loading a plastic reel - help!!

thank you all, esp gareth for the detailed instructions. I will say AsteriskAsteriskAsteriskAsterisk if it goes wrong (although would prefer just to swear, but i can try this way).

In the meantime i washed the reels and dried them, and straightened the "test" film a bit. Seems to work better now (i'm sure the wash helped! thanks Noel!!); i even tried it in total darkness and managed to get the film on the 35mm reel. The "universal" one is a bit more difficult, but i might never need to use that for 35mm.
Now the other story...how about 120-type film?😀 I read here and there, that it's HARDER to feed it in the reel! :O

Anyway... bought some fixer today so I am set now; I'll be back with the details, and hopefully some images as well 😉
 
Pherdinand
It is easier to kink 120 film and the kink will show on the developed film, little flying saucers... I stopped kinking, when I folded the sticky tape back over the film the extra support from the tape helped.
The film is attached to the backing paper with sticky tape, remove the film from backing paper by tearing slowly, otherwise there is a (bright) flash of static electricity, fold tape back over film and load that end, take time, dont rush it is like a marathon, dont try for fast finish...
Noel
 
Cutting the leading corners off helps A LOT with 120 film. Once you've got the hang of getting it started you'll find it dead easy and may even start loading two rolls back to back on one reel...

Tom
 
OK, fellows... I did it on sat evening🙂
All wen tfine, except... I spent twenty minutes loading the damn thing. ANd reloading, and reloading. In the end one frame got damaged on the side, luckily it was a second shot of something not too impressive anyway🙂
And, I think I overdeveloped a bit. I've read Neopan400 should be six minutes in Agfa Rodinal special (aka studional) 1+15, well i took about 6 minutes but the neg looks very dense that is not too good for scanning...
Also, the sheets say, for iso320 it's only 3 minutes. I contemplated to reduce the 6 minutes to say, 5, since it's DOUBLE time for a third stop increase!! but then i decided not to be a wise ass the very first time I try it. Well, i guess i should have done that😀 Or maybe i exagerated with the agitation(inversions).

Ah, and I also got some tiny drying marks (i used some cleanroom grade non-foaming detergent as wetting agent in demiwater for final wash but still got drying marks!) but they don't show up on the scans...

But it's still looking fine. Next time better!
I'll post an example or two,later today.
 
I got all the bits to develop my own negs last week, but just haven't had any time since then to do anything yet. You're persuading me to have a go this weekend if I get a chance 🙂

Ian
 
Sounds like you did OK for the first attempt.
Do pick up a new Patterson reel, no need to struggle with old reels.

Not a bad idea to start with the manufactuerers dev time, but I find, with the exception of Delta 3200, I'm always well under the recommended times to get the negs I want.
 
Pher
If you buy a film squeegee it may eliminate the drying marks. It also depends on how hard the water is. I use 2x the recommended dose of a photo wetting agent in final rinse and squeegee - and they dry faster and better, I also moved to softer water area...
Noel
 
I use demi water for the dev/fix solutions as well as for the final rinsing with the detergent🙂
Don't have proper wetting agent so far, maybe that will improve the things. (Nowhere to be found in the city! One single shop has fixer, and the guy did not know what a fixer is, i had to tell him, and when i tried wetting agent first he was laughing on the wetting, then on the agent, then he believed me it exists and wrote it up to put it on order...)
But really, when the film was still drying i was able to see some drying marks, but now they are barely visible, only in ver strong reflecting light...
 
Pher...
I thought a squeegee was over the top until I bought one for a colleague and tried it out, before I delivered, it worked so well. My film dried quicker, and completely free of drying marks, even in a soft water area I got drying marks.

I bought the colleague a new squegee...

I dont have to descale kettles.

noel
 
Be careful with the film squeege, one tiny bit of grit and it will stick a big scratch right down your film. I never use em.

As the film is finnishing it's wash, I run the shower in my bathroom for a few minutes till it's steamed up.

I rinse the washed film three times with a small amount of demin water.

I move the film to the bathroom, by now the steam has cleared dropping most of the dust out of the air. I hang the film up (in lengths of 16 frames for 35mm) and wipe them down by running the film through my fingers several times. With the raditor up full I them leave em to dry.

I don't use wetting agent, I get marks on my film, but rarely ever anything that shows with my condensor enlarger, if marks do show they usally rub off with a lint free cloth.
 
Pherdinand,
Don't use the the film squeegee because it will leave small scratches on your film that you'll see when you make large prints in the dark room. Just get a wetting agent, add 2 drops to a tank full of water and let it sit for 30 seconds after the final wash. Shake the reel with film in it really well before taking the film off and hang it up. Don't use your fingers to squiigee either. Just don't touch it.
When the film dries and you see some dried water marks on it, just use a slightly wet q-tip to get rid of the spots and use the dry end of the q-tip to wipe axcess moisture from the film. Go back to the film with a film brush to get rid of any lint that the q-tip may have left.
The plastic reels to wear out over time and you may have a hard time loading your film on them. Staneless steel ones are slightly harder to use, but last forever.
I use both and they both work fine. Just make sure that your film loading goes smoothly, don't rush, practice with a bad roll in the dark a few times before doing the real thing and everything will be OK.
 
Been using my fingers for years, as many do, to remove excess water with no probs.
As long as your fingers are clean there should be no problem.
I wipe down between different fingers, then rub my hands together to dry off (don't want to use towel) then wipe down again if required.
 
It sounds like you did well for a first go. The reel will come with practice. If you have an old piece of old film, try practicing loading and winding. You'll soon find that it will become second nature you will become a lot faster.

As for drying marks I studied with a photographer once who used to use a small piece of soft chamois instead of the film squeegee. He wet the chamois in clean water, wrung it out and held on the film between his fingers. It worked a treat. Good luck with the next roll, be interested in seeing the results. 🙂
 
I just dev'ed the second roll tonight 🙂 This midday, for you, Puisin.
Same thing happened, got stuck at the same moment in the old reel. Better said, in another old reel of the same type.
The rest went fine, it's drying right now. The drying marks are minor and nothing to worry about...
 
Puisin said:
As for drying marks I studied with a photographer once who used to use a small piece of soft chamois instead of the film squeegee. He wet the chamois in clean water, wrung it out and held on the film between his fingers. It worked a treat. Good luck with the next roll, be interested in seeing the results. 🙂
Click to expand...

Interesting that you should mention that. I e-mailed Ilford a few years back when I was starting to dev film, and that's exactly what they suggested. Apparently it can work a treat, and it's what they do in their own lab.

I got myself some good quality chamois and tried it, but all I ended up with was wee bits of chamois all over my film.

Perhaps you have to do a bit of work conditioning the leather to get it right.

Anyway shortly after that I tried my fingers, pulling the film between them, and that works fine for me.
 
Here are a few results, from this second roll. Development seems to be better suited to scanning now (instead of the suggested 6 min, it's about 5 and a half, or even less...)
Outdoors, indoors (cropped) and the last one, outdoors at night w tungsten lights. The drying marks are visible by eye in certain angled reflection but do not show up on the scans.
 

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From what I remember the chamois was pretty well worn and very soft.

I really like the photos Pherdinand... in particular the third shot. The contrast of textures between the girls' furry coat and the patterned steel sheeting is very effective. Nice work!
 
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