the longest time you've spent loading a tank

[_goodtimez]

I used to spend more than normally required when I used the plastic reels until I used the stainless steel reels.
With the later it take like 1 mn and loading is becoming reliable.

 

[RayPA]

I used to spend more than normally required when I used the plastic reels until I used the stainless steel reels.
With the later it take like 1 mn and loading is becoming reliable.

I think you've made it over the hump that all us die-hard ss reel users have had to navigate. It's difficult at first, but once you get the hang of ss reels, loading becomes a breeze and it can be done very quickly. 🙂




/

 

[healyzh]

My worst experience was before I realized that Paterson reels need to be *totally* dry. Now that I know they should be *dry* AND *clean* it's much easier. 😀

I loaded 4 reels in under 30 minutes the other night.

 

[Chris101]

I think you've made it over the hump that all us die-hard ss reel users have had to navigate. It's difficult at first, but once you get the hang of ss reels, loading becomes a breeze and it can be done very quickly. 🙂

Exactly how I feel. I'm in and out in a minute or so, while my plastic reel brethren think 10 minutes is good time.

I voted 12 seconds, but truthfully, sometimes it takes twice that long. 😉

 

[ChrisN]

Exactly how I feel. I'm in and out in a minute or so, while my plastic reel brethren think 10 minutes is good time.

I voted 12 seconds, but truthfully, sometimes it takes twice that long. 😉

That's about how long it takes me to load my Paterson plastic reels, now I understand them.

1. Keep them clean - scrub them with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush when they start to show stains. Don't let Photoflow residue dry on them - rinse well in hot water after use.

2. Check that the little ball bearings are in place and move freely.

3. With 35mm film, trim a very small triangle (about 1mm or a little less) from the leading corners of the film so it slides more easily into the reel.

Steel reels sound good for some people, but you have to be careful not to drop them and bend them, and I have a stack of Paterson reels that cost me next to nothing.

 

[Chris101]

I hear ya Chris. I believe any tool, well understood, is the best tool. When I was in Photo 2 class, I made it my job to wash the plastic reels. Cause ya never know. If we are ever in the same darkroom, let's race!

 

[TheHub]

Tonight I spent a few minutes because I couldn't get a canister of TMAX 100 to open. Remind me not to use that film anymore.

Before that I spent 10 minutes or more trying to get a roll of 127 film onto a spool. Home-cut 127, which probably made it worse.

 

[ChrisN]

I hear ya Chris. I believe any tool, well understood, is the best tool. When I was in Photo 2 class, I made it my job to wash the plastic reels. Cause ya never know. If we are ever in the same darkroom, let's race!

Drop in, next time you're in Canberra! I'll shout the developer. 🙂

 

[LeicaM3]

Where is the 3 second option?

Where is the 3 second option?

Seriously.

When I only develop one film for 35 or 120 I have been using for 30 years the Kodak Apron.
Never failed. I get it on the reel every time in less than 3 seconds - because there is none.

Other than not being able to process more than 2 films in one tank, I have a hard time finding a downside.

Otherwise I use Hewes SS reels and need to be able to load on wet reels w/o drying/cleaning/manicuring between loads.
And yes, there were times when I spent 10 minutes on it.
If I have problems I just roll it in the apron, that never ever fails. Oh, and less than 3 seconds 😀

 

[sevo]

Less than a minute per film for Jobo tanks. Something that felt like hours, but wil have been less than half an hour, once, when untangling 220 film on a hanger frame - 220 is a nuisance in most stand tanks as it does not fit the full length frames for 135, but has to be wrapped around. And the 220 add-on fixture at the bottom of that particular frame came loose and dropped to the floor with several films already attached. It is not easy to find and reassemble unfamiliar stuff in a pitch black room, the more so when you may not scratch (and even less so step on) the films in the process...

 

[glooscap]

50 Minutes, wow you are patient.
After 5 minutes I would put the film in the tank "Off Reel" and turn the lights in
the darkroom back on to see the issue.

 

[sepiareverb]

The second studio I worked in had a 50 reel tank, SS reels. After large jobs the two of us assistants would be sent into the darkroom to load reels (immediately afterward, so at like 11:30 pm). After we spoiled a few frames one time because we got talking while loading all film developing was done alone from then on. We flipped a coin to see who had to run the films.

 

[konicaman]

My teacher tried to teach me how to use metal reels - still working on it now 30 years later

(I love you Paterson!)

😀

 

[zerobuttons]

I gave up on loading a roll of Tri-X on a Jobo reel once, because after having fought with it half an hour, I was absolutely sure the film had so many crease marks and greasy finger prints it would not be worth spending chemicals on.

Later, I switched to steel reels. Tri-X can still be quite a handful if it´s been sitting in the camera for long, but patiently using the method of using the film to roll the reel, it always gets on the reel in the end.
I found this film very helpful when learning to use steel reels:
http://www.youtube.com/user/tokyophotonet#p/u/1/gXG2MqqF18Y
I don´t understand a word this gentleman is saying, but his parent-to-child-like way of showing how-to-do and how-not-to-do is very easy to understand.

 

[Reid 111]

Just spent 50 minutes loading a f****g HP5 rollfilm in a tank. "process promptly" : I will next time! Not wait for one year and 2 months for the film to be finished!

And now, the useless poll...

This post had me falling around in laughter, only surpassed by the many hilarious replies. Yes, we have all been there but full marks to you for starting a genuinely amusing ( to me ) thread.

 

[rolleistef]

thank you 🙂
Now the last film I loaded took me about 30 seconds, but it was shot last week so none of those troubles!

 

[Rob-F]

I find the first few turns will go smoothly onto a stainless steel reel. The last turns sometimes want to buckle and skip over the reel channel. i have tried removing the film from the reel and from the cassette spool, and loading it on tail-first. It seems to help.

 

[sepiareverb]

Hewes reels make ALL the difference. Never would have believed it, but since switching from the Nikkor style I've cut my loading time in half.

 

[Matus]

I find that the best way to do it fast is not to hurry ..

 

[Rob-F]

Hewes reels make ALL the difference. Never would have believed it, but since switching from the Nikkor style I've cut my loading time in half.

What's a Hewes reel? Do they fit in the Nikor tanks? Available in both 135 and 120?