What reels/tank do you guys use?

Hello,

I recently had some problems with my AP reels, I think they are the same as the Arista Premium reels sold by Freestyle. The thing is that as I advanced the film they scratched my negatives, gave them a good clean and they still do so I'm looking into getting some new reels or a tank for them.

Which one do you like the most? I'm between the steel ones or the Patterson ones.

Help appreciated!

my reels have no name, the box with them was marked "made in china". they work ok. I'm looking to get better reels myself. Especially 120 reels. I'm thinking about Hewes Pro reels.

After monkeying with other solutions (patterson that stuck like there's no tomorow), I went with Hewes. I hated to spend the extra cash but in the end, it was worth every penny.
For tanks I use whatever metal tanks are cheap. Kalt, I think.

After a short bout of learning, these are the best thing since sliced bread...truly.

I still keep the giant-tab Samigon reels for 120 though, I suck at loading 120 onto metal reels.

I'm one of the odd-men-out that uses Patersons, and haven't had any issues.

If you're going with stainless steel, the best are Hewes and Jobo. Nikkor tanks and reels are also quite good. Whatever you do, if you buy used tanks and reels, be sure to inspect them in person because it is possible for the reels to have been dropped and bent. Even slightly bent can cause crimping and mis-loading so that one part of a roll comes in contact with another part. Invariably this will happen to the two most important frames on the roll. If it is at all within your budget, buy brand new reels. The same holds true with tanks - if they have been dropped, they can be out-of-round, which means the lids won't seal properly - at best the tank will leak fluids, and at worst, it will leak light. Tanks being out of round is less common and less problematic than reels though. I once bought some "bargain" stainless reels to process film - they were poorly made and had beads of solder in the grooves where the film loaded. Not only did the bead of solder scratch the film (not horrible because it was 35mm and the scratches were in the sprocket holes) but it pushed the film so that one coil of the roll was touching the next coil, and so I got awful development-failure blobs on multiple frames of the roll.

If you're going plastic, and again, you have the budget for it, I highly recommend the Jobo 25xx series tanks and reels. Again, if buying used, buy in-person or at least buy with a return privilege so you can test them for water-tightness and light-tightness.

Your reels touch nothing but the edges of the film, look for another culprit for your scratches. Even that ridiculous loading gate on the AP reels is there to guide your fingers and shouldn't touch the film if you're doing it right.

Kirks518 said:

I'm one of the odd-men-out that uses Patersons, and haven't had any issues.

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You are not alone...

Kirks518 said:

I'm one of the odd-men-out that uses Patersons, and haven't had any issues.

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Snap, used patterson for as long as I have been developing film, 50 plus years, and I have yet to have a problem, as far as scratching negatives with the reel, I would have thought that was pretty much impossibel as the reels only touch the sides of the film so you need to look elsewhere for the scratches cure,
Richard

By the way, it is Paterson, not Patterson.

The AP reels have been great for me - particularly with 120. The wide flanges make loading 120 easy.

What sort of scratches, in what locations?

The scratches happen in the development, I'm pretty sure.
I've been getting those for the last few rolls, I have tried with 2 different cameras, and also asked a friend to shoot a roll and let me develop it for him, it also had the scratches.

So I'm not sure how but it happens.

I checked these reels and they are weird. I understand now how it is possible to scratch film with it. Put it on recycle and get any, but regular reel (no shark fins), which will fit on the spindle and into the tank.

Please describe where on the film the scratches are (including which side of the film) and what shape they take.

And how do you prepare the film for drying - because that is where a lot of scratches happen.

MattKing said:

By the way, it is Paterson, not Patterson.

The AP reels have been great for me - particularly with 120. The wide flanges make loading 120 easy.

What sort of scratches, in what locations?

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Sorry, Paterson!

Just horizontal straight scratches, on the shiny side, not the emulsion


They are very very fine scratches but annoying to have on almost every frame.

There is nothing on the AP/Arista Premium/Samigon reels that would scratch the shiny (non-emulsion) side of the film there.

Do you use re-loadable cassettes? How do you prepare your film for drying? Are you using negative storage pages?

It has happened with reloadable cassettes, factory loaded cassettes too, from different brands.
On the film tht my friend bought too.
And with both my Nikon and my Leica.
So the only common place would be the developing.

I develop, fix and wash for 10 minutes and then add a little bit of photoflo, then hang to dry on a clean place, I don't touch it nor use a squeege.

I've used the old school stainless steel tanks and reels for 35mm and 120 for over 40 years without issue.

I use both, I have Paterson and Unicolor plastic reels and Nikkor reels and tanks, in most cases I use plastic reels and tanks for 35mm and SS reels and tanks for 120. When processing a lot of 35mm and roll film I use tall tanks I made from large plastic PCV or is it PVC pipes, tall enough for 10 35mm plastic reels or about 7 SS 120 reels. I had long t rods made and dip and dunk in the dark.

Thanks for all replies, does anyone know if patterson reels fit the AP tank?

Echoes said:

Thanks for all replies, does anyone know if patterson reels fit the AP tank?

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They do, and they give me the same scratch free performance .

I do think the scratch problem arises somewhere else - a counter edge, a watch band, etc. - but good luck.

MattKing said:

They do, and they give me the same scratch free performance .

I do think the scratch problem arises somewhere else - a counter edge, a watch band, etc. - but good luck.

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I don't know, I'm breaking my head!

I've used 3 different films on 3 different cameras and they all scratched, so it must be the development

Echoes said:

I don't know, I'm breaking my head!

I've used 3 different films on 3 different cameras and they all scratched, so it must be the development

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I understand that it may be in the development process that this is happening, but I expect that it isn't the reels, but rather some small part of the way you are handling the film.

Due to the shape of the scratches, I would try to find out any opportunity the film has to slide against something... I agree with the previous comments, the reel can't be the culprit as a reel is in contact with a film only by the edges, never where the scratched are. Do these marks always appear at the same place regardless the films?

Dali said:

Due to the shape of the scratches, I would try to find out any opportunity the film has to slide against something... I agree with the previous comments, the reel can't be the culprit as a reel is in contact with a film only by the edges, never where the scratched are. Do these marks always appear at the same place regardless the films?

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Yes, they do, its a damn mystery!!

And is it at the beginning of the film, at the end or everywhere at random?

Are the scratches only at one end of the roll, or are they spread throughout?
If they're only at one end then possibly the frames on the outer diameter of your reel are rubbing against the inside wall, which shouldn't be happening.
Do you see the scratches before cutting and storing the negatives in whatever sleeves you use? How do you store your negatives, anyways?

I grew up with stainless reels and tanks and find them incredibly simple to load, though I never did solve the leaky cap problem
I currently use stainless and reels if I'm doing a test and plan on using them when I try color. I also use standard jobo plastic reels for 35mm and 120mm. And a 3010 for 4x5 sheets.
I dunk in a dilute photoflo container and then squeegee with my wet fingers before hanging to dry.
Haven't had a scratch on any medium, even a test with the "taco method" of 4x5 which is a bit rough.