302.286
Figure 10-17.–Loading 120 film on reel.
For 35mm film, if the film was not completely rewound
into the cassette, cut the tongue off and leave the film in
the cassette.
Hold the reel to be loaded in your left hand with
the spiral wire ends at the top, pointing toward the
right. Allow about 3 more inches of the paper backing
to unroll. Bow the film and place it straight into the
reel core. Smoothly and slowly turn the reel
counterclockwise, guiding the film onto the reel.
Allow the paper backing to unwind as the film is
wound onto the reel.
When all but about 3 inches of the film is on the
reel, you will feel the end of the film taped to the paper
backing. With 35mm film in a cassette, the film stops
unrolling from the cassette when the end is reached.
When you feel the tape or the end of the film is
about 3 inches from the reel, carefully separate the
film from the paper backing or cut the 35mm film
right next to the cassette, being careful not to pull the
film from the reel. Finish loading the reel.
The paper backing on 220 roll film does not run
the full length of the film as does 120 film. The paper
backing on 220 film serves as a leader and tailer that
are taped to the ends of the film. Therefore, when
using the third method described above, you must
remove the paper tailer from the film before loading
the reel.
Before processing film using a reel, you must
practice loading it by using a roll of practice film in
white light, then repeating the procedure in total
darkness until you feel comfortable and do not damage
the film. Only after you have the reel(s) loaded properly,
should you think seriously about processing.
When a roll-film tank is used to process fewer
rolls of film than the tank can hold, you must take up
the extra space in the tank with enough empty reels to
fill the tank. The empty reels go into the tank on top
of the reels holding the film. When you are pouring
solutions into the tank, completely cover ALL the
reels in the tank.
When processing with a roll-film tank that has a
lighttight cap, you can add or dump the chemicals
without removing the cover. Only one tank is needed
because the required solutions are poured out of and
into the tank through the tank cover during
processing. This can be done in white light. The
chemicals should be arranged in the darkroom sink
from left to right (developer, stop bath, etc.) and be
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