70mm Film FUN up ahead

Well the RB67 70mm back came yesterday. Good news is that it drives the film via turning the spools themselves. If it's using the sprockets at all it seems to only be for the film counter (though I haven't confirmed that with film). My guess is that it might handle non-perf without mod and at most it would probably just be necessary to wrap that spinning part in an orthodontic rubber band (as has been suggested elsewhere) and all should be fine. Bad news for me is that the way my Horseman 842's Graflok 23 back is designed conflicts with the proportions of the back so I can't properly mount it. I don't see any avenues for modifying the back to overcome the issue unfortunately so it looks unlikely I'll shoot 70mm in this back.
I've still got the RH50 on the way which I can use with Graflok 45 cameras and maybe there'll be an avenue for custom fitting it with a Graflok 23 plate once I have it in hand. I'll also keep my eye out for a Hasselblad back as an alternative system for playing with 70mm.
 
I'm still gathering elements to be able to shoot / develop 70mm but I thought I'd give an update on my experience for anyone else thinking of diving into the format.



I just ordered one of these 70mm dev reels (https://www.hockerinc.com/product/70mm-developing-reel/) which have been posted here before so I should be able to develop ~13ft at a time which seems fine for now. I'm still thinking about how I'll use them since the company doesn't sell a tank. I'd rather avoid using them in open trays since right now I've only got C41 material and a daylight-tank style solution would be most convenient.



I recently bought/tested some 70mm C41 material (expired non-perf Agfa APX 160) because it was the only reasonably priced 70mm film I could find. To validate the material I just cut a short section off the end and haphazardly taped it into a 4x5 holder. This gave me a chance to also test the "trick" of loading 70mm into stock paterson reels (as documented here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9REyP3gLjo) which worked surprisingly well. If only it were able to hold more than ~5ft of material.

med_U76574I1603380151.SEQ.0.jpg




I gave the 70mm RB67 back a first pass at conversion to non-perf. My goal was to try and modify the back in a simple and reversible manner. I've not had the chance to test it out but despite looks I'm hopeful. This back already advances the film by rotating the spool in the receiving cartridge making the conversion potentially easier. This also means the sprocket is probably just there to track how far the film has advanced. Here I've added plain orthodontic rubber bands to give the free-spinning roller better grip and a tiny bit of butyl seal tape between the sprocket and the roller to connect them all. This means the rotation of the entire roller should now be tracking film advance and the rubber bands lift the film slightly so the sprockets don't have the potential to damage/deform the film base. I'm not sure the tension will be sufficient to prevent slippage but I think the concept is sound. I'll report back once I have an actual camera to shoot it with.

med_U76574I1603401119.SEQ.0.jpg


med_U76574I1603379870.SEQ.2.jpg




I also just got a possibly broken/jammed 70(?) frame 70mm hasselblad back for the price of shipping so I'll be digging into that a bit later. It seems like a tougher mod from the outset because this back seems to use the sprocket to advance the film. If you ever get the chance Nokton I'd be really interested in the dimensions of the non-perf rollers you bought for your hasselblad back. I'd only ever read about them so seeing your photos was really helpful to imagine what they'd done to solve this.
 
Great Job! Looks good.

70mm DuPont Cronar High Speed Pan by Nokton48, on Flickr

This is 75 feet of unopened DuPont Cronar High Speed Pan expired in 1968. I have loaded about a 220 length to try it; the emulsion looks good not mouldy or anything like that.

It was 500 ASA film so it will be fun to see what comes of it; Could also be respooled into 616. I will load it in one of my Graflex RH50 4x5 Graphlock holders (film gate is 6x7cm).

Anybody here familiar with this film? This is very thick stock, I will say that.
 
Modified Paterson holds 2 70mm reels plus 35mm by Nokton48, on Flickr

I bought this Paterson System 4 medium sized tank and just modified it to take two 70mm 24 exposure rolls of film, plus also a roll of 35mm on top. I used these tanks many years ago and they work great on my Unicolor Uniroller. Throw it on and walk away for "lazy slacker" processing.

Two rolls of 24 exposure 70mm B&W in good production for me.
 
I'm excited to see what kind of results you get off the Dupont stock certainly a bit of a rarity. Looking around for information on Dupont's fim business I did find these scans of 70mm Dupont Cronar in space (actually only suborbital) as part of Redstone 1A's unmanned test of the Mercury craft. (actual launch/flight starts ~150 frames in). If the link doesn't work it's the first hit searching "redstone 1a dupont cronar"

https://tothemoon.ser.asu.edu/gallery/Mercury/1/Maurer%20220G%2070%20mm


Question for 70mm hasselbladers does anyone have the instructions for the A70 magazine? I found one for the 100/200 but wasn't sure if that's close enough. I'm testing another A70 magazine before I send it back but want to make sure I'm not missing something. Basically I taped down the lever inside the mag which flipped one of the red indicators to white. Then I put the mag back together, twisted the thumb wheel around back to "0", and then turn the advance wheel clockwise. My guess is normal it should turn for a bit slowly moving towards "1" and finally flip the other red indicator to white for armed but it just keeps free wheeling.
I seem to remember reports from another user in this thread running into similar issues.


Edit: fixed link to slideshow
 
Ferrania 70mm-Mamyia RB67/70/120

Ferrania 70mm-Mamyia RB67/70/120

1. ferrania film announced 70mm film 2. RB67/70 can be modified to carry 61.5mm(120/220 longroll) beside 70mm. modification only on donorside so 70mm cartridge as usual on right takeupside. i have got the modification model with defective counter. Advantage: after offical end(65 images?) i have the manual. no need to remove the insert and loose image just shoot till film ends. advantage 2: back has vacuum.
have also a fully working back.
Modification by Cezary Barczak Vermeer Pinholecameras. I have a 40mm pinhole-cam with this 70mm frame.
 
Graflex RH50 70mm Backs by Nokton48, on Flickr

These two RH50 Graflex 70mm backs are 4x5 Graflock type.

The one on the left was for the Graflex XL, has an XL mounting plate and four shiny steel pins. Unscrew the pins and remove the mounting plate, and it's the same as the the other one (on the right).

I bought the one on the left from an internet friend for $20 :)
i exactly have this duo. only must add some cartridge-pressure stuff in one.
 
Modified Paterson holds 2 70mm reels plus 35mm by Nokton48, on Flickr

I bought this Paterson System 4 medium sized tank and just modified it to take two 70mm 24 exposure rolls of film, plus also a roll of 35mm on top. I used these tanks many years ago and they work great on my Unicolor Uniroller. Throw it on and walk away for "lazy slacker" processing.

Two rolls of 24 exposure 70mm B&W in good production for me.
Thought system 4 is newer and has other lid. what its height or how many reels 3x 120/220? 5x 35mm?
 
Thought system 4 is newer and has other lid. what its height or how many reels 3x 120/220? 5x 35mm?

Hi Micheal,
This is old System 4 (had same back in the 70s) this one came with five 35mm reels.

70mm Kodak Surveillance 60 exp ADOX Borax MQ 11 min 21C by Nokton48, on Flickr

Hasselblad A70 film back comes through again :)

60 6x6 cm exposures on one roll. 70mm Kodak Surveillance film about shot at about EI 250. ADOX BORAX MQ 11 1/2 mins 21C. Kindermann 70mm tank and reel WOW it's heavy. SSSLLLOOOWWW to fill and dump, you have to tilt the tank at a 45 to fill it or it just blows all over. And balance a one gallon brown glass bottle at the same time. Not fun!

I cut these into strips of twelve to dry. Then into VueAll 70mm plastic print pages or those 120 pages from the UK also fit perfectly
 
Ferrania Film

Ferrania Film

Hi all - I noticed an earlier comment re Ferrania and 70mm so thought I would email their sales team and ask when it might be produced

Mildly encouraging note came back very quickly from them as below:
perhaps if enough write asking they will speed up their plans re 70mm :)
email is: sales@filmferrania.com

Hello Ian, We would certainly love to produce 70mm film.
We have the potential to do so at some point in the future. We possess tens of tons of machinery from the old factory that was carefully picked to match with our new factory design. However most of this equipment remains in storage for future implementation.The design we envision will enable us to (eventually) produce products that have low or very specific demand (relative to others).
But it remains to be seen if we actually make those products or not. We have the potential capability to produce a wide variety of film products. As that capability comes online, we plan to make many of our product decisions - especially regarding "niche" products - with direct input from the community.
We would suggest following our social media and periodically checking our website. On the web, we have an email newsletter list as well.
When we're ready to make 70mm, we will most certainly put the call out.

cheers, The FILM Ferrania Team
 
Update on this from Ferrania came in this morning -

"Please make it clear that something like 70mm film is a long way off for us. At least 12-18 months, I would guess at this point... We don't want to get people too excited too quickly."

Hi all - I noticed an earlier comment re Ferrania and 70mm so thought I would email their sales team and ask when it might be produced

Mildly encouraging note came back very quickly from them as below:
perhaps if enough write asking they will speed up their plans re 70mm :)
email is: sales@filmferrania.com

Hello Ian, We would certainly love to produce 70mm film.
We have the potential to do so at some point in the future. We possess tens of tons of machinery from the old factory that was carefully picked to match with our new factory design. However most of this equipment remains in storage for future implementation.The design we envision will enable us to (eventually) produce products that have low or very specific demand (relative to others).
But it remains to be seen if we actually make those products or not. We have the potential capability to produce a wide variety of film products. As that capability comes online, we plan to make many of our product decisions - especially regarding "niche" products - with direct input from the community.
We would suggest following our social media and periodically checking our website. On the web, we have an email newsletter list as well.
When we're ready to make 70mm, we will most certainly put the call out.

cheers, The FILM Ferrania Team
 
Watson 70 bulk loader instructions

Watson 70 bulk loader instructions

Hi all - does anyone by any chance have a copy of the instructions for a Watson 70 bulk loader and would be prepared to post ? - I managed to get hold of one recently but the process to load isn’t entirely obvious!:)
Many thanks
Ian
 
Modified 70mm Patterson System 4 reel does two 70mm plus one 35mm by Nokton48, on Flickr

This is a Patterson System 4 Tank I purchased in the UK from Ebay. I cut down two of the reels so that only the central post and the end cap remained. The rest of the two reels were cut away and thrown out. I used self tapping stainless screws to secure the reels onto the rods squarely and strongly. The result is a trimmed down set of 70mm spaced reels, so I can run two 220 lengths at once. Also I can add a 35mm reel on the end so that helps as I always have a roll or two of 35mm to process.

On the right is the same thing for the smaller Patterson single reel tank. Good to have both.
 
70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

Offered since years. maybe too high but with pipe-viewfinder.
BTW: the hard if not impossible to get extension eyepiece for MUP with 70mm magazine is not needed for normal use. one can overview incam-viewfinder without, maybe left-eyed only must recheck.
 
70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

Offered since years. maybe too high but with pipe-viewfinder.
BTW: the hard if not impossible to get extension eyepiece for MUP with 70mm magazine is not needed for normal use. one can overview incam-viewfinder without, maybe left-eyed only must recheck.
 
70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

70mm back P645-extension eyepiece-MUP

Offered since years. maybe too high but with pipe-viewfinder.
BTW: the hard if not impossible to get extension eyepiece for MUP with 70mm magazine is not needed for normal use. one can overview incam-viewfinder without, maybe left-eyed only must recheck.
IT SAYS EDIT/DELETE. WHERE IS DELETE BUTTON?
 
Hey everyone, sorry to jump on this post, but Ive been looking everywhere online and cannot find anything, so i figure here is my best chance.
I have a 70mm film back for my hasselblad, and two cartridges. I don't really have anything else, such as reel, tank, loader or kind of importantly 70mm film.
the film i love is the rollei infrared 400 which was available on macodirect in 70mm which is why i saved up for the back and cartridges however now they have told me they have sold out which is sad. Other than buying multiple rolls from bh of just hp5 is there any alternatives? i do not want to invest with a reel or loader if i have nothing to load.
any help or point in the direction will be much appreciated thanks!
Its unsure if the Rollei IR 400 70mm will be produced again. Mr Junghans (Maco-Direct) told. Most certainly not at this low price.
 
Hi guys!

I'm looking for pictures showing HR-50 modified to fit RB67 back.
I'm thinking of unperforated film, so i need a new back.
I think Mamiya 70mm back can be modify too...

A Lot of pics of the thread are out... :(:(:(
M RB67/70 mag. made for RB 67 camera!
there is a 61.5mm modification on donorside(70/61.5mm then) Vermeercamera-made. aks him or wait my instructions maybe last till second half 2021. mercury camera can 3dprint 70-120-spool for 60 usd.
i have a simpler solution. will take also this long til offered. 61.5mm(120/220 or longer )film in 70mm cartridges.
 
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