HenningH
Hello,
A while ago, I came across some old darkroom equipment: a Paxomat enlarger, three 13x18 trays, a small frame, and a cutting machine for serrated edges. A Jobo mini-lab complete with the 1961 booklet *Ich entwickle selbst* (*I Develop My Own*).
The first enlargements are already turning out quite well.
I did end up getting a new Jobo 1510 drum for the films. My first films were APX-100, which wound onto the drum without any problems at all. The negatives (developed with Neofin Blaue) didn’t look any worse than those from Porst either.
Please forgive me for this rather long preamble...
In any case, I thought that old equipment calls for old film, so I ordered a few rolls of KB18 and CHS50 and performed the exposure on the first roll with my Nikkormat. That took about a week, although the film was wound in the opposite direction to its original orientation. After rewinding, I went straight into the darkroom, prepared the solutions, got the can ready and wanted to ‘just quickly’ load the film. However, that only went reasonably well for the first 20–30 cm; then the streak somehow got stuck and nothing worked. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I pulled the film back into the cassette, checked the spiral again in the light (clean, dry, the red rubber thing wasn’t pressed in), cut the film straight again, rounded off the corners and started the next attempt. It went a bit better this time, but it still took nearly half an hour and left quite a few fingerprints on the backing. With only about 20 cm left, I cut the cassette, whereupon the rest of the film coiled up in a spiral at lightning speed and partly popped out of the spiral...
I then developed it rather roughly (I didn’t care about anything), but the negatives look very good; apart from a few water marks on the backing, which didn’t occur as frequently with the Agfas.
What’s going wrong here? Is it me, the film, or the spiral? Are there any tricks?
Best regards
Henning
Renate
Hello Henning,
I’ve been using a Jobo drum – I think it’s the 1510 – for many years now, with all sorts of roll film and 35mm films. Sometimes loading the film is easy, and sometimes it takes me a bit longer. But somehow it always works out. That’s down to the years of experience I’ve got.
However, before I developed the first film in the canister, I practised with an old film in daylight, then with my eyes closed and blinking occasionally, and finally in the dark.
The best way to find out what’s going wrong is to take one of these films and load it in daylight. If you still encounter problems, you’ll be able to describe them better and we can give you a more specific answer.
Best regards
Renate
Wolfgg
Hi Henning,
I have the Jobo 1000, which has spirals with recessed grips. You can use your finger to move the film along the edge of the spiral by rhythmically twisting the two halves of the spiral against each other and pressing your finger against the edge of the film in the recess at the right pace. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but the newer spires should still have this feature.
Regards, Wolfgang
Olle
Hello,
I’m familiar with the problem too; I have an old Jobo tank from the 1960s.
Film from a Yasica, which is wound the right way round onto a thick rubber core, is very easy to reel in, whereas an old Praktika reels the film the wrong way round onto a thin steel core, causing the film to be ‘bent the wrong way’ inside the camera. If the film then stays in the camera for weeks, in the worst case you end up with the problem that the start of the film is bent the other way round, just like the end. I don’t have a real solution; when loading the film, I wear cutting gloves, and if it gets stuck, I hold the reel between my fingertips and the film roll in the palm of the same hand, then shake the reel like a rattle. This relaxes the film on the reel, and a few centimetres more fit in. I do this a few times, and so far every roll of film has gone in.
It might also help if, after rewinding the film from the camera, you leave it in the cassette for a few days so that it ‘settles’ again.
Best regards and happy shooting, Olle
cfb_de
Hmm. Allow me to make a slightly heretical remark.
If the film can sit in the camera the wrong way round for weeks on end, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t store that very same film the right way round in the film cartridge for a few more weeks, before hopefully managing to thread it neatly onto some reels.
Sometimes experience and practice can be replaced by time. When spooling film, for example, and especially with 35mm strips. In that case, even a little practice can replace experience. Unlike with 120s, where you really do need to gain experience. You gain practice in daylight.
Meinjanur,
Franz
p.s.: Tonight, instead of watching football, I chose to develop three R50s and three 35mm TMXs. I didn’t have any problems with the 1200 or 2300 Jobo reels on any of them. And these reels are so compatible; the new-fangled stuff even looks almost the same.
HenningH
Hello,
First of all, thank you very much for your replies.
As I said, I’ve already wound quite a few Agfa films onto this spool. The 24-exposure ones went on almost effortlessly, but with the 36-exposure ones I had to use that ‘back-and-forth’ method towards the end. I usually performed the exposure on these films within three to ten days, and none of them caused any problems. I’d practised beforehand in daylight with a Fuji colour negative film. However, the base material of those films was certainly twice as thick as that of the ADOX. So if it gets stuck, it’s difficult to push the film forward without creasing it. I’ll wind the next one with gloves on and try the ‘rattle technique’.
I’ve just produced the first enlargements. The negatives (especially those taken with flash) have turned out extremely hard; but with a gradient of 1, it works quite well. I really like the grey tones, though the sharpness and grain aren’t particularly outstanding. Developed for too long?
So I’ll carry on testing...
Best regards
Henning
HenningH
Hello,
Today was my second attempt. I shot a roll of film in just a few hours, took it out of the camera and into the spiral. And it went much better than the first time. Still not as good as with the Agfas, but no problems.
I’ve now exposed the film at ISO 100 and developed it for 10% less time (why systematically change a single parameter when there are so many to choose from?... after all, the camera and lens are identical; and so are the subjects and the weather). Let’s see how the prints turn out.
Is it actually normal for the ‘C’ in CHS50 and the half ‘H’ to be paler than the rest?
Best regards,
Henning
cfb_de
Hi,
Well, it looks like you’re slowly getting the hang of it now.
Fluctuations in edge exposure are completely normal with Fotokemika products. Ultimately, edge exposure serves only as a reminder for black-and-white films (with colour, the situation is different due to the barcode in the automatic lab) and by no means acts as an indicator of ‘correct’ development.
Best regards,
Franz
huehnerhose
Hi, and sorry, I haven’t read everything yet:
Just the bit about the old Praktika cameras that feed the film the wrong way round (I’ve never noticed this with a Praktika, but I have with a Nikon). My tip:
Pull the film all the way into the cassette and wait a day... then it’ll feed through smoothly again!
Or another option: wind the film in from the back! So take it all out of the cassette, cut it off, and start from the end – that works very well too.
Regards
Sebastian
