Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/24

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT: Developing reels: a Saga
From: "Don" <don.ro@verizon.net>
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 23:00:17 -0600
References: <20020225003152.90892.qmail@web10106.mail.yahoo.com>

Don't worry about pouring liquid in and out of tank through their lids.
Load the film on whatever reels you are using and put the loaded reels
in an empty tank.  Have three (3) or however many tanks necessary and
fill them with developer, water rinse, and fixer.  Turn out the lights,
remove the loaded reels from the tank and slip them into the developer
tank, put on the developer tank lid and use whatever agitation method
you like and 30 seconds before the development time is up, remove the
lid, lift the reels on the stainless steel rod from the developer, drain
until the development time ends, then into the water rinse or short stop
where you agitate the loaded reels using the stainless steel rod, drain
for the last 30 seconds.  Then into the fixer for whatever time you like
and agitate using the stainless steel rod every 30 seconds.  Next into
four (4) water rinses and finally into a conditioner before hanging to
dry.

Have used this technique with my 35mm and 120 Nikkor reels and tanks
since 1957.

The tanks with liquids are placed in a pan with tempered water bath so
all is brought to 70 deg F. or whatever you wish.  Let all liquids
stabilize which may take about 30 minutes from start.  That way you get
consistency.
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Su" <psu_13@yahoo.com>
To: "leica" <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2002 6:31 PM
Subject: [Leica] OT: Developing reels: a Saga


> For most of the 5 or 6 years that I've been back into darkroom work,
I've used
> either Paterson or Jobo plastic tanks and reels. For 35mm work, they
are easy
> to work with and durable. I had no problems.
>
> But, when I started branching out into 120, I found that they were
just totally
> unusable.
>
> Some background: I'm not the most dextrous person on the planet. I
just can't
> abide any scheme for loading that involves trimming the negatives with
high
> precision. Plastic reels *can* work well with 120 film *if* you can
trim them
> so the corners don't get caught on the reel and jam things. But I just
can't do
> this.
>
> It all finally came to a head when I turned the lights on and ruins 3
rolls of
> film (from Paris no less) after having spent 45 minutes trying to get
a last
> roll onto the reel.
>
> So clearly the thing to do was investigate metal reels.
>
> Having obtained a Hewes 120 metal reel and a no-name tank from
Calumet, I
> proceeded to find that once you practice a bit, metal reels are
incredibly easy
> for 120 when compared to plastic. Just don't try and clip the film in
the
> middle of the reel. If you place the film in the right spot, and hold
it there
> with your thumb, it practically walks onto the reel by itself.
>
> But, one thing that bugged me was that the metal tanks fill much more
slowly
> than Paterson and Jobo tanks. So the next thing to investigate was
that new
> Jobo metal reels that work in their plastic tanks with the plastic
center
> cores. These are made by Hewes for Jobo, and I figured I'd try them to
hold
> onto the fast fill times when using a lot of developer (a liter or
more). I
> know at this point the metal tank fanatics are questioning my sanity.
>
> The good news: the 120 reels work great.
>
> The bad news: the 35mm reels are impossible. The rail spacing and
thickness is
> such that 35mm film gets caught on the rails very easily, and you end
up with
> crooked film.
>
> So after all this I've ended up back with Hewes 35mm reels and normal
metal
> tanks. The Hewes 35mm reels load almost as nicely as their 120 reels.
So add me
> to the list of people who will tell you to "just buy Hewes".
>
> I even learned how to double roll the film (double rolling 120 is
fun),
> although I don't know if I'd try it on anything I really care about.
>
> Summary for the archives:
>
> 1. plastic reels for 35mm: good
> 2. plastic reels for 120: bad
> 3. Hewes metal reels for 120: great
> 4. Jobo 1566 metal reels for 120 in plastic tanks: good.
> 5. Jobo 1565 metal reels for 35mm in plastic tanks: bad.
> 6. Hewes 35mm reels: great.
>
> Pete
>
>
>
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In reply to: Message from Pete Su <psu_13@yahoo.com> ([Leica] OT: Developing reels: a Saga)