[Konvas] loading BW film

Thu Mar 19 09:46:40 CDT 2009

Ok, I think the 'dummy load' comment applies to me!!! [?] But seriously, I
will follow these instructions and practice much before moving on. I have 7
cans of 400ft to load... no, it's not re-can or short ends... it's fresh
from Kodak ($.35/foot) in good ol' Hollywood CA (no student discount
either!!!)

I'm taking the plunge here, and doing all the research to try and avoid a
train-wreck on the set.
No splices in-camera then. I was wondering about that--how a splice would
fit through those runners on the pressure plate. They don't! Ok, thank god,
that was would have been a nightmare. I will practice on the dead film until
my fingers get it down right, then off to the changing bag.

Anyone have a bunch of old take-up spools laying around they don't want? I
think I need 5 or so. Haven't seen any on ebay lately. I suppose I could
call a few local labs as well to see if they have anything.

Respectfully,
B

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 9:47 AM, t byrne <vonat8 at verizon.net> wrote:

> Brandon,
> There are some serious misapprehensions at work here:
>
>  I imagine one uses leader in order to squeeze as much out of the 400ft
>> reel as possible-
>>
>
> NO!  Leader is only used in postproduction.  Never try to run spliced film
> through a camera; it will jam and make a very big mess.
>
>
>> Here is how I envision the process (I could be totally off here): you cut
>> approx 1ft of throwaway from a "dead" reel (can you use throwaway still
>> film? I read in recent posts the perfs are not the same though and may jam
>> the mag...). Then you overlap the two by about an inch or so (it doesn't
>> matter which goes on top ot the other? By top I mean the top is the exposed
>> part facing the gate). You have to line up the perfs--this to me seems like
>> it will be the tricky part, as well as making sure the two strips are
>> _perfectly_ parallel. Then you use some kind of tape to affix the two
>> together--and I am not sure which side the tape should go on to prevent
>> jamming as well.
>>
>
> Don't do any of that stuff (above).
> The references to leader, scrap film, etc. are all suggestions for practice
> loading (in the light).  What you do is this: get a roll of scrap film (very
> old or lightstruck camera film that's worthless for shooting) only to
> practice loading the mag.  Do this in the light many times until you are
> confident that you can load a mag by touch alone inside a changing bag.
>  That's what the scrap film or leader is for--nothing else.
>
>>
>> Ok, probably got some of that right...
>>
>
> Not really...let's rewind and start again--much of the way you envisioned
> this is wrong.
> First, study the tutorial pictures in the link Adam posted until it makes
> sense.  (And ask more questions, because it can be  confusing.)  The
> references some people have made to cutting the film probably refer to the
> way you have to trim the leading edge of the film (we call it the tongue) so
> it will pass through the channel in the pressure plate (at the front of the
> mag where it mates with the camera).   There should be a picture of this in
> the tutorial link.  (The idea is that you cut off any sharp corners or
> ragged edges that you may find on the tongue of the film.)  Often a short
> end may have been ripped in two or otherwise very sloppily cut and that can
> make the film hard--or impossible-- to thread into the channel of the Konvas
> mag.  Ideally the film should be cut straight across--between perfs not
> through them-- and then a tiny triangle cut off each of the corners.)
>  That's the only place you will cut the film, unless you don't shoot the
> whole roll and you want to save the short end.  Your 400-foot mag will take
> a 400-foot roll, but be sure to use the "camera core" (it's called a core
> not a reel--a reel is used in post or on a projector--they're very different
> things) and not an edit core.  Camera cores are 2 inches in diameter, edit
> cores are 3 inches.
>
> One of the previous posts also seemed to be referring to loading the
> 200-foot mag.  There are several big issues with the 200-footers that mean
> you should stick with the 400-foot ones on your first time out.  One of
> these is the need to cut your roll down to 150-160 feet (in total darkness)
> so it will work in the 200-footer.  But save that for later: get good at
> loading and shooting with the big mags and then try working with the small
> ones if you want to.
>
> So, from the top, here's how I load up:
>
> I lay out the mag and the can of film inside the changing bag and zip it
> closed.  I open the can (I've already pulled the tape seal off before I put
> it in the bag) and remove the film from the light-tight plastic bag.  I
> place the full roll of film on the feed spindle the right way around, so the
> film feeds correctly (see the tutorial).  I feed the tongue through the
> upper drive sprockets (doing the press-the-button-and-turn thing with the
> drive roller) until the tongue protrudes past the little door at the top of
> the mag.  Then I hold the drive roller release button down and pull several
> feet of film out.  When I've done that, I put the lid on the mag and close
> it, open up the changing bag enough to pull out the tongue (most often I
> actually just pull it out through one of the sleeves of the changing bag)
> and then I trim the leading edge of the tongue so it'll pass neatly through
> the channel.  Then I go back inside the changing bag, close it up and finish
> loading.
>
> With the changing bag closed again, I remove the lid from the mag.  I turn
> the tongue back toward the pressure plate and carefully feed it into the
> channel.  (See tutorial pics again) On some mags, I push gently on the
> camera left side of the pressure plate to keep the film from binding as it
> passes into the channel.  I slide the film along the channel, pushing
> slightly to the camera right side as I do--that helps it to ease into the
> channel and not jam.  When I get to the end of the channel, I push in the
> little pin (see tutorial) and slide the tongue through and out the bottom
> (takeup) side. (Here is where I check the size of my top loop.)  Then I turn
> the film around and engage it with the bottom drive roller sprockets doing
> the push-the-button-and-turn action again until the tongue emerges into the
> mag chamber.  I slip the end into the slot in the takeup core (I never use
> tape of any sort inside the mag) and turn the core until I get at least two
> full wraps of film on the core.  I check the size of my bottom loop now.
>  Then I close up the two little doors at either end of the pressure plate
> and replace and lock the lid of the mag.  I remove the loaded mag and tape
> up the lid.
>
> This is the basic process.  As you get this down cold, you will also want
> to make sure the loops look like they do in the tutorial pictures and you'll
> want to remember to slide the film in the pressure plate very gently unti
> the little pin (the one you had to push in at the bottom of the pressure
> plate earlier) pops into one of the perfs.  This will make sure that the
> perfs are aligned with the pulldown claw when you load the mag onto the
> camera.
>
> Let us know when you've got the mag loading procedure mastered (in the
> dark) and then we'll move on to loading it onto the camera.  It's less
> tricky than loading the mag but there are some quirks you want to know
> about.
>
> Terry Byrne
>
>
>
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