always roll the film up and put in the developer tank with the lid on as it also is light tight. But to each his own way that works!

D'oh! That is so obvious I'm kicking myself!

cao · Nov 2, 2004

garryl said:
But you can always roll the film up and put in the developer tank with the lid on as it also is light tight. But to each his own way that works!

Be sure the tank is bone dry then. While I take a hairdryer to my spools before loading, the tank is often humid unless it's been a while since I've run a film.

cao · Nov 2, 2004

I pop factory loads with a two sided bottle opener. I also tend to fold and tear off the tail of the film as well. I've had some films come out with adhesive residue which shows as an unfixed pink blotch of goop on TMax films. I'm very leery about sharp objects in my dark bag lest I puncture or cut the fabric by mistake, so I have no scissors, and the sharp end of the bottle opener is blunted with a chunk of rubber tube.

As far as identifying used cassettes, I bend the leader back on itself to show the film as exposed. There's often little time when shooting an event to trim the leader nicely.

Has anyone found a better tape as far as adhesive residue than vinyl electrical tape for sticking film to spools when bulk loading?

garryl · Nov 2, 2004

cao said:
I pop factory loads with a two sided bottle opener. QUOTE]

Funny thing- so do I. Course the factory loads I talking about come from the Miller factory.

David Ruby · Nov 2, 2004

Here's how I do it, though I don't think it is really either method 1 or 2. My camera doesn't leave the leader out, and I found that using a can opener damamged my canisters. So, while in the dark I hold the canister in one hand and push the protruding end onto the table. This pushes the back end off my canister easily. I then reach in and turn the spool in the "rewind" direction slightly to make sure none of the film is in the light trap. Then I just pull the film out. I've been doing it this way for about 7 years, and I think the reason I started really was that I forgot my can opener one time!

For tape, I use that blue painters masking tape exclusively. I actually usually leave it on the spool for multiple uses to be honest. It is quite a bit more expensive than regular masking tape, but it doesn't leave residue and it can last a long long time. I always make sure the tape goes from the end of the film, onto the spool, then back onto the film again just in case. This method hasn't failed me yet. (knock on wood)

David

Justin Low · Nov 2, 2004

cao said:
Has anyone found a better tape as far as adhesive residue than vinyl electrical tape for sticking film to spools when bulk loading?

I use Scotch Magic Tape with no problems. I've tried cheaper brands of adhesive tape before and I had sticky residues result.

It's the frosted one (green packaging here). Don't get the tape that's meant for graphics workit's less tacky and you run the risk of the film coming off (blue packaging here). Also, I don't use the clear one as I usually mess it up and it bunches up in one sticky ball (red packaging here).

Ed Sukach · Nov 2, 2004

cao said:
Has anyone found a better tape as far as adhesive residue than vinyl electrical tape for sticking film to spools when bulk loading?

Whut?!?! Vinyl electrical tape?? First time I've heard of using that. I imagine it would leave a lot of gooey adhesive, and not be very strong or stable (stretchy).

I've used plain Scotch tape from day 1, with no problems.

brimc76 · Nov 2, 2004

cao said:
Has anyone found a better tape as far as adhesive residue than vinyl electrical tape for sticking film to spools when bulk loading?

I use masking tape to hold the film into the spool, that's the way I was taught years ago and have been teaching others the same way. It has worked well for me for a number of years now.

Taking the film out of the canister

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