Loading 120 film onto a Paterson spiral - any tips?

I've just been trying with the second roll. This time I didn't snip the corners.

Worse than my 1st attempt. My hands so sweaty. The film did load I thought but as soon as I attempted to move it with the ratchet, it came off the reel.

For sale: Paterson Universal Tank, never used ..... :mad::mad::mad:
 
See if you can get some AP reels, they are significantly easier than the Paterson's. I think that you should persevere, when you get it you'll find you have no more problems. As has been said, 35mm is in my opinion much trickier to load.
 
Likewise, I find 35mm more fiddly (although with manual rewind cameras - or if you retrieve the leader from the canister - then you can start the loading in daylight).

I have found that some film stocks are harder to load than others. Some have a greater tendency to bow in the middle which can hinder getting the film onto the reel initially.
 
:agree: Stick with it, it sounds like you have a duff roll or two by now so practice outside the bag so you can see what is happening (if not it's worth a fiver or whatever to just use an unexposed roll for practice). Mr Paterson didn't invent something that doesn't work, it's just about patience and practice.
 
thewiccaman said:
What kind of gloves do you use? I have cotton and latex? I may try the cotton. My concern though is it will greatly reduce my sense of touch/feel wearing gloves.

I'm not familiar with AP reels. Do they fit the Paterson Universal tank?
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Bold Nitrile gloves from Amazon. The humidity off your hands without gloves is enough to make loading a loosing battle, I can load 2 or 3 reels in less than 10 minutes so the bit of discomfort is worth putting up with.

Yes AP reels fit Paterson tanks

This type of reel, also called Kaiser https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274421844194
 
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Karl.t1965 said:
always wear gloves because the moisture off your hands will be enough to make things sticky
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I take back [most of] what I said!

I had left the film in god knows what state sealed in the tank inside the bag to cool down and regroup. Following Karl.t1965's advice to wear gloves I went back into the bag, persevered for a few minutes more and got the film onto the reel.

About 10 mins later after a bath in the Cinestill Df96 and rinsed with Photo-flo, I have developed film!!

To say I am incredulous that it worked after the struggles getting the bl**dy film loaded is an understatement.
And voilà: my first ever home-developed film, hanging to dry in the bathroom :banana:

IMG_1118.JPG
 
Karl.t1965 said:
Bold Nitrile gloves from Amazon. The humidity off your hands without gloves is enough to make loading a loosing battle, I can load 2 or 3 reels in less than 10 minutes so the bit of discomfort is worth putting up with.

Yes AP reels fit Paterson tanks

This type of reel, also called Kaiser https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274421844194
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Is it easier to load than the Paterson reel?
 
Harlequin565 said:
I break it down into 2 stages.

1. Get the backing paper off and out of the way. I've seen videos with people who just uncoil it and load the spiral at the same time and I just couldn't do it and got into a sweaty mess. As soon as I took the 1st step of getting the paper right off and into the corner of the bag, things improved.

2. I actually take the 1st quarter of an inch of the film and hard roll it the other way to try and straighten out the natural curl. With my left hand holding the spiral, I keep thumb and forefinger over the 'guides' so that I can at least get the film in the approximate right place. Sadly it's trial and error, and I've definitely improved with practise.

I found my old squaeky Jobo tank much much easier to load 120 on over the Paterson one. The lip to guide the 120 onto the spiral is much bigger.

As to stainless steel spirals, I have no idea, as I've never used them.

Keep persevering!
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I followed your good advice and persevered, this time using gloves as I said. It wasn't easy but I did get it on the reel after 10 or so minutes and I now have developed film!

I'll try the reverse hard-rolling next time. As you say, it is a matter of practice.
 
FishyFish said:
Well done! :)

One tip - I always hang 120 negatives with the tape at the bottom as it tends to hold onto water which can drip down the film and might cause water marks.
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Just done that now. Good point.
 
thewiccaman said:
Is it easier to load than the Paterson reel?
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Give them a good clean, toothbrush and a very mild abrasive, get them fully dry and make sure the balls are completely free and give that a try, is still find the AP easier but there isn't that much in it with clean dry reels
 
Well done, another tip, don't hang it by the towels because they are likely to give off some fluff. I usually hang my negs in the shower cubical.
 
sirch said:
Well done, another tip, don't hang it by the towels because they are likely to give off some fluff. I usually hang my negs in the shower cubical.
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Good point. I would if I had a shower cubicle - old school, me: electric shower over the bath & a shower curtain.
 
Ok, focus/exposure is crap as I tried scanning RAW with my DSLR and haven't quite got my settings sussed yet but not terrible for a 1st attempt ... don't judge me!

(I used manual focus and may try autofocus as well to see what difference that makes. Also, I think the aperture was too wide - 5.6. May try 8 or 11 next time)


darley park 24jul 1 lum.jpegdarley park 24jul 2 lum.jpeg
 
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The soft focus look is working...

(y)
 
Harlequin565 said:
The soft focus look is working...

(y)
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Really? I thought it looked a bit 'mushy'.

I need to do some research/investigation as to the best settings to use. This was with my Nikon D5600, may try with my Nikon D300s as I can lock the mirror up on it.
 
thewiccaman said:
Good point. I would if I had a shower cubicle - old school, me: electric shower over the bath & a shower curtain.
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if the shower curtain has a rail, hang it from that? I have a couple of bulldog clips with rubber bands threaded through them, which let me hang films from the top rail of our shower....
 
Search for Stainless sock hangers on Amazon, great for hanging on your shower rails
 
thewiccaman said:
Ok, focus/exposure is crap as I tried scanning RAW with my DSLR and haven't quite got my settings sussed yet but not terrible for a 1st attempt ... don't judge me!

(I used manual focus and may try autofocus as well to see what difference that makes. Also, I think the aperture was too wide - 5.6. May try 8 or 11 next time)


View attachment 287557View attachment 287558
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I appreciate this thread may not be the correct place to post pictures but in the context of my earlier post, here are the two pictures from earlier re-scanned with different & better settings and using autofocus (1/15 sec, f8, autofocus used, self-timer).

To clarify, these are scans from the negatives (Ilford FP4+) I developed in Cinestill Monobath. Camera used for scanning: Nikon D5600):

darleypark 24jul couple vsn2 tf.jpgdarleypark 24jul bench vsn2 tf.jpg
 
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thewiccaman said:
Is it easier to load than the Paterson reel?
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I bought one following @Karl.t1965 's suggestion and used it for the first time today. While I've never failed to load the Paterson reels with 120 film, the AP reel was definitely easier to load thanks to the longer film guides. I'll let you know how it fares with 135 when I dev a roll of that. It fitted in my Paterson tank without issue too.
 
FishyFish said:
I bought one following @Karl.t1965 's suggestion and used it for the first time today. While I've never failed to load the Paterson reels with 120 film, the AP reel was definitely easier to load thanks to the longer film guides. I'll let you know how it fares with 135 when I dev a roll of that. It fitted in my Paterson tank without issue too.
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The great big thumb pads/guides are a real help.
Still need to keep the reels clean but so far they haven't given me any problems
 
The AP reels are definately easier to load, my only grip is *if* it gets stuck you have to split the reel rather than unwind the film because the guides protude across a much wider section of the reel. There's a reasonable chance you'll end up kinking the film in the process.
 
excalibur2 said:
sweated work this weather unless you have air conditioning
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It did cross my mind that the heat might be against me but I wanted to get the roll devved while I had the chance. As it turned out, thanks to the ease of loading the AP reel, I had the whole thing sorted in a couple of minutes and not a drop of sweat emitted!

The fiddliest part was cutting the film from the canister reel.
 
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