Lynn L Loc: Northern IL

Back in the dark ages, here's how I learned how to load a film reel. Practice in daylight. There were 2 kinds of reels, one type you started the film in the out edge of the reel and just work the film into the reel. The stainless reels had a hold down feature in the center of the reel and you have to tuck the film leader under the hold down. In this type you have the film out of the cassette, rolled up in you hand and with the roll in the palm of you hand you use the thumb and forefinger to slight bow the film by having your fingers on the outer edges of the film. Then with the opposite hand you hold the reel and slowly rotate the reel to wind the film on it. The first few times you try this you'll probably question you sanity for even trying. You might even lose a bit of religious fervor. Then after a half hour of practice, bingo, you got it, nothing to it. Oh ya, DO NOT try loading film your first time without the daylight practice. After you get the hang of it, do it a few more times with your eyes shut. When you can do it with the eyes closed, you're good to go. Have a ball. You'll love it the first 1000 times you do it. Gud Luk!

Dan5000 Loc: New Hampshire

Have fun with it Sandra. You will learn a lot, and in the end you will appreciate digital.

Dan

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Speaking of religious, you best bet is to pop the end off the cassette with a church key and then pull out the reel. Dragging the film back trough the light trap can risk scratching it.

It's also a god idea to snip off the end so that there are sprocket holes on both sides. You are probably going to have to cut the film from the spool anyhow.

Stainless steep reels and tanks take a little more getting used to but they are better in the long run.

Nightski

Oh boy! It's going to be hard to waste a new film. :-( It goes against every fiber in my body. How about if I take a bunch of silly shots and then try it? :-) Somebody might be sending me a bunch of their old film if they can find it, so if that happens, I will shoot those up playing with light and form .. nothing I couldn't do over again and then use those my first few times? Hey Lynn .. maybe my lady fingers will be more agile than your man fingers. ;-) Hopefully .... :shock:

Hey ... maybe I could get some old film on amazon for cheap.

Nightski

$100 for six rolls of expired film ... guess it's a collector's item. :roll:

http://www.amazon.com/KODAK-UNEXPOSED-EXPIRED-BLACK-VINTAGE/dp/B00WN1UYNW/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1438873452&sr=8-11&keywords=expired+35mm+film

Who knew! Hey .. get on Amazon and make some bucks you guys!

Oh! Now here's a deal! $46.99 for 10 rolls of this stuff.
http://www.amazon.com/Rolls-Tudorcolor-Negative-Iso200-Expired/dp/B00A2M0FDS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_421_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SGZR27N8QFPKR566B44

What is Tudorcolor?

superpijak Loc: Middle TN

Before you spend money on practice film, I have expired BW bulk laying around I can roll up and send you. No Charge

Nightski

But I must send you a check for the shipping and handling .. I'll pm you my address. Thanks a bunch.

Lynn L Loc: Northern IL

It sounds like with your super supple lady fingers you think you can load a reel in a darkroom or changing bag the first time with success; I hope you can. If I were betting, I'd bet against you. As far as cost of a wasted roll of film, I didn't even think of that. Back in the dark ages, any film I used, when available, I bought 100 foot rolls & loaded reusable cartridges. Hey, life is good. I just ran down stairs and looked in my old camera collection and I have a couple rolls of reloaded TMX-100. If you want, I'll part with one roll to help you out. If you'll send me a mailing address, I'll drop one the mail for you. The stuff is probably 15 or 20 yrs old. But it'll be free & plenty good enough to practice with. Hope this help you.

Michael Hartley Loc: Deer Capital of Georgia

I just got an old exposed roll out, looked at it. I don't think it will take more than two rolls, to figure out the unrolling, and loading part. Just my .02. Adjusted for inflation, probably 0.005.

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

I use these reels. They are very easy. They load much faster than the Paterson reels. I have found that loading 120 film on Patterson reels quite a struggle but not impossible.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/55043-Arista-Premium-Plastic-Developing-Reel

Nightski

Thanks for the link, Darkroom.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Interesting. I never found it that hard, but that was a long time ago, and sadly I threw out my developing tanks and bulk film loader several years ago thinking that I would never use them again and I couldn't think of anyone that might want them.

Reading this reminded me of why I used to use Ilford B&W film more often than Kodak. If I remember correctly, the Ilford film canisters had ends that would pop off when the body of the canister was squeezed in the right way, making the process of getting the film out of the canister and onto the developing reels much easier. We could even reuse the metal canisters with bulk film instead of the plastic reusable ones.

If you have some film strips from your Walgreens batch that don't have anything spectacular on them you can practice with even a short strip of developed film in daylight. Once you can do it with your eyes shut (no need to stand on your head at the same time) whether it is 6 frames long or 36 frames long doesn't make a lot of difference.

You will probably want to practice the whole developing process a few times before risking what might be important shots. Freshness of developer, temperature, the amount of shaking to circulate the developer and the amount of time the film is being developed before you terminate the process and fix the film all make a difference from what I recall.

Once you have done all of that, and are confident with your new film developing skills, an excellent exercise is to take a single roll of film and go out shooting for a day with the objective of making every single frame a keeper.

I suspect that you may have a good chance of getting many of these things right the first time, you appear to be quite meticulous....

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Nightski, use a film retriever. They are only $5 for the stainless version. Ask for more hints once you get it. If you use a can opener, the film can completely curl up and it can be a real pain. With the retriever you just pull out a foot and roll, then another foot etc, till your done, then cut the canister off.
I've used both types of reels extensively. The steel is easier. More goes wrong with the plastic and it's hard to tell in the dark what's wrong while rolling in the dark! Lots of moving parts in the plastic reels but I've never heard of one breaking. Both will get the job done.
Personally, I've only used the traditional chemicals but the developer is pretty temp sensitive. You HAVE to use a thermometer. Around here the water is usually too warm. Put ice cubes in a thin plastic bag and dip then around till the temp is correct. It won't dilute your solution. Don't forget to count pour time as part of the time as the film is still wet.
Buy a pack of negative cleaning cloths. They won't scratch your negatives. You just fog with your breath then clean. Just like cleaning a lens. Well, at least that's how I clean my lenses!! Nightski, good luck, it's really easy!
Afterall, everybody here has managed to do it, how hard can it be!!! :lol: :lol:
Take a b&w class and use their stuff!!!!! Usually everything is provided, including the instruction and chemicals, tanks, practice film and darkroom!
I had my negatives all ready and rented 10 hours of darkroom space for $35. I got 10 finished prints done in that time including all my test strips and filter test!!
Good luck. ;-)
SS

superpijak Loc: Middle TN

Right on the money. When I processed my own BW I started with a trash roll exposed to daylight to get the feel of loading the reel for the tank in daylight. Then I tried it semi blind in a changing bag.

I too salvaged the Ilford film canisters as I found them reusable for loading bulk.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

All good stuff. Another thing to consider is Kodak Photo-Flo: http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-1464510-Photo-Flo-200-16oz/dp/B00009R7E0

Useful if you have hard water....