zauhar
Veteran
I have chimed in a couple of times and praised Samigon reels. They are indeed easier to load than Paterson.
However, tonight I was burned for the second time. The film loaded just a little stiffly, but did not jam and loaded to the end of the roll. I though it was OK.
No - the film overlapped itself. It's all ruined but the first few frames.
The moral - if the Samigon reel puts up the tiniest bit of resistance when loading, start over. Or keep a Paterson in reserve. At least the Paterson reel jams if something goes wrong!
UPDATE: It almost happened again, and I was able to feel and correct what was happening. I was using almost-expired Legacy Pro film, and the film is curling badly - in fact the end curls up as you load it into the reel. My habit has been to cut a rounded leading edge, and that makes a little "tongue" sticking up that causes the film to insert under the already loaded film once a full turn has been taken up. I sacrificed a roll and verified what was going on last night. To prevent this you have to feel the leading edge of the film when it comes around and make sure it doesn't slip under the film already taken up. The same thing happens with a Paterson reel, but it just jams.
Cutting a straight leading edge is not much better - it also bends upward, and the ball bearings don't grab the sprockets.
Randy
However, tonight I was burned for the second time. The film loaded just a little stiffly, but did not jam and loaded to the end of the roll. I though it was OK.
No - the film overlapped itself. It's all ruined but the first few frames.
The moral - if the Samigon reel puts up the tiniest bit of resistance when loading, start over. Or keep a Paterson in reserve. At least the Paterson reel jams if something goes wrong!
UPDATE: It almost happened again, and I was able to feel and correct what was happening. I was using almost-expired Legacy Pro film, and the film is curling badly - in fact the end curls up as you load it into the reel. My habit has been to cut a rounded leading edge, and that makes a little "tongue" sticking up that causes the film to insert under the already loaded film once a full turn has been taken up. I sacrificed a roll and verified what was going on last night. To prevent this you have to feel the leading edge of the film when it comes around and make sure it doesn't slip under the film already taken up. The same thing happens with a Paterson reel, but it just jams.
Cutting a straight leading edge is not much better - it also bends upward, and the ball bearings don't grab the sprockets.
Randy
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