roll film processing

[John Cook]

And now for something completely different! ;0)

I have never had much luck with plastic reels and tanks. Always found stainless superior for several reasons.

Any difficulty with stainless reels, in my experience, has always been due entirely to poor quality reels or ones which have become bent over the years from rough handling.

By far, the best stainless reels available today are the Hewes brand. Here they are on the B&H website:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=26286&is=REG

Every bit as well made and easy to load as the old Nikkor brand which were made a couple of miles from here in West Springfield, Massachusetts. You really should be able to manage them.

With regards to your arthritis, I have recently obtained almost total relief in my hands with the use of Methotrexate (a very old chemotherapy drug) combined with Salsalate (a derivative of aspirin without the heart attack side effects of Aleve, etc.). Both require about 90 days to take effect. And both are by prescription only. Perhaps you might run these past your physician.

[Gene Crumpler]

I'd be careful about processing film back to back. I tried this the other day with 2 sheets of Tmax-100 and got a mess! Totally unusable.

I've always used steel reels, but this year, I voluntered at the local elementary school. They use Patterson tanks and reels. I found the Patterson reels hard to deal with. May be I'm just set in my ways, but I'd never abandon my nikkor reels after struggling with the Paterson reels for most of the school year! YMMV.

[Richard Schlesinger]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I may try something for the arthritis - perhaps that is a better answer. And maybe some stainless reels are easier than others. Mine are, I think, Nikkor. I don't know what the differences are with all the other brands I see on the B&H site. If anyone knows about this part of the processing question I would like to hear.

[Roger Scott]

I recently purchased a new Paterson tank and reels and found the reels quite difficult to use. The bearings are small and rough and have a habit of sticking in the reel so that the film won't initially load properly. Once started it works fine but it takes a lot of cursing. The older Paterson reels with the larger, smooth bearings work fine as do the Jobo reels which apart from processing sheet and 127 film I now use exclusively. The Jobo reels are easier to get apart which helps to get the film off the reels after processing or if you change film sizes often.

Regards,

[Jim_5656]

I've used Paterson (and look-a-likes) since 1977 without problems. I still have my first Paterson two reel tank with the original plastic reels that still work fine although for many years I used mostly the 8-reel tanks for all the 120, 220, and 35mm I was shooting. I don't know if the policy is still in effect, but Paterson (and their vendors) would cheerfully exchange any of their tanks or reels that chipped, leaked or cracked for "as long as you owned the tanks"! I've just switched over to a Jobo processor and have yet to load one of their plastic roll film reels as I switched to the Jobo system mainly to run sheet film and color paper in the "Expert Tanks". Jobo plastic reels do look a bit more difficult to use than Paterson.

[Brian C. Miller]

The best reel I have for Patterson is one which has a very wide loading "platform" on it, and the film goes over the platform and into the reel slots. I don't know the brand name, and the dealer had them in stock for a limited time. (I think they were made in Spain) The reel has steel bearings, and they have never jammed.

Another set of reels has metal bearings which jam a lot, and the reel has tiny protrusions from the molding which have to be trimmed or they will catch the film during loading.

For some reason nobody marks their brand name name on the reels, yet there is more than enough space on the plastic reels for a name.

The Jobo reels have a little plastic stop which snaps in to seperate one roll of 120 from the next in a single reel. The reels are a slightly different size from the Patterson, so one won't work with the other's system. When loading the Jobo reels I just press down on the film with my thumbs while turning the opposite half of the reel. I have never had a problem loading with the Jobo reels.

I have had problems with the SS reels sometimes to initially get the film straight on the reel. If the film is not initially straight, then you'll be unable to load the film.