Shooting Eastman (Double-X) 5222 in the Leica

bence8810 said:
Thought I should post back - the film made it here and I have already split two 100ft rolls off of one 400ft pack.

I sourced a small piece of plywood from a local DIY store and drove two 100mm long and relatively thick nails through it. On one nail goes the 400 roll and on the other the center core for the 100ft roll (thanks Ned for sending them!). Below the core I placed a cardboard cutout that is the exact size I need to fit into my loader so I can feel the gap between it and the film and know when to cut the film.

Here are some pictures of the process, it went rather smooth but it took me 30 minutes of continuous winding which left my right arm numb for a period of time thereafter.

The 400 reel is very stable and was easy to take out of the plastic bag and place on the plywood. The end of the film is taped with a rather long piece of tape that I ended up sticking on my left arm so I can retrieve it when putting it back away. I also cut small pieces off of that tape to use for the smaller 100ft rolls I made.

Just to be on the safe side I did this in my darkroom which isn't 100% dark but good enough for wet printing. Thought it'd be better should I need to remove my hand(s) from the darkbag for whatever reason. 30 minutes is a long time without hands :)

Ben

1600ft of magic looks like this:

DoubleX_01_sm.JPG


The plywood and the nails:

DoubleX_02_sm.JPG


Here you'll see all what I used, the darkbag and the plywood with the two nails driven through it. You see the little cardboard cutout I made and the center core on the right hand side nail. I also had gloves (which are surprisingly hard to wear if you don't see your hands!!!). I used the gloves when spooling the roll onto the core but had to take them off for attaching the film into the core - for that I needed to feel my fingertips to be precise. As I loaded two 100ft rolls I also had another tin canister which isn't shown on the picture. The first one I loaded I left open in the darkbag so I'd know which of the two it was. The 2nd one was closed with the core and black plastic bag inside it.

DoubleX_03_sm.JPG


And finally the finished product - two tins of 100ft film sealed and ready to be used.

DoubleX_04_sm.JPG
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Haven't tried it myself, but I bookmarked this post (way) upthread a while back. I'd be interested to see pictures of sepiareverb's setup as well.
 
Gbull said:
Wish to try Kodak 5222 (Double X). Can someone guide me through how to load the 400" XX into individual cartridge. As my bulk loader only takes 100ft.
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If you have a dark closet, just take the can in with your reloadable cassette, open it up, stretch your arms out for ~36 frames, clip it then tape it to the spool.
I've loaded probably 200+ this way. I have a bulk loader but it is a PITA when working with the 400' on the core. I like to handle film just once, instead of decanting it here and there, introducing more opportunities for dust, cat hair, alien excrement, finger oil, boogers, eyelashes, or whatever can get on the film. The least amount of time and handling from the core to the cassette is optimal.

Just my opinion that the bulk loaders (when using a 400' can on core) are a bit of a waste of time and potential dust applicators.

Phil Forrest
 
Ive posted this here before. These big ones come with Kodak 100' bulk rolls, easy to reload in the dark, but somewhat tedious. The small ones come with Fuji 100' bulk film.

The Kodak ones are called "Daylight spools". They will load a 100' roll into a 35mm Arriflex Hollywood motion picture camera, for example. Or a Watson bulk loader.

001 by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
Kodak can be contacted directly for sales to an individual? How does one go about that? Is it limited to Eastman 5222?

Thanks in advance,
Daryl
 
Daryl J. said:
Kodak can be contacted directly for sales to an individual? How does one go about that? Is it limited to Eastman 5222?

Thanks in advance,
Daryl[/QUOTE

Kodaks Entertainment Division sells 400' rolls to the public.

1-800-621-FILM Call them and inquire
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sepiareverb said:
You need to break the 400' roll down onto 100' cores or spools. I use microfilm reels, which have sides. They hold a bit more than 100', so the 4th roll is always shorter. I have a set of rewinds from a motion picture lab and a split reel that holds the 400' core that I use for the breakdown. I should get some pics of the set-up for this thread.
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Thanks Bob... That will be helpful
 
I do the same and I have an Agfa flange spool (100ft/30,5m). In this way it is much easier to transfer a 400ft/122m to a 100ft/30,5cm reel. If you have a core only and the film slips away during the process you are in big trouble (and in the dark).
 
Nasty day out there today, well below 0F and windy with blowing snow. Good chance to get pics of my set-up.




So I got a set of motion picture rewinds (I believe that's what they're called) on eBay a few years back. I have two, tho I now know one would work fine since I've worked out the workflow. I mounted them both to a piece of plywood that I painted black, and I can set them on the counter between the enlargers when I need to break down 400' rolls. The whole thing is about 3 feet long tops, and it gets stored outside the darkroom with bags over the rewinds to keep them clean.



I also got a split reel via eBay, which unscrews into two halves. I take off the top of the 400' can in the dark and drop half the split reel into the center core. Then flip the whole package, remove the bottom of the can and screw the other half of the reel on.



I also got a bunch of microfilm reels from an outfit in Germany that seems to be defunct now, and some black microfilm boxes as I only had two 100' bulk load cans and couldn't source any used ones. I've since gotten a bunch of old Kodak metal tins which I feel are more light-tight. This pic also shows the core from a 400' ORWO UN54 roll.



I always stored the film in the black boxes inside a black plastic photo paper bag taped up, as insurance against light leaks. I didn't test the lightproofness.

With the split reel closed, it gets mounted on the left rewind, which has a brake (the silver pedal)



The microfilm reel goes on the other rewind, and once the film gets threaded into the slot on the microfilm reel the spinning begins.



The rewinds are geared, so one turn of the crank spins the microfilm reel a bunch of times. In practice the split reel could certainly be mounted to a nail in an upright as I don't really need the brake since I tend to hold onto the split reel to control over-spinning and spilling film. I don't have a count on turns of the crank, but stop and check a few times to see how full the microfilm reel is getting. They seem to hold about 115 feet of film as my fourth roll is always shorter.

The 400' rolls all come on a center core and two of the bulk loaders I have came with cores in them, so I suppose that 100' rolls from some companies come on cores as well. I would have a very hard time winding 100' onto a core with this set-up without spilling films all over the place, thus the microfilm reels. I do have one of those black closed side reels Nokton shows above, it came in some can I got along the way (I believe Gabor sent it to me), but the microfilm reels are really simple to work with, and I prefer them at this point.
 
I have a cardboard box filled with about a hundred of those 400 foot cores.
I like your setup; I'd like to make one for myself. Those 70mm rollers can be very spendy!
 
Nokton48 said:
I have a cardboard box filled with about a hundred of those 400 foot cores.
I like your setup; I'd like to make one for myself. Those 70mm rollers can be very spendy!
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I'm always patient with eBay, and manage to do OK. It's when one needs it now that the robbery seems impossible to avoid. There are several used motion picture supply places online as well (or were when I was getting set-up) that were not entirely unreasonable, but shipping charges were high IIRC.

I toss the old cores when I load the split reel, I'm running out of room to store stuff I can't imagine I'll use again. The many hundreds of 120 spools I found in a box when I last moved? Oi.
 
dawn&mollie by Nokton48, on Flickr

Two of my friends from work. They drove all the way across town to hear my Son play in his rock band. We were all under golf umbrellas.

Leica M2, V1 35mm Summicron, XX 5222, Dr Blood Leica Developer. It took four days to completely dissolve the phenidone in pure alcohol.
 
Been meaning to try out the XX again. Didn't like it in HC-110 much, so decided to try Pyrocat. Shot some ice today here in the GA mountains. Worked pretty well, and subject lends itself to a bit of grain. Maybe I'll stick with the Pyrocat.

Bessa R2S, Voigtlander 85mm f/3.5 APO Lanthar, XX in Pyrocat 1:1:100

amicalolaice-8999ss.jpg
 
Knowing this is a motion picture film, I always manage to see the shots in this thread as cinematic! My imagination, no doubt, but does anyone else see 5222 shots that way, more so than ones done with other films?
 
Corran said:
Worked pretty well, and subject lends itself to a bit of grain. Maybe I'll stick with the Pyrocat.

amicalolaice-8999ss.jpg
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I am curious, PMK was always a favorite of mine, in the larger format. Does the XX film scan easily with the Pyro stain?

XX in NOT a lower grain film, it was designed in 1958, and really hasn't changed much. Kind of like stepping into a time capsule that takes you back to 1958.

Some of the best photography that I see comes from Cinema. I see images all the time on the TV and I say to myself "Man, that would make a great still photo."

Myself I do sometimes tend to look at subjects with a cinematic eye. I enjoy doing that.
 
Nokton48 said:
I am curious, PMK was always a favorite of mine, in the larger format. Does the XX film scan easily with the Pyro stain?

XX in NOT a lower grain film, it was designed in 1958, and really hasn't changed much. Kind of like stepping into a time capsule that takes you back to 1958.

Some of the best photography that I see comes from Cinema. I see images all the time on the TV and I say to myself "Man, that would make a great still photo."

Myself I do sometimes tend to look at subjects with a cinematic eye. I enjoy doing that.
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^^^THAT!!!^^^

Totally agree... Double X has given me a new life, literally, both in how/what I shoot and the ultimate use of the images. Long story. I only wish Double X was available in 120 so I could shoot with the 503.:)

So, I just bought a box of TriX.
 
Nice, Dan,

On the iPhone screen I can see the depth and contrasts that look terrific. I must pull this up on the computer for a better view.:)
 
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