maddalice

The key ingredients in Windex are isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol mono-butyl ether and detergent. Ammonia is a relatively recent addition for cleaning outdoor glass, and should be avoided for use with plastics.

 

Dishwashing detergent (for hand washing) would be a good choice, both effective and non-caustic. Developing solutions will eventually attack the plastic and cause it to craze. That makes it increasingly difficult to push film iinto the groove. If there is the slightest bit of moisture, you're (literally) stuck.

 

The long-term solution is to use stainless steel reels. They are loaded from the inside out, and can even be used when slightly damp. They're polished smooth, easily cleaned, and last forever. They do take a bit of practice, with old film, in the light. One of these days I'll make a video showing the newbies and doubters how easy it really is.

WRT picture number two.

Noooooooo!

Do not try to load the reel with the cassette still attached.

Unspool the film and cut it free of any surplus weight and clutter (in the dark, obviously) before you try and push it onto the reel.

 

Here's a quick thought experiment: Can you push a length of string up a bent drinking straw easily? No? But that's like what you're trying to do by shoving film into a plastic reel. Especially those Paterson things. Much easier to pull a bit of string back out of a straw - similar to loading a stainless reel.

 

BTW, how is that doubled up piece of film going to get past the stupid notch in the spiral about 1cm ahead of it?

Hi. Yes, you DO unspool the reel, as I said in my earlier post. And the doubled-up piece is pulled OVER the notch - which holds the film securely. Thank you. Alice.

P.S. try it.

I contacted my old teacher and asked her how was it I could load a reel at 8 years old but had trouble doing it now. The thing is, I'd just plain forgotten her technique. We loaded the first few centimetres IN DAYLIGHT, then held it in place by a piece of tape. Once in the darkroom, we released the film from the cassette, carefully peeled off the tape, wound on the film. The method works even better with a changing bag. Childsplay, ha!

[ATTACH]1335291[/ATTACH]

Update (courtesy of the best teacher in the world): Bend over the end of the film leader and slip it over the grippers. Same applies with a SS reel. The film is solidly held in position while you unreel it (even stayed on the reel when I dropped it, ha(!). Again, all this can be done in daylight.

First --- make sure the reel is clean. Put the reel in the dishwahser with your dishes. Use Windex and a soft cloth to polish. This will help reduce the friction and allow the film to load.

Thank you but I don't have a dishwasher and have we don't have Windex in the UK, ha!

In 1936 you could have bought one of these:

[ATTACH=full]1335363[/ATTACH]

Back then it cost about $9 in U.S. currency, and for only 20 times that amount you could have had a Leica IIIa with f/2 Summar, or a 645 Exacta reflex with f/2 Biotar.

 

I'm pretty sure that you'd also have got fairly patchy development from that tank. And loading it might not have been the relaxed and carefree experience promised by its makers.

 

(By the way, V. P. sized film stands for 'Vest Pocket' and even I'm not old enough to remember when that was in common use.)

I want one.

Neat idea, but you might want to consider the possibility of scratches on the negs by pulling the film through the light trap on the canister more often (OK, only once more often) than you need to. One tiny bit of grit in there could ruin your negs. Same reason I never squeegee the film. I always prise off the 'lid' of the canister and empty the film out before loading so I can avoid this problem. This method has its flaws though:

 

1. You have no possibility of reloading the film in the cassette should something bad go wrong, like you drop the reel on the floor, cant find it, and need to turn the light back on (hell WHO would do that!) ;)

2. You cant do what you suggest above, as you'd not be able to take the canister off the film without releasing the film from the reel.

 

Having always done it this way, I have no idea how much risk there really is of scratches, maybe someone who always loads with the film still in the can, can give us a clue.

Hi, this is how we did it at school. Can't remember a fail. Alice.

I contacted my old teacher and asked her how was it I could load a reel at 8 years old but had trouble doing it now. The thing is, I'd just plain forgotten her technique. We loaded the first few centimetres IN DAYLIGHT, then held it in place by a piece of tape. Once in the darkroom, we released the film from the cassette, carefully peeled off the tape, wound on the film. The method works even better with a changing bag. Childsplay, ha!

I didn't start until I was 9!

 

To continue the discussion, I had the Yankee II tank, which has the above mentioned two thumbs

method for loading. I was 10 when I started with the Nikor tank.

Yes, I was 8 years old when I first signed up on here(2006!) I was doing photography at school (where I learned to develop film) and was encouraged by my teacher to upload my photos. Alice.

P.S. That's the thing with photography - it puts years on you!

This looks awesome!

Fifty quid but tempted...

Good Lord! I hadn't priced SS reels in about 50 years. I remember a tank where you twisted the top and bottom spirals back and forth and they sucked the film in. Had to be perfectly dry to work. IMO, just learn to load SS reels with a junk roll and, like learning to ride a bicycle, you'll always know how to do it. I'd never toss a slightly bent reel as they're quite easy to make parallel again. Are you working in a changing bag or darkroom?

Hi, I use a changing bag but I can construct a darkroom if and when required.

Depends which day of the week your lens was made. Or whether its assembler had borscht for dinner the previous day.

 

Those lenses can range from excellent to Aaaargh!

 

I have 3 of them in 39mm LTM. 2 of them are pretty good, even wide open, while the third one is only fit for a paperweight or Lomography.

 

However, I'm surprised your Contax didn't spit the Helios out of its mount in disgust.

Haha. And to think I normally use my Zeiss Planar T(!)

Hi, sick of staying indoors so taking my camera for a walk and trying out a Helios-44M-4 2/58 lens. Any thoughts on the lens' performance?

I think it's a bulk loader for loading 35mm cassettes from 100' rolls of film. Do a search on Sommor bulk loader. Pretty rare; I've never seen one before. Won't help you developing.

I was searching under developing tanks, ha! Thank you. Alice.

repeated but relevant:

My daughter when very young. asked my wife how elevators work.

My wife said "Why don't you ask your father?"

My daughter replied "I don't want to know that much about how elevators work."

 

here are what actual tanks for developing film look like

[ATTACH=full]1334248[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1334249[/ATTACH]

I have a tank but I inevitably kink the film when loading it - I want a machine that makes it easier, ha! I've seen some but they are frightfully expensive for what they are, in my opinion. Thank you. Alice.

Does anyone know if this is a daylight loading tank, and how to use it? (thinking of buying it as I'm rubbish at loading film).

Was the fogging due to the hole in your changing bag then Alice? As you later reported you'd found.

 

Can we call it case closed?

Or maybe an open-and-shut bag?

Hi, joe, I loaded the film in a different changing bag. And now thinking about it, the marks and scratches on the negative are probably down to my old camera - the foam around the door is like jam(!). Alice. x

Myself and my co-workers once had a 'colleague' who was so incompetent that he drove us to absolute distraction. So we wrote a small computer program that generated a random insult along the lines of -

'his name', you [derogatory adjective] [derogatory gerundive] [derogatory gerund] [derogatory noun].

 

It just saved us thinking up new expletive insults every time he did something unbelievably stupid, and the results were sometimes extremely comical.

 

Also, we couldn't get blamed for workplace bullying, because the computer did it.

Ha, knew the word "gerund" but had to swat up on the word "gerundive" - still confused as to its usage(!). Alice. x

Now you can post it here:

 

Duct Tape

I followed your advice but stuck on faux leather. Thanks, Glen.

If you hadn't lost film, I'd have had to say, Darn (sorry, couldn't resist!). Easy enough to suspend the bag with a light or a flash inside in a dark room for a check. I always used mine in very subdued light.

"Darn" wasn't the word I shouted(!)

Get a roll of black duct, or duck, tape. Put a piece on each side of the hole large enough to prevent any further "opening" of the hole. I have several spots on one of my bags where I have "accidentally" cut the fabric. It still works after several years with the above fix.

I am a long time user of Ebay but will never purchase any 2nd hand item that is still manufactured today. Aloha, Bill

Took your idea and now the problem's fixed, Thank you. Alice.