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j8kkb
31st January 2009, 10:13 AM
Hello ....what to say...wll my name is Jack I live in Essex on an estuary and I am in my fifties, been interested in photography for about 30 years, and a few months ago joined an analog photography course at the local college that has fired up my passion for black and white film again, the tutor has a range of personal cameras he brings in each week ..and each week I try and justify to myself why I need one of them :D....at the moment though I use an Olympus OM10 with the standard 50mm lens a 28 mm zuiko lens and an old 75-300 Miranda lens....just purchased a yashica mat 124g which I love to just look at sometimes.
I have no darkroom at home but have ideas on how to convert a loft space so I use the college darkroom and chemicals...develop all my own stuff though ..but just use standard Ilford chemicals at the moment .....any tips on how to load 120 film without me screaming at the way it seems to have a life of its own appreciated..well thats about it and I look forward to posting some images soon ...some very high benchmarks on here though...cheers Jack

Paul Mitchell
31st January 2009, 10:27 AM
Welcome to the forum Jack.

Yes, 120 does seem to have a life of its own but with a little patience is easily mastered, what reels are you using?

Paul

Barry
31st January 2009, 10:36 AM
Welcome Jack, I'm sure you will find the help you need here.

j8kkb
31st January 2009, 10:44 AM
Plastic spools which I believe came from a high street retailer ...this may seem a silly question but at the moment I have very few prints but lots of negs. can they be posted on here as well as they would be enlarged via a scanner

Paul Mitchell
31st January 2009, 10:55 AM
Plastic spools which I believe came from a high street retailer

Plastic reels have to be spotless and perfectly dry. Try scrubbing them with an old toothbrush and soapy water then popping them into the airing cupboard to dry.

...this may seem a silly question but at the moment I have very few prints but lots of negs. can they be posted on here as well as they would be enlarged via a scanner

Most of my images have been scanned from negs and they haven't lynched me yet... ;) just don't mention the 'd' word

Tony Marlow
31st January 2009, 11:13 AM
I nearly gave up the battle with 120 film until I discovered the "Nova Easyloader" from Nova, www.novadarkroom.com telephone 01926 403090. Its a holder onto which you slip on the reel and the the film spool, 120 or 35mm, and keeps everything in order whilst you wind it onto the spool. It is only suitable for the Patterson reels but I wouldn't be without mine.

Tony

Dave miller
31st January 2009, 11:26 AM
Hi Jack, thank you for introducing yourself.
The Olympus range is a very good one, and whilst the OM10 could be said to be bottom of the range that is really only in terms of build quality, and therefore durability. I got through 4 of them when I did 35mm, but the OM3 I had outlived them all. Wonderful range of top quality lens and accessories available at low prices. The OM1n is also excellent if you can find one in good condition.
Getting films on to developing reels is an acquired art, and as Paul says they should be clean and dry, since plastic ones are prone to jamming if they are not.
As far as displaying negative scans go we would prefer that you show scans of prints, but are pragmatic enough to know that's not always possible. We must insist however that they are not digitally enhanced. I suppose it's worth adding that the forum is not anti-digital, simply pro-traditional. I have a digital snapper,somewhere, that gets dragged out for Ebay and product snaps, as it's the best tool for that job, but not of much interest for anything more.

j8kkb
31st January 2009, 11:55 AM
Thankyou gentleman for the advice ...I will look into the "nova " as far as the OM10 goes I needed a lens for the camera when I started the course as mine had seen better days and found it cheaper to buy another camera complete with lens ..since then I have seen an Om1n that looks mint and am very tempted...my negs will come posted as seen scratches as well LOL...thanks again for the feedback

RH Designs
31st January 2009, 12:10 PM
Welcome Jack from another Olympus user. One point to bear in mind re the OM1 and OM1n is that the mercury battery used is no longer available. You can get conversion kits to take silver-oxide cells, and some OM1s have probably already been converted. The OM2 and other OM cameras all use the same SR44 cells as your OM10. You can of course use an OM1 with a hand-held meter (or the sunny 16 rule!) as it's a fully mechanical camera.

B&W Neil
31st January 2009, 12:49 PM
Hello Jack and a warm welcome to FADU. The Yashica 124G in a nice TLR and I had one new back in the 70s and used it a lot - the 3.5 lens on them is a cracker. It was my first serious TLR.

Neil.

Bill
31st January 2009, 01:47 PM
Hi Jack and Welcome to the Forum.
If you like Olympus (I have 3) have a look for an OM20. Best of both worlds with fully automatic or fully manual as you wish and relatively cheap.
With regard to loading 120 film I would re-iterate, the reels must be fully dry. I use a hair dryer on mine before loading and don't have any problems.
Bill

Trevor Crone
31st January 2009, 02:05 PM
Hello Jack and welcome to the Forum.

I have a couple of OM1's which I purchased second hand only a few years ago......such classic cameras.

Re. loading 120 film onto reels, I use the Paterson ones and I find it much easier to pull the film rather then push it into the groves of the reel.

Richard Gould
31st January 2009, 03:21 PM
Hi jack and welcome to the forum. Try patterson reels for 120, they must be dry and I lubricate the groves with a pencil, just run the lead around the groves and hey presto the film, 120 or 35mm just seems to slip in without any problems, Richard.

j8kkb
31st January 2009, 07:31 PM
Thanks again so much info so quickly

Jack

Mike O'Pray
31st January 2009, 09:35 PM
Hi and welcome. I sympathise with you. I still dread 120 loading compared to 35mm. It's partly a confidence thing. My 35mm can be introduced onto the reel in daylight so no fiddling with it to get it into the grooves in the dark whereas 120 has to be all in the dark.

Like the Nova system, Durst reels have a mechanism that fits on to the reel through which you lead the film then fit it under a clip on the central axle of the reel. Once it's there it is simply wound on by a crank but pushing the begining of the film under the clip in the reel's axle can be tricky.

If there is any secret. apart from practice, it is remembering that the first few inches contain nothing important and a bit of rough and readiness in handling isn't harmful.

I used to try loading from the rear i.e. the end you come to first, letting the backing paper fall away as I went but it became very messy with film and backing paper in proximity of each other. Now I strip the backing paper away at the start and load from the masking tape end.

There's always trial runs with a wasted 120 film. I think that daylight/ redlight/ redlight with cover over it until there's amost no light is a sequence worth trying as well.

Best of luck

Mike

photomi7ch
2nd February 2009, 06:00 PM
Welcome Jack,

I do the same as Trevor I find it easier to pull the film on and then continue as usual.

I like the idea of using a pencil to lub the grooves Richard I'll give it a try I've been getting kinking on the negs recently. It can be quite painful.

Bob
2nd February 2009, 06:04 PM
Welcome aboard Jack!

I also use the trick of pulling the film onto the reel as far as possible before starting the twisting action. Grab the end between finger and thumb (you should have at least an inch of leader to play with before the 1st image on the film) and feed it as far round the reel as you can. Once started it is much the same as 35mm but being much wider, and hence floppier, it is more difficult to get started.

Have fun, Bob.

Mark Burley
2nd February 2009, 10:29 PM
Hi Jack, Welcome to FADU.