Two 120 films on one PAterson reel

Thorsten · Jun 6, 2016

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen.

For years I have been using Jobo 1520 tanks for 35mm and 120 films, but at the moment I only have a Paterson system 4 tank with two reels at hand and I would like to develop some 120 FP4+.

With Jobo you can easily load two 120 films on one reel (open the red clip, put first film on the reel, close the clip to separate the first half from the second half of the reel and put the second film in). With Paterson reels I am missing the divider (the red clip at Jobo reels) to separate the two films. Lengthwise it should work, as two 120 films should still be shorter than one 36 exp. 35mm film. So is there any way to load two 120 films on one Paterson reel and to prevent that the two films touch or overlap each other?

Thanks

AgX · Jun 6, 2016

You just might give it a try without any precautions.
There should be enough distance between the two film ends, if you just load the second film unti it is just completely on the reel.

I never used Paterson reels, so I do not know about film moving during processing.

bvy · Jun 6, 2016

Tape a loose seam between the two films. I've done this with two 12 frame 35mm films with no problem.

contaxg2 · Jun 6, 2016

I've loaded two 120 rolls onto a Paterson reel with no issues several times. Once I get the first roll past the ball bearing, I gently push it all the way to the end. Then load the second roll and stop right after it passes the bearing. Using inversion they shouldn't overlap during development. You can also tape the two ends of the film together to prevent them from overlapping but I've never bothered to do that.

R.Gould · Jun 6, 2016

As above, I often load 2 films into 1 patterson reel without problems, make sure the first film is wound completely to the center then load the second film untill the film is just loaded, but do not use the twiddle stick as the films will move and overlap, just use inversion

gone · Jun 6, 2016

I've done it, but quickly got away from it. Murphy's law says that if anything can go wrong it will. So if and when it does go wrong, it goes wrong w/ two rolls of film, not one. I am sure that everyone here has had an occasional experience where something went wrong despite everything they thought they did right. Same w/ 35mm. Even though the Paterson tank could hold two rolls I only developed one roll at a time. Some people have big tanks that they develop 2,3,4 rolls at a time. Never felt comfortable w/ that. In my mind, the developer works best w/ one roll anyway, and if you have to tweak development for one roll you can't do that if you have two rolls in the tank.

baachitraka · Jun 6, 2016

I had an overlap and since then I never tried it.

Steve Smith · Jun 6, 2016

contaxg2 said:
You can also tape the two ends of the film together to prevent them from overlapping but I've never bothered to do that.

And the tape for this is already on the film. Use the bit of tape which holds the film to the backing paper.

Steve.

tokam · Jun 6, 2016

You guys that manage two rolls of 120 on a Patterson reels are magicians. My hat is off to you! I have trouble loading 1 x 120 film on Patterson reels.

To this end I have just bought 2 x 120 Hewes SS reels from bjsmith7474 and hopefully I can now process film from my RZ67 without any bloody kinks.

MattKing · Jun 6, 2016

I use the AP/Arista/Samigon reels with wider input flanges and often develop two 120 rolls on the same reel. The descriptions above work well. The risk is overlap, but I have found that I only have problems with overlap when I try to use rotary agitation during the development stage.

I use rotary agitation for the stop bath, fixer and HCA stages, without apparent problem.

I use a 3 minute pre-soak before developing. I think that may help prevent overlap as well. Film in the developer seems to be at its slipperiest.

EdSawyer · Jun 6, 2016

I do this all the time with Patterson reels in a Phototherm SSK4. Do what Steve Smith says - use the tape from the end of the first roll to tape it to the beginning of the 2nd roll. It works great, holds well even when wet, and generally no problems doing it this way.

MattKing · Jun 6, 2016

One hint - it can help to have the beginning of the second roll already slightly into the reel and mated up with the end of the first when you apply the tape - it helps get it straight.

Thorsten · Jun 6, 2016

Thanks, guys. Will try taping with two test films at daylight later.

darkroommike · Jun 30, 2016

It's a great idea but it only needs to mess up once and you'll never do it again.

megzdad81 · Jul 1, 2016

Without the Samigon reels with the wide flange, I could not process 120. Even bought extras for when I break one.

bunip · Jul 1, 2016

I usually process six 120 rolls each jobo tank (I have only Jobo reels without the "red clip" separation system) at same time, two each reel, and never had a problem; just be careful to send all the way in the first film and keep the last few cm off, so that you can avoid overlap; I thought about taping film together but never needed to do it. I do it also with the small Jobo reels for series 1000 tanks.

Svenedin · Jul 2, 2016

I do this as well because I'm mean with chemicals and it uses half the quantity than loading 2 reels. It also takes half the time if you had to process the rolls one after the other. I used to use the tape method but sometimes it can jam due to misalignment so now I push the first film all the way on and then load the next. I have not had overlap problems.....yet.

David Allen · Jul 3, 2016

contaxg2 said:
I've loaded two 120 rolls onto a Paterson reel with no issues several times. Once I get the first roll past the ball bearing, I gently push it all the way to the end. Then load the second roll and stop right after it passes the bearing. Using inversion they shouldn't overlap during development. You can also tape the two ends of the film together to prevent them from overlapping but I've never bothered to do that.

I always process 4 rolls of 120 in a two reel Paterson tank. I always use the quoted method without using tape. I have never ever had any problem loading the reels or with overlap. Where I have come across people that have had problems it is almost invariably that they have not rinsed the reels in very hot water after treating the film with Photoflo.

David.
www.dsallen.de

Two 120 films on one PAterson reel

Thorsten

AgX

bvy

contaxg2

R.Gould

gone

baachitraka

Steve Smith

tokam

MattKing

Moderator

EdSawyer

MattKing

Moderator

Thorsten

darkroommike

megzdad81

bunip

Svenedin

David Allen

Two 120 films on one PAterson reel

Moderator

Moderator

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency