Firstcall Developing Tank, Lasagna Reel

Any new student to photographic darkroom will tell you the most difficult (and terrifying) task that they first had to master was the loading of an exposed roll of film onto a developing reel before processing in a developing tank (in complete darkness).

Some people never really complete this arduous chore and so we were extremely impressed when we came across a new gadget that takes the mystery out of film spiral loading.

Technically, it's called a film apron and was first invented 60 years ago but we call it a 'Lasagna Reel' and once you've tried it you will never go back!

Essentially it's a plastic sheath that you insert the leader of the film into at the bottom and then roll the film to form a coil finishing with the Lasagna Reel's taper inserted into itself to make the ball complete. The space age plastic that the reel is made of is impervious to the chemicals involved in darkroom developing so the Lasagna Reel never gets brittle over time.

You can use it in all plastic tanks like Paterson, Jobo or AP and even stainless steel tanks too. We recommend you use it in single 35mm versions rather than universal (2 reel) versions as there would be no separator. Designed to have the correct depth in its 'ripples' to have just enough space for the chemicals to properly interact with the film, agitation is easy giving no adhesion or blemish problems.

We think it's just perfect beginners being extremely easy to use, very durable, dependable, and yield consistent results every time.