Whatever works for you is the answer. Spend years in the darkroom and make up your own mind as to what YOU like to use and what system you find preferable. This is not a one-size-fits-all world or else there would only be one camera sold and one lens and one type of film and one type of memory disk. It is a VERY big universe.
Here are some very idiosyncratic personal observations:a) Plastic reels and tanks do have advantages -- most folks my age, after all, started out with Yankee tanks and reels, and I still have my original from 1962. I believe Freestyle still stocks them: at least they did, a few years back.
b) Plastic reels do not dry rapidly. Paterson reels have those nasty metal balls which cannot be dried but which must sit for a day or more to air-dry. Thus, if you have a LOT of film to process, Paterson may not be your best bet.
c) As with anything else, buy cheap, get cheap. Cheap metal reels are an invitation to frustration and ruination. They bend and get out of true. The virtue of Hewes reels is their strength. You CAN bounce them on the floor and they just keep on keepin' on, with no distortion. And the cheap metal reels do not load as readily as do Hewes reels. Hewes 35mm reels have a positive lock where the film is anchored by two of its sprocket holes to the reel. Hard to bollox loading one of these! (I have Hewes 220, 120, 127, and 35mm reels, and a few submini sizes as well.)
d) Paterson may be slightly cheaper than Hewes reels and a Kindermann tank but not by much, a matter of pennies and pimples. Paterson used to be much cheaper, as did Hewes reels, but those days are gone.
e) Metal tanks allow better temperature control. This is not signifcant, perhaps, in schwarz-weisse developing but is of more import with C-41 and E-6 processing and is vital for those of us doing K-14 at home. <he grins: I do have the instruction for K-8 somewhere or other, and you do NOT want to go there!)
Just idle thoughts, to stir the pot on a quiet Saturday when the 105 deg F (40 deg French Revolutionary Scale) outside temperatures keep me firmly glued to the AirCon.
Marc msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir! --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
