Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/25

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT: Developing reels: a Saga
From: Bill Satterfield <cwsat@istate.net>
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 08:17:33 -0600
References: <20020225003152.90892.qmail@web10106.mail.yahoo.com>

Get the Kinderman tanks and reels. They have a loader that is as easy as 
pie.

Pete Su wrote:

>For most of the 5 or 6 years that I've been back into darkroom work, I've used
>either Paterson or Jobo plastic tanks and reels. For 35mm work, they are easy
>to work with and durable. I had no problems.
>
>But, when I started branching out into 120, I found that they were just totally
>unusable.
>
>Some background: I'm not the most dextrous person on the planet. I just can't
>abide any scheme for loading that involves trimming the negatives with high
>precision. Plastic reels *can* work well with 120 film *if* you can trim them
>so the corners don't get caught on the reel and jam things. But I just can't do
>this.
>
>It all finally came to a head when I turned the lights on and ruins 3 rolls of
>film (from Paris no less) after having spent 45 minutes trying to get a last
>roll onto the reel.
>
>So clearly the thing to do was investigate metal reels.
>
>Having obtained a Hewes 120 metal reel and a no-name tank from Calumet, I
>proceeded to find that once you practice a bit, metal reels are incredibly easy
>for 120 when compared to plastic. Just don't try and clip the film in the
>middle of the reel. If you place the film in the right spot, and hold it there
>with your thumb, it practically walks onto the reel by itself.
>
>But, one thing that bugged me was that the metal tanks fill much more slowly
>than Paterson and Jobo tanks. So the next thing to investigate was that new
>Jobo metal reels that work in their plastic tanks with the plastic center
>cores. These are made by Hewes for Jobo, and I figured I'd try them to hold
>onto the fast fill times when using a lot of developer (a liter or more). I
>know at this point the metal tank fanatics are questioning my sanity.
>
>The good news: the 120 reels work great.
>
>The bad news: the 35mm reels are impossible. The rail spacing and thickness is
>such that 35mm film gets caught on the rails very easily, and you end up with
>crooked film.
>
>So after all this I've ended up back with Hewes 35mm reels and normal metal
>tanks. The Hewes 35mm reels load almost as nicely as their 120 reels. So add me
>to the list of people who will tell you to "just buy Hewes".
>
>I even learned how to double roll the film (double rolling 120 is fun),
>although I don't know if I'd try it on anything I really care about.
>
>Summary for the archives:
>
>1. plastic reels for 35mm: good
>2. plastic reels for 120: bad
>3. Hewes metal reels for 120: great
>4. Jobo 1566 metal reels for 120 in plastic tanks: good.
>5. Jobo 1565 metal reels for 35mm in plastic tanks: bad.
>6. Hewes 35mm reels: great.
>
>Pete
>
>
>
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In reply to: Message from Pete Su <psu_13@yahoo.com> ([Leica] OT: Developing reels: a Saga)