Re: [Leica] Re: felt lips and loading reels

["Dan Post" <dpost@triad.rr.com>]

Jim-
OUCH! I felt the smack across the knuckles, that time! Reminded me of those
given by Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds at Our Lady of Perpetual
Consternation!
Sorry- it won't happen again, so PLEEEZ don't beat me no mo'! I'll be good,
HONEST!
Dan (a quivering mass of admonished protoplasm) Post
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Brick" <jim@brick.org>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>; <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2001 12:23 PM
Subject: [Leica] Re: felt lips and loading reels


> To all who actually do your own film processing,
>
> This thread should have never started. Those who process more than one
roll
> at a time and use a darkroom more than once a year, have, I'm sure,
figured
> this all out by now. But I will explain it carefully anyway!
>
> And while you are reading this, wonder why Leica, Nikon, and others made
> touchless cassettes that open in the camera to let the film out, and open
> again in the darkroom to let the film out. Touchless.
>
> If your film does NOT make that "one more trip" through the felt lips,
then
> it is guaranteed that any grit in the lips CANNOT scratch the film. It is
> not a matter of cleaning everything, not putting film in your pocket or
> beach bag, it is simply AVOIDING the POTENTIAL problem all together. AVOID
> THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM. Why make extra useless work attempting to avoid a
> problem when not doing this extra useless work, and DOING THE JOB
> CORRECTLY, will COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY AVOID THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM!
>
> How many experienced darkroom workers, pro's pro labs, etc do you know
that
> pull the film back out through the felt??? In my fifty years of
photography
> and darkroom work, the ONLY folks that I have ever known who pull the film
> out through the felt lips are the HAPPY SNAPS folks. The one hour labs in
> the malls where the machines are daylight loading, hire high school kids
to
> run, and because of no darkroom, cannot open the cassette and remove the
> film as everyone with a darkroom does.
>
> Serious photographers, pro's, etc., do not always have the luxury of
> storing film in a sanitary environment. In a situation that the light is
> changing quickly or your subject is changing quickly, you rewind, rip out
> the old, throw in the new and keep on shooting. This scenario has happened
> to me thousands of times. And Ted. And Harrison. Etc... Where does the
film
> go? Pocket, thrown five feet into an open bag, etc. Leaving the leader out
> and marking the cassette "exposed" with a Sharpie... not a chance. Wind
the
> leader all the way in. AVOID PROBLEMS! And the film you are using... who
> has time and space, in these situations, to keep your new film in its
> cartridge? Not me. Not anyone I know who is a serious photographer and
> working a situation, whether a riot, a parade, or a fading sunset. It
comes
> out of, and goes into, my pocket. Or open bag.
>
>
> The very best practice is to simply follow the guidance of those who make
> their living at photography, the pro labs, and those who are serious
> photographers and do their own darkroom work.
>
> Use a church key, rip open the cassette, take out the film, throw the
> cassette away, wind the film onto a reel, cut off the spool and throw it
> away, put the reel into a tank, repeat for n rolls, and process.
>
> The advice of someone to fish the leader out of the cassette and load
reels
> by pulling the film back out through the felt lips is amateurish and will
> eventually bite you in the ass with scratched film, not to mention the
> absolute hassle of attempting to load reels this way. Especially if you
> have more than one roll. I processed twenty last Monday. I can not
remotely
> imagine fishing and pulling and dealing with that damned cassette banging
> around. Good f***ing grief!!! I would not do it. It is simply stupid with
a
> capital "S"!
>
> Jim
>
> NO BULL !!!
>
> At 09:46 AM 2/24/01 -0500, Dan Post wrote:
> >Mark (and Marc!)
> >I have always kept the little film cans- I even have some of the metal
ones
> >left, and keep my film in it before and after it goes through the camera.
> >Since I had for years, and still occasionally reload my own cartridges,
and
> >re-used them, I spared no effort to keep the felt clean and even today,
blow
> >out the cartridge and the felt lips before I reload, and have never, so
far
> >(and knock on wood) had a scratching problem.
> >When working in the lab, since our machines drew the film from the
cassette
> >directly, I would also warn my customers to keep the film insde thcan
when
> >exposed, and that it would be less likely to pick up grit and dirt from
the
> >bottom of a camera bag or pocket!
> >I have seen a few rolls of photos to the beach and Disney World scratched
> >because the camera or film was idly tossed into a beach bag, and the felt
> >picked up enough grit to make very noticable scratches on the film!
> >Also- since film can be sensitive to hydrocarbon fumes- very prevealent
> >around the cars we use, the airtight can serves another purpose as well!
> >
> >Dan (right down to the real nitty-gritty!) Post
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Marc James Small" <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
> >To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> >Sent: Friday, February 23, 2001 5:37 PM
> >Subject: Re: [Leica] Tricks to loading reels
> >
> >
> >> At 11:30 AM 2/23/2001 -0800, Mark Rabiner wrote:
> >> >
> >> >One more trip through the felt which has been in my pocket so there
could
> >be
> >> >grit in it.
> >> >
> >>
> >> Mark
> >>
> >> I'm surprised you don't carry your spare film about in your navel, so
that
> >> the felt light-traps can get gummed up with lint ...
> >>
> >> Marc
> >>
> >> msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> >> Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
> >>
> >>
> >
>