Hi all. Just thought I would share with you what I bought today. I've been looking around for a while and finally taken the plunge and bought a Mamiya 645 Pro. I plan on doing my own B&W developing and a few rolls of colour (for the lab only). I've bought most of the things I need for developing now. Once I start I might need a few hints and tips.
All the best
Mark

VERY nice Mark! :thumbsup: If you have any questions, feel free to give a shout. I'm actually working on putting together a thread with pictures on developing B&W. Kind of just a basics to get you started deal. Since you haven't processed film before, is there anything in particular that you have questions about or that you would like me to cover in the thread? Looking forward to seeing some shots from your new baby :)

Aaron

Those are great cameras!
Good Luck!
Brian

Thanks guys. I must say I'm really looking forward to developing my first roll of film. There's something much more exciting to it than uploading from the memory card to the computer.
Aaron, sounds like a good idea starting a thread covering the basics of film photo. To be honest, as I have not tried developing any film yet I'm not sure what questions I would need to be asking. Come the weekend I'll probably be in a mess and asking questions left right and centre. Thanks again
Mark

Mark, feel free to ask any questions that may arise. Ask anyone here, I was nervous as all hell before developing my first roll and I'm sure everyone got sick of me asking every last little possible question...LOL Here's a couple things to keep in mind...

1. You are going to need a completely dark room or a changing bag for when you load your reels.
2. Provided you can follow any recipe for cooking, the hardest part of developing IMO is loading the damn reels (see the quote in my signature). It will be well worth the money if you can get ahold of a junk roll or 2 to practice loading before need to load a roll that matters.

Have you decided on which chemicals you are going to use? If you don't have these already, here are the data sheets for the ACROS 100 (http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/bin/AF3-083E.pdf) and TMAX 100 (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.jhtml?id=0.2.22.14.17.18.16&lc=en).

Thanks for the advice Aaron. I have already bought myself a junk roll of film to practice with. Not looking forward to fumbling around in the pitch black though. I'm going to set myself up with a small darkroom which should have absolutely no light coming in at all. I've got myself an AP developing tank and was wondering how the roll of film goes onto the developing reel without touching the film?.... Do you remove the film from the original film reel before putting it in the developer reel? What do you do with the paper on the film? Do you remove this before trying to load it onto the developer reel or just let it dangle down as the film is taken into the developer reel?
Oh and thanks for the data sheets. They are really useful.
Thanks
Mark

Mark, I use Patterson reels which I believe are virtually the same. I'm not sure how to describe how I load them so let me see if I can get my girlfriend to take some pics tonight of how I do it (still have a couple junk reels for playing in the freezer.).

You might try a Bessler reel. They fit many tanks and are Much easier to load. A friend of mine loaded one first try. eyes closed.LOL Good luck with the developing and getting the film in the tank is the hardest part.

Hi Mark, That's a "BEAUTY"! I see it's nicely accessorized as well. The power grip and metered prism are very nice options. :)
-Bruce

Hi Bruce. Yeah I wanted the camera with the power grip and metered prism but I'm thinking of getting the original manual crank too just to save on weigh for when I'm wandering around Tokyo or go to the mountains (the main reason I bought a MF camera).
I've been practicing loading the reel on the way to work this morning (on the train, not driving) and I'm getting a little better. Was just wondering how much of the film I can touch? I can do it easily if I hold/touch the front end of the film (about 5mm of the film) just to pull in onto the reel.... Will this have a bad effect on the film in the developing process?

Hi Mark, sorry I didn't get a chance to take pics of how I do it last night :( No, touching the front part of the film to pull it on won't hurt a thing. I just make sure I wash my hands first. I believe the AP reels load the same as the Pattersons that I have so here is how I do it:

1. I separate the film from the paper backing. Now, doing this is a dark bag can cause a lot of clutter so, I start by unrolling a little bit of the paper backing. Once you get a little bit of it unrolled, it will want to roll itself back up. Let it. Keep unrolling the paper backing off the reel and letting it roll up onto itself until you get to the film. Pull out 4 or 5 inches, then let the film roll itself back up separately. If done right, you will end up with a nice roll of paper backing and your film neatly rolled up separately. Keep going until you reach where the film is taped to the backing. When you reach this point, carefully rip the film away from the paper backing and set the backing off to the side. There will be tape on the end of the film you want to get rid of so hold onto the sides of the film leaving about a cm between where the tape stops and where you are holding the film. Then cut between the 2 and set the tape part off to the side with the backing.

2. Grab your reel and place it between your palms. Using your thumbs and index fingers, grab the end of the film and pull it onto the reel until you get past the autoload bearings. Now stick your index fingers into the rolled film to hold it inline with the reel and just twist away on the reel until your film is loaded.

Autoload bearings?
Wuss !
My 1940s paterson tanks don't have autoload, has to be done with the thumbs ... which is a good reason to wear gloves if you can stand it to prevent greasy finger prints on the film.

One way to learn is to take a developed film and load it onto the reel in daylight, watching how it loads and getting the feel of it. Then progress to eyes closed, before doing it for real (pardon the pun).

Be careful when seperating the film from the paper backing (or the spool in 35mm). If it is attached with an adhesive strip you should cut it off with scissors. If you pull the adhesive apart...unsticking it...it can emit light and fog the edge of your film.

Lots of adhesives do this when pulled apart...especially if it's done quickly. It's just not bright enough to notice in daylight. I did this once with 35mm and it was pretty bright in the dark. It's probably less of a problem with 35mm, because there are no exposed frames that close to the end, but with the paper backing on 120, it might be close enough to matter. And another part of the roll could be close enough to be fogged too. I always cut it with scissors now.

Never used an auto load type reel. I always used stainless steel reels and tanks. Oh well I guess times change. We we don't lug around Speed Graphics much anymore either.

I sold all my Mamiya TLR stuff and bought a one of the first 645's out. Had it on pre order and used it for a few years to shoot weddings. To very honest with you I never liked the results with it as much s I did my Mamiya 220's. I guess I just really got use to them and thought the glass superior to what they were making for the 645 back then.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me in this thread. I'm going on a shoot tomorrow so I'll be processing the film in the next few days. Just one quick question.... Lots of you are recommending removing the film from the roll before feeding it onto the reel. I have been practicing doing it with the roll still attached and letting the roll unravel as I feed the film into the reel. Is this an OK was of doing it or will this have an impact on the developing (you guys have got me worried about clouding/ fogging the image now.
Thanks again to all

Hi Mark, no worries keeping the film attached while loading your reels. A lot of it will come down to finding what technique works best for you. I have not had any of the problems Paul mentioned about the adhesive strip giving off light and causing fogging, though I have always been very careful when separating and have done it very slowly. The first 5 or 6 rolls of 120 I processed, I loaded the reels before separating the film from the backing. I had 2 problems that I found doing it this way. 1.) It was harder to keep the paper backing neat in the confines of a dark bag and it would get in the way. 2.) I found I had a tendency to not pay close enough attention, when winding the reels, to how close to the adhesive end I was. I would end up winding until the adhesive end reached the flange of the reel and I would have to back it out a little to snip off the end. When I was learning, I asked the same question at another site and it was pretty much 50/50 on whether or not to separate first, so it's pretty much a preference thing. I would recommend trying it a few different ways and see what works best for you.

Aaron

Hi Aaron
Thanks very much for your responses. They are a real help as I delve into this new world of film photography. I seem to have worked out how to judge where the film attaches to the paper so as not to wind it into the reel. All I do is count the number of shuffles I do when raveling in the film (around 25 is good) then I go really slowly and find the join every time. Thanks again for your (and everyone elses) help. Will let you know the results of the first batch soon.