How to Load 65mm and 70mm Film in Cut Film Holders

We show you how to load 65mm and 70mm film into inexpensive panoramic cut film holders for use with large format and Mercury Stereo cameras.
For loading 65mm and 70mm film in standard cassettes, see • How to Load 65mm and 7...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to panoramic cut film holders
02:42 How to cut your film
07:26 Loading
09:01 Shooting and developing
10:46 Plastic vs. Graflok holders
12:06 Suggestions for cut film holder use
65mm and 70mm cut film holders and cutting guides can be purchased here: mercuryworks.store/collection...
65mm and 70mm film can be purchased here: mercuryworks.store/collection...

[@andyvan5692]

one point, to do a 6x9/6x12 shot, it is far easier using 120 rolls as this has backing paper, and a sealing strip, so can be handled in subdued light, without all the darkroom stuff, just a 'holster' or pouch for the rolls, and a bin for the paper waste.

[@mercurycamera]

The point of this video is that there are many advantages to shooting panoramic film in a cut film holder instead of a 120 6x12 back: a vastly lower cost, less bulk on the camera, less weight, the ability to carry multiple types of film with you and choose which to shoot for any given shot, and the ability to directly shoot 65mm and 70mm film. Another not mentioned is that your shot will be wider than most 6x12 120 backs. So while I assume that anyone watching this video already knows that 6x12 120 backs exist, they probably do not know that it is possible to do what is shown here, or the many advantages over 120 covered in the video.

[@jonathanfraser1489]

Great products for starting out in 65mm and 70mm film, especially the film notching part of the template! Would be interested in a video on how to develop these cut film negatives. Cant fully picture how the loading onto a converted paterson reel would work. Wont it cause stacking/bunching of the negatives or could you just slide the negatives with a finger to space them out? For two or four frames, maybe a modified insert for the SP445 tanks would work?

[@mercurycamera]

Great question! In 65mm reels (Paterson or Jobo 2500 are the two types we make) you can separate the film strips by inserting a wire bent against the reel, to prevent the film from slipping along the groove and overlapping (or of course you can just load a single strip in each reel). You can also develop them in Jobo Expert drums as sheets (this is how we do it). The easiest for most folks, though, is to tray develop them like large format sheets. That costs almost nothing, but needs to be done in the dark. Your idea of a modified SP445 insert is a great one! That would probably be very easy to do. We may look into that.

[@jonathanfraser1489]

@@mercurycamera thanks for the developing info, ill look into ordering some suppliers from mercuryworks to get started on shooting and developing cut film. So excited by the innovation and documentation, especially the 3D printed and reversible mods! Thanks so much!