[Konvas] loading BW film

[Brandon Esten]

Oh oh. I made an assumption that may be wrong; doesn't the reel from the Koodak can load straight into the Konvas 400ft (120m) mag? My arri16sb loads this way... I just don't understand why you are 'cutting' with scissors? I may not have all the necessary pieces then... besides the fact I definately need a handful of takeup reels it seems I need feed reels too?

Here is another nooby question I had better ask up front: on the feed reel, you take the lead from the right hand side of the reel and feed it from 'underneath' to the first sprocket right?Yea, it can't go the other way otherwise it would run backwards... Never mind. 

More about the cutting you mentioned: we are probably going to shoot all of this film, start to stop. Does the 'big' Konvas mag handle an entire 400ft load, or do you need to trim some of it off? This may be what you mean by cutting the film... I'm not messing with the 'small' mags I don't have the moded takeup spools anyhow.

Then, once you are done shooting, you just send the takeup spool to the lab right? You don't have to rewind it or anything right? 

Thanks for all the great information!
Respectfully,
Brandon

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 18, 2009, at 19:24, Speedbirdmgh at aol.com wrote:

Brandon,
 
I find it is better to practice in the daylight with an expired film. You will have to do this many times before you get the feel for it.  Once you are confident then practice all over again in the bag making sure that the arms of the bag go right up your arm with no light leaks. Practice cutting the film when you have sufficient on the reel. The biggest problem is that you tend to overload the reel which I do. When cut I then place an elastic band around the reel to stop it coming off. I have made a flat board with two door stops screwed on it which the reels rotate on one to another. This goes inside the bag ofcourse.
 
Your biggest problem will be trying to find the scissors in the bag, trying to keep film tins away in a corner of the bag. Elastic bands I put around my wrist, plenty of them. Be prepared to get "sweaty" hands and arms.
When you have practiced and practiced then go for a "live" film. Despite gaining confidence you will find that you tend to "panic" doing it for real, why I don't know. I certainly do every time but then an angel places their hand on your shoulder and then you calm down and it always goes right.
 
Look for the panic signs, mine being I lose the film tin lids which somehow disapear. My main fear is that I hate my arms being trapped in the bag and then the bag arms falling down, otherwise I really enjoy the process. I use a big bag which helps but there is never enough room.
 
The secret is to time yourself during the practice run and stick to it. If you exceed the time limit that's when you start to panic and want to pull your arms out.
 
Rita  (lots of dummy runs first using scissors, you can feel the perforations with your "pinkie"))
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