December 9, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,

Lately I've been working on a backlog of
about two hundred rolls of 120 format black
and white film. At first I was doing them in
ten roll batches, then I switched to twenty
rolls at a time.

I use the Jobo 1501 plastic reels, which hold
two rolls of 120 film each. The film is
'walked' into the reel from its outer edge.

In the course of loading ten or twenty rolls,
it has always been possible for a snag to
occur, making it difficult to finish loading
a reel, or forcing me to remove the roll and
start again.

Many people advise snipping the 'leading'
corners of the roll before inserting it into
the reel. I've always resisted this because
it slows me down too much. Aiming the nail
clippers at the tiny corner tips in the dark
is just too slow. Of course, snagged film
slows one down far more.

But -- I've made the first change in my
technique in years. Instead of snipping the
corners so they can't snag on the reel's
ribs, I tried folding the corners up. It
works like a charm. In eighty rolls so far,
not a single snag. I can load twenty rolls in
forty minutes.

The fold I make is the smallest my fingers
can manage. The folded-up tip of each corner
must not be so large that it binds against
the 'top' of the groove. It has to enter the
gate at the entrance to the reel without too
much resistance. Basically, I found if I just
fold up the smallest amount of film I can,
it's fine.

regards,
--le