Processing 35mm &120 B&W Film

The tube has a flange on the bottom and it is essential that this sits in the bottom of the tank. It is also essential that the spiral is pushed right to the bottom of the tube. With tanks that allow for more than one roll of film to be process the tube is much longer and using this to process a single roll creates a problem where the film will not be in the chemicals if the spiral is not pushed to the bottom of the tube.

The most difficult part of getting the film in the tank is loading the film into the spiral in darkness. The top of the spiral can be rotated a limited amount from the bottom part of the spiral.

1.The spiral has two lugs that project inwards and unlike the illustration, these would normally sit opposite each other. The film enters the spiral at this point. Running your finger around the inside edge of the spiral will allow you to locate these and align them up.

3. The film is pushed in through the slot past a small ball that allows the film to be pushed inwards but locks it from coming back out. It is a good idea to pull the film past this point before rotating the spiral to load the rest of the film.

2. Once it clears this point the slot the film rides into the spiral opens out and the two halves of the spiral can be rotated backwards and forwards to pull the rest of the film inwards.

Want to learn more? - do a workshop or one on one with Lloyd Godman