Best reels for 120

I've used mostly sheet film, but starting to do quite a lot of 120. Have some of the classic stainless roll film tanks and reels. I always manage to get the @#$% reels loaded somehow, but my darkroom vocabulary is starting to get mostly 4-letter. Are there now better state of the art reels that are easier to load, or would one of you roll film old timers care to share your secrets on how to easily get the film started on the reel? My vocabulary will thank you!

Would you care to share your vocabulary for when the reel hits the

floor and/or you step on the film. I have always felt mine to be

somewhat repititious. It does not necessarily have to be for 120.

Mitch

I definitely prefer plastic. Just make sure they're perfectly dry, and

be meditative otherwise the film buckles. Hell, sometimes it buckles

even at full-Buddha...welcome to Our Boat.

 

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shawn

I've picked up all my reels at yard sales and have noticed just

recently (started processing 120 a month ago! only sheets and 135

previously) that there are definate differences in the two types of

reels I have. The wire gauge is thin on the easy ones to load and

much thicker on the ones that cause cursing and "moons" on my first

frame. I wish I knew what name brands they both are, the reels are

not engraved like the tanks... t

John, It's been a long time since I worked extensively with 120, but

I recall having some of the same difficulties. I tried many things

and had my personal best results with good old Nikkor metal reels.

Some things that also helped: When removing the paper wrapping from

the film, leave the tape on the film end and fold it over to make a

thicker, sturdier end to get under the spring at the center of the

reel. Let the film roll back up loosely so that you can hold it in

your right hand with one end between thumb and forefinger and bow it

silightly so that it fits into the reel without scraping the sides.

Insert the end under the spring in the center of the reel by lifting

the spring slightly with the left index finger and slipping the end

under. As for getting the rest of the film on the reel, my technique

is to keep the film slightly bowed with my right hand, which is also

in contact with the edges of the reel (thumb and forefinger) and

then "pull" the film on to the reel by turning it with my lift hand.

(This is a lot easier to do than describe). Take a test roll and load

it onto your reels (all of them) in the light and adjust the spring

tension with a pair of needle-nosed pliers or the like so that your

initial fastening of the film end (with the tape) goes smoothly every

time for every reel. Practice in the light and in the dark till you

can do it every time. If you still get little "moons" (which are

caused by kinking the film) every now and then on the first frame,

you can keep in mind when shooting and simply burn that frame and

shoot an 11 (or whatever) exposure roll. Another related word of

caution. If you fill the metal tanks completely to the top, there is

no room for the solutions to mix during agitation and you can get

streaking, especially lines of more development near the edges of the

film. This you can avoid by determining how much solution you need to

just cover the reels completely, but not fill the tank full to the

top, and use only this much solution for your tanks instead of the

full amount. Vigorous agitaion helps too. Hope some of this

helps. ;^D)

John, my best advice is to waste a roll or two and practice loading in

daylight, watching what you do. Practice until you feel comfortable.

 

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Then try it with your eyes closed, then in the dark, again with the

same roll. Do it until your vocabulary has improved. :-)

 

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Hope this helps!

I'm not really an old timer, seeing as I am still in my twenties, but

here's a tip that has always worked for me: Don't bother getting the

film into the leader clip. It's not worth the hassle. I just hold

the end of the film agianst the spool of the reel with my index

finger, and start leading the film onto the reel with the other

hand. Once I have almost all the film on the reel, I gently pull the

film forward to ensure that the film at the start is in the grooves

too and not touching itself. Finally I wrap the last bit of film on

the reel. whuala! The most important thing about steel reels is

this. IF THEY ARE BENT THEY ARE #$%^#-ING IMPOSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH!!

So when you buy reels be sure to lay them out on a flat surface

before you leave the store so as to ensure they are flat and level.

Good luck.

That's the most creative spelling of "voila" I've ever seen!... t

Tom--not as creative as the way PePe LePew, the cartoon skunk with the

fake French accent, pronounced the word: veeola! Another reason to

love Warner Bros! (and their Warner sister, Dot)

 

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OK, back to subject...

Self-ratcheting platic reels are indeed easier to load. I've got a

plastic tank (Patterson I think) that has them with ball-bearings, and

they're a breeze to load, in fact they really load themselves.

 

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Unfortunately, those reels don't fit in my Jobo, and the Jobo reels

are a *lot* harder to load. Still nowhere near the difficulty of

steel though.

 

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Paul

The plastic Jobo reels are *very* easy to load(for both 120 and 135

films) if you recognize how to do it right...

 

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The tendancy will be to first try to load the reel like a stainless

steel reel, pushing the film in at the entry point continuously.

This proves to be difficult. You'll notice a section of reel where

the hard plastic edge is missing, and the slots exposed. Feed the

film into the entry point with your left hand, holding the reel with

your right hand. You should have your index and middle finger just

above the entry slot(guide the film into the slot with these)while

your thumb and ring finger hold the reel in the section described

above(like a baseball pitcher would hold a fastball). When you feel

the film edges poke your thumb and ring finger in this section(right

hand), hold it there with these fingers, and let go of the film(from

your left hand). Now hold the reel with your left hand and use your

right hand to advance the film(the edges of the film are now exposed

in the rimless section). Do this by firmly holding the film edges at

the far left portion, and "pull" it the the far right(12 o'clock to 2

o'clock position of the reel). The reel should not move, only the

film within it. Repeat until film is completely wound. You will be

able to feel how many "layers" of the reel are accomodated by film

also. The process may seem harder than it really is in this

description. It's actually very quick and easy once you get the jist

of it. Also, if you are familiar with Jobo reels and the "exposed"

section of the reel to which I'm referring, the process will be far

more easily visualized. As others have stated, practice in the light

first, and make sure the reel you are using is dry. No matter what

equipment I use in my darkroom, and how much experience I gain, a

four-letter explitive will always be heard at least once every 10

minutes or so. It's those 4-letter words that make darkroom work

both fun and humbling. Enjoy, and good luck!

Thanks to one and all. Plenty of things to try here, both with my

ancient stainless tanks and plastic reels, too. I'm going to see how

I do with what I've got, and then try plastic reels if my vocabulary

doesn't improve. However, as one poster said, the vocabulary is half

the fun, so just want to reduce the frequency of @#$%. John

Paul Klingaman-

 

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Are you saying that you don't ratchet the reel at all, but pull the

film through it? My problem with the Jobo reels is that when loading

them by moving half the reel at a time (per the instructions that came

with them), my 120 film always seems to get askew at the part where

the film sticks out, then a corner gets caught and wrinkled slightly.

about 1 out of every 5 goes well, the other 4, 2 of them will recover

from being off-track the first or second try, and two will take a

while to get on.

 

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I'd happily sacrifice a roll to the film gods if it meant successive

correct loads in the future!

 

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Paul

For the stainless reels, ignore the spring clip, wrap a short length

of inch wide masking tape around the centre (in the light, of course)

leaving just enough to tack the start of the film to. Use a good

quality tape, or it'll come unstuck in the processing, and Sod's law

states that the best frames will always be the ones that work out

of the spiral and get scratched.

 

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And a little tip that might help with the plastic reels.

 

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Get them really dry, and then rub a small amount of Silicone grease

(which is chemically inert)into the spirals. Wipe it almost all off

again, so that there's hardly any visible sign of it. This really

reduces the friction, and for the next few loadings your films will

glide in. Renew the grease when loading gets sticky again.

If you can't get silicone grease, try a waxy silicone furniture

polish, NOT WD40!

 

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Wishing you peace and moderate language,

The best reels I've found for 120 are the Hewes stainless from B&H.

They're twenty bucks, but they almost load themselves. Hewes has a bit

different design at the core so that once you get the film caught

under the spring, it's almost started feeding into the spiral. I wish

I had known about these years ago!

So what about 220?? I have been using the Hewes stainless reels with

120 for a few months with no problems. recently shot a couple rolls

of 220, went out and bought the 220 hewes reels, and when i got home

and tried to use them i totally trashed both rolls of film. these

things are so much harder to load than the 120s its unbelievable. is

it just the hewes reels? any advice?