B&W developing of a 120 film

[sylvain_beragnes]

Hello,

 

I'm new in developing of B&W 120 films (TMax). I have one single

stupid question : rollfilms are covered with a paper.

 

How do I remove this paper in order to put my film in the

developing tank & develop it ?

 

thanks

 

sylvain

 

PS : sorry, my english euuuh, well, you know, I'm french ;o)

[lex_jenkins]

Not a stupid question at all.

 

The paper backing is taped to one end of the film and not the other. When you unroll it in the darkroom or changing bag you can feel which is which. Just carefully peel off the tape - slowly to minimize the "glow" that occurs from ripping the tape loose from film - and separate the two.

 

If you get confused about which is the paper and which is the film in the dark, don't panic. While the film is thicker not everyone can feel the difference. The easier way to tell the difference is that the paper backing is much longer. Keep the shorter bit, load in onto your reel, and drop the longer bit out of the way.

 

You can also tell the difference by trying to bend a corner of either one. The paper backing will bend easily; the film will have more resistance. Try this only on a corner - you don't want to kink the middle of the film.

[pavel_hampl_prague_cz]

And before you load the film into the tank, it could be helpful to cut about 2mm off the two front corners. The corners can drag the spirals sometimes.

 

If you use just "120" films, it is this simple. But there are still "220" films, which do not have paper cover overall, but only at the beginning and at the end (therefore they cannot be used with the cameras with red windows on the back side :O). If you buy or get the 220 film, you have 24 shots per film. Then you have to unroll the trailing paper in the darkroom, slip it off the film, load the film into the spiral and at the end slip the leading paper again.

 

If you have not the darkroom yet, you can use so called dark bag, dark arm etc. I do not know how they call it in english, these are translations from czech language :O).

[john_cook1]

Hold the spool in your left hand, with the end of the paper roll pointing away from you. Cut the gummed paper seal.

 

Slowly pull the paper off the reel with your right hand. When you get to the film, you will feel it with your left hand.

 

Stop pulling the paper end. With your right hand, take hold of the paper and end of film together.

 

Continue to pull and unwind the film/paper until you reach the other end of the film, where its end is taped to the paper.

 

Let go of the film/paper with your right hand. The paper will fall away, and the film, which is springy, will roll up into a tight coil.

 

Take hold of the coiled roll of film with your right hand and tear it off the paper. Release the spool from your left hand and let it fall to the floor.

 

Pick up a developing reel with your left hand and wind on the film with your right hand. Position the film so its natural curl follows the curved shape of the reel. The remnants of the tape will help stiffen the end of the film, making it easier to attach to the reel.

[ron_gratz]

Sylvain,

 

All of the previous directions are good but I would add one suggestion:

 

Waste a roll of unexposed 120 film - it is relatively cheap - and practice loading it onto the reel in daylight. I dont know what kinds of reels you are using, but loading a 120 film can be a bit tricky at first. Doing it several times while you look at it can help getting the "feel" for how to do it. Next, load your waste roll a few times in total darkness. Once you are confident, you can go to your exposed film.

 

Ron Gratz

[peter_schauss1]

One more suggestion: Get a Hewes stainless reel. They are much easier to use.

[sylvain_beragnes]

your directions were great...

 

Just did it this evening & everything seemed to happen pretty well.

 

thanks, you all !

 

sylvain

[chris_waller]

Be prepared to waste a roll of film. Take a roll of film and unwind it to see how it fits together. The film is taped to the backing paper. Then, in the dark with your exposed film, unwind the backing paper until you reach the film. Tear off first length of backing paper and pull the film into the developing reel. When you get to the end, tear the adhesive tape off the backing paper and fold it over then end of the film and feed the last few centimetres of film into the developing reel. Throw the backing paper away.

[mskovacs]

I've done 120 twice now using the Patterson System 4 tank and reels. Some observations: The film tends to bend across its width which makes loading more finicky. I cut the tape holding the paper on because on the first roll the luminescence from pulling the tape off actually exposed the film close to the tape! With HP5+, the initial wetting with water turns purple so I wash it twice before adding developer. I guess this is from the paper. (35mm HP5+ does not do this)