I surrendered my traditional darkroom in favor of a changing bag when I
switched to digital printing. In fact, I offered the room to my wife as
an office/workshop (she makes jewelry) to help prevent being scolded
about my acquistion of an expensive Epson scanner and printer and the
inks that go with it. (These inks are the only liquid I know of that are
more expensive than single malt scotch and premium grade gasoline).
This was not a good decision. It is impossible to make any room of my
house dark enough for bag-free tank loading during daylight hours. I
can either wait untl nighttime (which is awkward at times) or use the
bag -- and with Paterson equipment this is a "reel" challenge. Eight
times out of ten everything's fine but then -- for no apparent reason --
there's that really stubborn roll (usually TMAX) that refuses to
cooperate; curling, binding, falling off the reel. Not only does a
changing bag restrict one's increasingly aggravated movements, it also
lets in LOTS of light during the thrashing. I lost half a roll of 120 a
few weeks ago through changing bag light leakage as I struggled to load
a Paterson reel repeatedly. I had travelled 300 miles to take the
photos. Arrrghhh!
"Tanks" to the advice given here today, I've just ordered a couple of
Hewes reels and a tank from Adorama. I appreciate the shared wisdom.
Craig Washington, DC
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