Film fogging in 220 Mamiya backs.

roybatty · 03-22-2005, 08:19 AM

I'm about to head off for a photo holiday in India and I'll be including an RB67 Pro S with a 220 back.

I've never used the 220 before, it's always been 120.

The question I'd like to ask is; has anyone had experience with 220 roll film in the field?; is it more sensitive to light than the 120 packed rolls, with reference to loading it in sometimes unavoidably bright conditions.

Also I'll be taking all my film out of the packaging for hand inspection through the X Ray machine, is the 220 going to fog out by being occassionaly exposed to whatever lighting exists in the airport.

Greatly appreciate any advice, tips or anecdotes.

Cheers

Tom Duffy · 03-22-2005, 10:18 AM

As long as the back is good, i.e., lightproof the 220 should be fine. Paper backing on 120 is just wasted space and bulk. 220 film is also held flatter in magazine, which should result in sharper pictures at large fstops.

Do a test of your magazine in bright sunlight before you trust it. I had a 220 back for an RZ that often gave me trouble. It wasn't the films problem, it was the back.
Take care,
Tom

Woolliscroft · 03-22-2005, 11:22 AM

I used a Mamiya RB67 with 220 backs for years for field and air photography with no trouble. I now use a Pentax 67II, also without trouble. I am always surprised by how few people seem to use 220, or even know it exists. I much prefer it when I am taking a lot of pictures.

David.

David Henderson · 03-23-2005, 01:13 PM

220 film is known to be more susceptible to edge fogging and my own experience supports this. It is not specifically an issue with the backs
(though a leaky back is a leaky back, period). It is a film issue. You need to be careful that loading and unloading are done in subdued light- though inevitably I find that sometimes the deepest shade I can find is that cast by me and thats ok providing you really do keep the film in the shade at all stages till the back is closed up. It will also help to give the tail of the roll a good tug when you remove it from the camera and before sticking down to make sure its wound really tightly. You might still get a little fogging on the edges but handled with care there should be no reason to expect it to intrude into the frame. I also return the roll into its packaging after exposure- whether this serves any purpose or not I don't know

Unlike one poster above I do think 120 is much less likely to edge-fog than 220. However a high proportion of my slide film usage is 220 - because of its convenience- and clearly if fogging was a major uncontrollable issue then I could hardly do so.

Personally I would rather put the film in the hand-baggage X ray machine than take it out of its wrapper before I want to use it. My experience in India is limited to Delhi but I had no trouble getting a (cursory) hand-inspection of rollfilm pushed back into its foil sleeves there.

roybatty · 03-28-2005, 07:17 AM

Thankyou for the advice.

I'll renew the seals before using and take your advice David to roll it tight on completion and as I'm taking about 130 rolls of various films I think I'm just going to let it run the gauntlet of the Xray machine and suck it and see.
(I had a bad experience at Singapore once with a lot of film and nearly missed my flight!)

Ancilliary question-----
I have two backs and one has a large diameter leading roller and the other a small dia. like the 120. Is it possible this is just an early and later model?

Thanks again