Скачать или смотреть Loading the NEW Poilot 5x7 Reel – Large Format Photography – Darkroom Film Development Analog

Loading a new Poilot 5x7 sheet film reel. It should go without saying that this is a process that needs to be performed in complete darkness, but a lot of people are new to "analog" film and might not be aware. (Only orthochromatic and blue-sensitive material can be handled under red safelight.)

Additionally, I always wear clean cotton gloves while loading film to prevent handling marks and fingerprints.

The tanks and reels are made by Poilot in China and are identical in design to those made by JOBO: the quality is identical and parts like lids and caps are interchangeable. (There are a couple of Chinese companies making copies of JOBO tanks, I guess JOBO's patent has expired. I only have experience with Poilot.) When I purchased this tank a couple of years ago their reels were a different design with flat end pieces that press-fitted onto the reel core, similar to those sold by CatLabs. Different length cores using the same end spirals enabled the reels to take 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 (and I modified a reel core to fit 6½x8½ whole plate film). They worked well but the ends had a tendency to fall off the core if care was not taken. Not a big deal really.

These new reels are completely different. The end pieces are tapered/conical like those in the JOBO 2509N reel so the new Poilot 4x5 reel can be used in 2520 tanks (the old flat-ended reel could not). Each end piece and core is specifically designed for the format so the film slides in easily and stops in the reel slots locate the sheet in the correct position. The retainer clips are also specifically designed for each format and hold the film correctly.

The older Poilot 5x7 reel could take six sheets of film, but I found a plastic clip that supported the centre of the sheets tended to cause uneven development, and loading six sheets of film into the clip was a challenge. This new 5x7 reel has been completely redesigned to only take three sheets: in doing so they have removed the fitting that caused uneven development and made loading extremely quick and easy. Results with the old reel were so inconsistent that I stopped using 5x7. With this new reel I'm back!

The reduction to three sheets (from six) isn't really a problem. On a typical photo outing (a couple of hours in the morning or afternoon) I'm likely to only make between one and three exposures: you don't take several variations of the same scene with large format or bracket, like you would with 35mm or 120. What with the cost of film, particularly 8x10, three sheets a day is enough.

I'm not being paid for this review, I have purchased the reels myself and have been using the Poilot tank and older reels for a couple of years.