[Leica] Re: stainless steel reels (was: Xtol dilution)

[Jim Brick <jimbrick@photoaccess.com>]

I recently switched to Hewes reels. I have a dozen or more Nikor reels now
in storage. It is virtually impossible to misload a Hewes reel.

My daughter, who started darkroom work in October, has processed a few
dozen rolls of film on Hewes reels without a single mishap. The one time
she used one of the old Nikor reels, I had to go into the darkroom and save
her as she could not get it to load straight. That's when I went out and
bought the Hewes reels. I've used Nikor reels for so long that I never have
a problem. But I remember how long it took to get the perfect "feel" of
loading a 35mm Nikor reel. 120 is a comparative picnic on any kind of reel.

Jim


At 11:49 PM 12/12/99 -0800, Byron Rakitzis wrote:
>
>I've had great experiences with Hewes stainless-steel reels. They are
>marketed under various labels in the US, but they are stamped on the
>side with something like "Hewes -- made in England".
>
>There are two teeth which catch the sprocket holes of 35mm film. It
>seems foolproof to me, as one cause of misloading seems to me to be
>misalignment of the film against the catch in the reel. With the Hewes
>reel you are either right on or a whole sprocket hole off, which is a
>big difference and easy to feel in the darkroom.
>
>I also use Hewes reels for 120, and I find that the spring-loaded catch
>(no sprocket holes on 120!) is of higher quality than on some of the
>other reels you might see.
>
>Anyway, I loaded several hundred rolls in the last year without a single
>mishap. The stupidest thing I did this year was to open a loaded tank
>with the lights on, but that's another story...
>
>Byron.