Soft or Hard Flange does it matter?

[Askerbhad]

Hi all,

Technical question on film.

We still sell a fair amount of film here, I would like to know if it matters to an originator if the film has a soft or a hard flange.

Can film with a soft flange be used in any imagesetter?

Does the Flange bear any relevance to blocking out light?

Thanks

 

[Askerbhad]

Sorry I also need to know what is the difference between HN Soft Flange Film and HN Hard Flange Film. thanks

 

[VladCanada]

From my practice hard flanges had 60m rolls (mostly Kodak and Fuji). AGFA preferd soft flanges on 75meters rolls. Soft flanges were as reliable as hard ones for light leak prevention, but in case of full roll, just opened from box. Soft flanges rolls are Daylight Load as well.
One only negative moment I know - some difficulties to unwind the film back into the cassette when half of roll was spent. Soft Flanges became "not flat" and created media problem errorrs.

 

[Askerbhad]

Thank you for your assistance with this - anyone else with anything to say on the matter is welcome to comment as well so that we get the clearest possible picture.

 

[Askerbhad]

Sorry to keep asking, but what is the actual purpose of the flange?

 

[BillJ]

As Vlad said, it was for daylight loading. The hard flanges usually are a different diameter and fit on different spindles from soft flanges. As to your other question, HN film would be the same on either flange but may be wound in the opposite direction depending on the imagesetter.

 

[Askerbhad]

On larger image setters which do not have a spindle, do the hard flanges act as Media Guides and to keep the film off the bottom of the imagesetter?

 

[VladCanada]

YES for capstan models.
Internal/external drum imagesetters have Supply cassettes with their own adjustable-to-fix flanges, often called journals.