I'm having a rather hard time trying to get 120 film into a plastic reel for development, are there any tricks to this, or should I just breathe and try again?

(I've done this many many times with 35mm, but this is my first time with 120)

-- estelle (never_ending_math_equation@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002

Answers

Hard to advise you without knowing what reel you're using and what your problem is. If you've had success with 35mm film, you know that plastic reels have to be absolutely dry. You probably know, too, that even 35mm film (usually) can't be pushed onto the reel but has to be "walked" on by turning the halves of the reel alternately while holding the edge of the film against the reel with the thumbs. Paterson reels facilitate this by being built to allow a few degrees of rotation. Also, it pays to rehearse with the lights on as you load an old roll.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols1@mindspring.com), February 25, 2002.

Thanks for the answer, I actually found a site that reccomended cutting off the corners of the film, and that worked.

-- estelle (never_ending_math_equation@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

try the stainless steel reels. i only use 120 format and have found that the steel reels are simply easier to use. you are rolling from the inside to outside and won't have the resistance you get with plastic that goes from the outside to the inside. Plastic seems to work well with 35mm I believe because of its narrower width compared to 120 format.

-- r (ricardospanks1@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Snip the corners off of the beginning so that they feed in easier... other than that, stainless steel reels.

-- Scott Walton (walton@ll.mit.edu), February 27, 2002.