Film retriever v film cannister opener (and changing bag Q)

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stellarbeam

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Jessica
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I'm in the process of buying everything I need to dev my own film at home and am undecided on wether to get a film retriever (one of those thingys that you slide in and yank out) or one of those "bottle opener" type things. At college the tutor always moaned that the film retrievers didn't always work (but then not much in the college did :LOL:). I really don't want to use the opener type things as I'll end up with film all over the place.

What have been your experience of both. Which would you suggest?

Also - Changing bags - Anyone with really miniature wrists have trouble with light getting in? They look ok if you are regular bloke sized. I however am not. I think my wrist circumference is about 6".
 
I have processed 1000's of rolls of film and we used to just pop the ends off, slide the film out and then load onto the spiral. The film retrievers did work but were a pain and only used to extract the leader. The problem then with pulling th efilm out was the possibility of scratching it
 
the retriever is ok if you want to do clip tests, but not a great option for a complete process, its a fiddly option for one.. then once you have pulled the whole film out that you can, when you rip the end off there is a chance you'll cut the last frame too.. its VERY easy to just lop the top off and remove the roll to start with..

If you wear a jumper and make sure the sleves are inside the holes then you should be ok, then just make sure you keep your bag low to the table.. it should be fine..
 
Film retriever. Neater and easier for me.
If you have small wrists try putting 'extra' elastic bands over the outside of the sleves.
 
Both the jumper and elastic bands sound like good ideas.

Think I might opt for the bottle opener type.
 
I had mixed success with a retriever. Sometimes it worked okay, sometimes it took forever to get a grip, sometimes it scratched the film :(
 
Once I understood how to use the Ilford film retriever properly, it worked every time. It was far easier to do this in daylaight, prepare the end of the film and then load into tanks in a changing bag. I never once suffered a scratched film.
 
Squeeze the sides and pop the end off (some brands are easier than others) but then I used to process a thousand plus rolls a day and didn't have to fiddle around in a changing bag.
 
how about not winding the film all the way back in
my EOS3 as a custom setting to leave the lead out no need for any tools
now if manual wind back stick it to your ear and wait for the click as the film pops of the winder
 
I shouldn't worry about the changing bag. I'm also built like a girl and I don't have any problems with the dark escaping from the changing bag. I do use a rather large one and the elastic cuffs are normally up to me armpits though.
 
I have an ilford ones thats not used (thinking of getting rid of all my film stuff, don't want to start a war here, just don't have the space for a darkroom anymore) PM your address and I'll chuck it in the post for you. Wayne
 
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