Blank shots on my 120 film !!!

[Kinkonspool]

Hello fellow members,
Its my first time on this forum as a new member,
I developed my Ilford HP5 120 film and the first roll I screwed up in the bag as got a a bad kink so could not get on the spool. I binned it out of frustration. The 2nd went on the spool, eventually. I developed it but only 5 images developed in different parts of the film. The 2nd and 3rd developed ok.
I pushed the 400 film to 800 as the light was bad, and adjusted the time in the development. This was the first time ever developing film.
My questions are is their an easy way to get the film on the spool, and the second question is what would cause images to be randomly come out, 1 here, one there, and others in different places. The others were totally clear. Strange.
The camera used was a Hasselblad 500C/M plus an 80mm F2.8

 

[MartinN]

I use Paterson plastic reels for 120, and I have learnt to manage those, they are convenient with the feeding motion when turning the opposite ends. What I have learnt is to never ever try to load a slightly wet reel. I start with the end that was taped to the film backing paper and keep the emulsion inward to the center of the reel. Clear bw film means no (severly insufficient) exposure, somehow, especially when there are exposed frames. Mechanical cameras are tricky. Use cheap film when experimenting, and no strictly important takes. It is much easier to have a completely dark room than fiddling with sticky hands inside a bag. Don’t push film, with negative you can even use a bit overexposure to be safe.

 

[algrove]

I had so many problems with the JOBO plastic I went with the HEWES 120 SS reels. I had to make sure to get the reels for the JOBO 1500 which has a large inner part to work on the Jobo. They grab the film very fast . Saved my sanity.

 

[Kinkonspool]

Many thanks for the reply’s.

 

[Godfrey]

I use either an Agfa Rondinax 60 or a Lab Box to process my 120 film. Both are extremely easy to load and do it in full light, no poking about in the dark or in a changing bag.

G

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

I used Paterson tanks and reels to develop both 120 and 135 film ... the reels load easily once you have trained (a lot) in broad daylight. I used the "shake and rest" agitation method, not the rolling. Quite easy process, all together ...

 

[Swissblad]

I used Jobo reels and processor a lot....they are really quite simple once you get the hang of it - best to practise in daylight with an old film.

The fact that you are getting random frames of images vs intermittent blank frames, suggests that you have an issue with correctly exposure - could be that your Hassi is misfiring - and may need to be serviced.

Good luck!

 

[jmav]

One trick to make it easier to load is to use scissors and slightly round out the corners of the film before you load them into the spool so they don't catch on somewhere and get stuck. Also, get yourself a proper changing tent instead of a bag. Your hands won't get sweaty as quickly as with a bag and just in general you'll feel less constrained. I have one called "Photoflex changing room" which I've had for ages but nowadays there are also a bunch of cheaper alternatives from China on eBay.

As for the black frames, it sounds like there's an issue with the shutter in your lens. Go through all shutterspeeds while looking into the lens and see if the shutter opens and closes correctly at all speeds. If it doesn't, your lens is due for a repair.

 

[Kinkonspool]

Thanks for your tip, Godfrey I have the lab-Box 120/135 but they put two left hand guides in the box so I cannot use it. Lab-Box is sending me the replacements.

 

[Arjuna]

When you say the light was bad, it makes me curious as to what shutter speeds you were using. Probably you already know this, but when I first had a Hasselblad 503, I didn't know that you had to press and hold the shutter release, for longer exposures, because if you just press and release, as you would for most cameras, the rear curtains will close before the lens shutter has completed its cycle, resulting in an underexposed frame. This is easy to see by taking pictures with no film back attached. They are lovely cameras, but they do have their idiosyncrasies.

 

[Kinkonspool]

When you say the light was bad, it makes me curious as to what shutter speeds you were using. Probably you already know this, but when I first had a Hasselblad 503, I didn't know that you had to press and hold the shutter release, for longer exposures, because if you just press and release, as you would for most cameras, the rear curtains will close before the lens shutter has completed its cycle, resulting in an underexposed frame. This is easy to see by taking pictures with no film back attached. They are lovely cameras, but they do have their idiosyncrasies.

Hi Arjuna,
The reason I was getting clear random frames was due to the shutter not firing. Yes the weather was back so that’s why I pushed the HP5 from 400 to 800. I used a monopod as a tripod was out of the question due to 6 thousand people on the day walking around. I also made sure my sutterspeeds were 1/60 sec or above which did affect apertures also. Here is a shot I like that i Developed and Scanned on an Epson V850 from the day. I have few more also.