Kodak Medalist II!!

[campy51]

I have 620 take up spools, I only modify the film roll.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I have 620 take up spools, I only modify the film roll.

That's the way I did it too. I still had a much harder time turning my advance knob than when I use 620 spools in both chambers. I even sanded/filed down my 120 spool ends and it was still tight(and messy). It's so much easier and cleaner for me to just respool. Besides, I have plenty of 620 spools on hand. Now with Shanghai GP3 coming in 620 we'll see morew 620 spools free up.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Do watch for the current manufacture 620 spools, though -- both the ones from Shanghai and those FPP and B&H "pre-spooled" 620 come on. I've read that they're plastic, which means they need to have a thicker core (which could affect turns-counting frame counters) and the thin end flanges may have light transmission issues. If you have the option, my own preference would be for metal 620 spools for respooling or for takeup from a trimmed 120 supply. They're expensive these days (around ten bucks each on eBay, last I checked) but they last about forever if you take a little care with them.

 

[abruzzi]

there are chinese made new metal 620 spools available on ebay that are a bit cheaper than $10 each. I bought a bunch of them for my Adapt-a-Roll 620 roll film adapters for 4x5.

Metal Empty 620 Take-Up Roll Film Spool For Kodak Medalist Tourist Agfa Camera | eBay

Then save them in a cool dry place.

www.ebay.com

 

[Donald Qualls]

Nice! One for ten bucks, but four for only $15 ("free" shipping is the cause, obviously). I've put those on my watch list, I'll get a batch or two when I get paid.

 

[choiliefan]

Back when I was using the Medalist regularly, I'd chuck the 120 rolls in the lathe and turn the ends down flush with the paper backing. Never experienced edge fogging but worked and loaded film into the camera in subdued light.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Nice! One for ten bucks, but four for only $15 ("free" shipping is the cause, obviously). I've put those on my watch list, I'll get a batch or two when I get paid.

Yes, that sounds pretty good. Not super cheap, but like you say, metal should last near forever.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Back when I was using the Medalist regularly, I'd chuck the 120 rolls in the lathe and turn the ends down flush with the paper backing. Never experienced edge fogging but worked and loaded film into the camera in subdued light.

Not everyone has a lathe. I do, but still would rather respool. I'm old and retired with time to kill so respooling isn't a big problem for me.

 

[campy51]

I don't have a darkroom so I used the changing bag and felt it was sucking in the dust onto the film when respooling which is why I modified the roll.

 

[BrianShaw]

I don't have a darkroom so I used the changing bag and felt it was sucking in the dust onto the film when respooling which is why I modified the roll.

I respool only in changing bags on regular basis. Never had an issue with dust. Sometimes sweat… but not dust.

The other “hacks” routinely failed in my experience for reasons previously discussed.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I respool only in changing bags on regular basis. Never had an issue with dust. Sometimes sweat… but not dust.

The other “hacks” routinely failed in my experience for reasons previously discussed.

Brian,
I came to that same conclusion. I never had a dust problem with either a darkroom or the changing bag. When I respool my take-up spool and feed spool are so close together that only a half inch or so of film is exposed to the elements and that's just for a split second. If I get a chance I'll post a little video of how I do it. Simple and fast. JohnW

 

[grat]

I've deliberately avoided 620 cameras because I've always heard that respooling 120 -> 620 is a pain, because of the untaped end.

How difficult is it really, and how do you manage the untaped bit?

 

[MattKing]

I've deliberately avoided 620 cameras because I've always heard that respooling 120 -> 620 is a pain, because of the untaped end.

How difficult is it really, and how do you manage the untaped bit?

It isn't that difficult.
I wind the roll through to the end in a 120 camera - my Mamiya C330 usually - and then depend on the existing curl to assist in winding it back on to a 620 spool - massaging the film to avoid the bump.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I've deliberately avoided 620 cameras because I've always heard that respooling 120 -> 620 is a pain, because of the untaped end.

How difficult is it really, and how do you manage the untaped bit?

I wind the fresh roll onto another 120 spool using either a camera as Matt suggests or just by hand in a darkroom or changing bag. I then take the 620 spool and start the tang-leader from the finished 120 roll-spool into the 620 spool while the lights are on. Once I have rolled the 620 spool a couple of revolutions I then turn out the lights. Holding the take-up spool(620) in my left hand and the 120 feed-spool in my right I start winding onto the 620 spool while keeping the two spools touching, lined up as close as possible and tensioned. When I feel the un-taped end of the film come up I wind a half turn or so more. Then I put my right finger between the loose end of film, back-wrap it so it starts onto the 620 spool. I then continue to roll on until I feel the taped end through the backing paper. After I feel the tape joint I insert my finger between the film and backing paper and slowly/carefully separate the backing paper from the film by starting at one side of the tape joint. Keep it separated I roll on while pressing my two thumbs on the backing paper. Once I roll past the tape joint I massage it until it's sealed and repositioned. You then roll all the rest of the backing paper onto the 620 spool. It takes much, much longer to explain than to do it for real. It pays to take a practice roll and do this several time until you can do it in your sleep. Or at least in the dark anyway. I have never had a problem doing it this way and until someway better comes along I will continue to use this method. JohnW

 

[grat]

Fair enough. Thanks!

Of course, it's one less reason to not buy a Medalist.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

If you transfer the film first off the 120 spool and onto a 620 spool, then wind it back onto a second 620 spool, you won't have any film bump to deal with due to the difference in core diameter.

 

[BrianShaw]

If you transfer the film first off the 120 spool and onto a 620 spool, then wind it back onto a second 620 spool, you won't have any film bump to deal with due to the difference in core diameter.

Eight times out of 10 I respool exactly as JohnW described. (Although I rarely need to reposition the tape.) Apparently John and I independently discovered the “keeping spools close and tight” technique.

But I’ll readily verify that using a 620 spool as intermediary makes the process even a bit more foolproof.

 

[John Wiegerink]

If you transfer the film first off the 120 spool and onto a 620 spool, then wind it back onto a second 620 spool, you won't have any film bump to deal with due to the difference in core diameter.

I'll be a S.O.B! I never even thought about using a 620 spool. Simply because I had no idea it would make things faster and easier yet. You better believe I'll be trying it tomorrow. Thanks for the great tip. JohnW

 

[MattKing]

I don't use the intermediate 620 spool, because I like the "straight film path with no potential problems in the C330" results I get using the C330 - one less problem area.
But I certainly don't disagree with those who use the intermediate 620.

 

[campy51]

On my Medalist II when I press the shutter release I get 2 clicks. The first one doesn't seem to do anything but the second click fires the shutter. Is this normal?

 

[John Wiegerink]

On my Medalist II when I press the shutter release I get 2 clicks. The first one doesn't seem to do anything but the second click fires the shutter. Is this normal?

I think your Medalist II's timing is just a little off. The first click you hear is the wind-on release, which frees the lock of the wind stop, so you can advance onto the next frame. You already know what the second click is. If anything, those two clicks should be as close to simultaneous as possible. I would much rather have the film-wind-on release click happen after the shutter click than before. Reason is that there is tension on the film, which might help with film flatness, and the click you hear would release that tension before exposure. Might be a slight problem and then again it might not. You can adjust to put it back in sync. JohnW

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Ok... although I had no real good justification for it, I couldn't resist at the price and got a Chevron after all. Should be arriving by the end of the week.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Ok... although I had no real good justification for it, I couldn't resist at the price and got a Chevron after all. Should be arriving by the end of the week.

The Chevron is really a kick of a camera. A bit like an adult toy... well, no, not that kind of adult toy but something playful but made at a high level. And the lens is very nice, very classic mid-century look. You should enjoy it.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The Chevron is really a kick of a camera. A bit like an adult toy... well, no, not that kind of adult toy but something playful but made at a high level. And the lens is very nice, very classic mid-century look. You should enjoy it.

I used it a bit this weekend. I think it will be fun, once I get the 620 spools for the takeup. I tried using a trimmed-down 120 spool for the takeup and it made it about halfway through the roll before the plastic core on the 120 spool stripped and the film advance spins freely without advancing the film. It is a bit Rube Goldberg-esque with all the different levers you have to actuate to take a photo and advance the film, but the sequence is not hard to remember. The trick is remembering if you advanced the film or not after each frame since there's no multi-exposure lock-out. Not a big deal when taking photos in rapid succession, but if you put the camera down for 15 minutes or more, I suspect there will be times you have blank frames on the roll until you're used to it, out of an abundance of caution.

 

[Donald Qualls]

The trick is remembering if you advanced the film or not after each frame since there's no multi-exposure lock-out. Not a big deal when taking photos in rapid succession, but if you put the camera down for 15 minutes or more, I suspect there will be times you have blank frames on the roll until you're used to it, out of an abundance of caution.

I got into the habit, with or without double exposure locks, of advancing immediately after exposing. About half a century ago. I've had blank frames, but not from advancing when I didn't need to (hint: an RB67 dark slide interlock doesn't work with Graflex roll film backs, and lens caps on RF and VF cameras will cause gross underexposure).