silly 16mm question: what is needed to load 400" magazi

[jean]

lame question for sure, I can already hear the 16mm folks laughing out loud, but since i don't know I just have to ask. Until now I only shot the small reels, now I plan to use the 400" magazine for the first time and there is something that puzzles me:

Most instructions remain unclear about this, or I simply don't get it. It is mentioned sometimes that the film sits loose in the can, without spools or anything, and like this it would of course be impossible to wind it in the magazine - and you need some little thingys to secure the film in the magazines? No takeup spool either, do I need some spools, or what do I have to look for?

Probably the answer is obvious, but I'd appreciate if someone clued me in after he recovers from the laughter :oops:

[discs of tron]

400' loads are would really tight on a small "core," a round tihng that's maybe 2" in diameter. what keeps the film on the core is just that its wound so tight that the tension holds it on. unlike the daylight reels you're used to, the 400' spools have nothing to protect them from light. you have to load the mag inside of a changing bag, out of direct light. this takes practice. you should attempt to find a spool of waste film and familiarize yourself with loading the mag before you do it with expensive raw stock. different mags from different cameras present different levels of difficulty. cp16 mags are easy. all the hard stuff takes place in the camera body. but there are a lot of differet magazine designs out there, and you just have to familiarize yourself with yours. good luck.

[John_Pytlak]

16mm film is most often supplied as rolls wound on 2-inch (50mm) diameter plastic cores. Loading is done in a darkroom or changing bag.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/16mm/ ... .4.9&lc=en

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/16mm/ ... .4.5&lc=en

[Nigel]

The changing bag/tent, a can of air and some practice is all you need.

If you are talking about loading a mag for your Arri S then it is pretty easy Arri uses the "9P" form of loading as many others do. Your Feed will come off Clockwise or the shape of "9" then it will be fed back in and take up in the shape of a "P".

You should be able to find detailed instructions somewhere...If not the 16BL should load the same.

Good Luck

[jean]

Thanks so far! Yes, it's my Arri 16S that finally gets to be used with the mag. To painful to keep changing those tiny spools all the time!

OK, I got it so far. Heck, the thought of ruining 400 feet of film by doing something silly is quite intimidating, last not least the part of confessing to the crew that I screwed it up, after showing up with weird looking camera

The only thing I'm still not sure about is what the film is wound on at the take-up side? At first I thought of a spool, but then the manual explains about cores - either collapsible or standard. Comparing the mag to the pics in the Arri manual, I have two "core adaptors" sitting in the magazine, which can be taken off and expose the naked axis. I presume I'd need to shop for something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... eName=WD2V

or would these things do it?

http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de/katal ... karton.php

And I am safe to suppose that the the film in the can is safely wound on such a thing, or do I have to expect some film-spaghetti falling out of it as soon as I reach in? The changing bag came with the camera, which is very convenient, also for handling my 35mm (photography) rolls.

Thanks for your help, I'm a bit lost right now it seems. I want to shoot by trhe end of the month, so still some time to get stuff.

[Nigel]

Jean--

Go to your lab and ask for some can sets. They should give you cans/bags/cores. These will be useful for short-ending any film you have at the end of the day. Also, this will provide you with a core to put on the take-up side.

Good Luck
PM me if you need more details.

[discs of tron]

it'll be wound very tight- there shouldn't be any spaghetti problems. the core adapter in your mag is what the core goes on. (you will need a takeup core.) if you take off the core adapter, you can stick daylight spools in your mag. (why anyone would do this i don't know.) well, it would make sense on a bl, i guess, which won't take the internal load.

[John_Pytlak]

Jean--

Go to your lab and ask for some can sets. They should give you cans/bags/cores. These will be useful for short-ending any film you have at the end of the day. Also, this will provide you with a core to put on the take-up side.

Good Luck
PM me if you need more details.

Your lab might also be able to supply you with some scrap film stock to practice threading.

Kodak's perforators and spoolers use "tight wind" devices that produce very tight, evenly wound rolls. The film end is taped, and the roll is in a black bag that helps reduce the chances of accidently fogging the roll, and keeps the roll from shifting inside the can:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/suppo ... izes.shtml

[mattias]

another silly question: do you guys send the takeup core with the film to the lab? i've used arri sr's a lot and they have a takeup core with a locking machnism already in the mag, and obviously you don't send that in, but i usually take the supply core and replace it. however sometimes i've cut the film and kept the short end and had no extra core, and the lab never seemed to mind that there was no core. any input on that? if they don't need it why bother?

/matt

[Nigel]

A lot of cameras have the Perma-Core. Then you send the film without one...

Good Luck

[jean]

OK, I get it now, thanks to all for helping!