Bulk Loading

[jdos2]

UI've been taking more and more pictures as of late, so it makes complete sense for me to bulk load my film.

Or does it? Anyone else do it? It reduces my costs (from the initial $100 investment for loader, film spools, film, &c.) to about 1/2 the price of a normal roll. I got some Kodak 100 (for experimentation- I'll run some at 25 and some at 1600 to see what I get)

ANYWAY... Big waste of time, or bigtime money saver?

JD

[peter_n]

I understand it can be a big money-saver. I'm thinking about reusing used commercial canisters from my local processing lab. See the links below:

Used canisters from mini-lab for bulk rolling (http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009NOb&unified_p=1)

The Bulk Loading FAQ (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/genie/bulk.html)

[denishr]

I bulk load my B&W 35mm stuff - have done so for years, and also just bought two cans of Tmax 400 and one more can of Efke 100 :)
I don't think about savings any more - it's just more practical for me (although it *is* somewhat cheaper).
I usually load film in lenghts which suit me for the occasion - mostly 18 negs per roll, but sometimes even less. Never had any problems with cassetes/canisters, or scratching film, or light leaks.
I use plastic canisters, though - I prefer them, and the ones I have (about 6-7 canisters) I have used for years! I don't remember how many times I've loaded them. Well, today I just ordered another 40 of them :D - those should last me a lifetime :)

[vladhed]

when I was a poor university student by dad bought me a 100' roll of Tri-X and a gallon of D-76 for Xmas - so if was free shooting for about 6 months!

Seriously with bulk loaded film it's about 1/2 the price, or about 5 cents a shot.

The only reason I'm not bulk loading right now is I bought a bunch of expired T400 for 1$ a roll - but it's actually too expensive given that it costs 2.50$ a roll to process.

[Doug]

Loading your own rolls from a bulk can of film is a way to save money, but it does take some skill and care too. I'm with Denis regarding one big benefit I didn't at first consider... you can load whatever lengths you want, within reason. I found 30-exposure rolls most convenient for proofing and storage, so that's what I loaded. :-)

[jdos2]

I did last night- 6 rolls. Used the first today.

Do those that "roll their own" (*ahem*) cut the leaders to any particular shape, or do you leave 'em? I left mine, and no bad result, at least with the camera (Voigt. Prom. but that's another story)

We'll see. Sittin' in the fixer...

[Doug]

I attempted to cut them like factory film, using scissors.

[Kin Lau]

I cut mine like factory film. I have a few camera's where the take up spool needs it.

I picked up all of my bulk rollers on ebay. I've got 3 bakelite units, and one of the more "modern" ones. I like the older bakelite ones better, and only about $10- each.

[jdos2]

I paid $25 for my bakelite one.

No scratches, by the by.

[denishr]

As for bulk loader prices, I bought mine new, in Croatia - made by Kaiser from Germany.

Current retail price is < $50 (plus VAT tax) here in Croatia - and Croatian prices are on the high side - so it should be cheaper in the USA.
I can only recommend it. Wonderfully simple and reliable to use, made of hard, durable plastic, with (remaining) film length indicator, frame counter, etc...
Never regretted buying it (unlike some other gear I bought over the years).

[Peter]

I am interested in bulk loading after considering the amount of money saved. How many rolls of 36 exposures could a 100' film produce?

[peter_n]

Anybody know anything about the AP loader?

AP bulk loader 1 (http://www.camerastore.com/dl_cat_A/-A04_bulkfilm.html)

AP bulk loader 2 (http://www.colorfotoshop.com/index.php?catalogo=1&categoria_id=10&produto_id=1407&indice=34&oldlimit=10)

[jdos2]

Originally posted by Peter
I am interested in bulk loading after considering the amount of money saved. How many rolls of 36 exposures could a 100' film produce?

About 20, and in the re-usable cassettes.

I fired off a couple ROLLS last night- it's amazing how it's freed me to take more pictures!

Now I gotta find the stuff for cheaper.

I DO have a roll of Pan F coming. Anyone else going to slower films these days for that great 3-D look?

:-)

[peter_n]

I DO have a roll of Pan F coming. Anyone else going to slower films these days for that great 3-D look?

Yep, I've got 4 rolls of Efke KB50 here waiting to be used... :)

[jdos2]

I've never tried EFKE. I'm looking forward to the chance!
I'm 'sperimentin', to figure out how to pull Kodak T-Max down to ASA 25 (or even 12!)

[pshinkaw]

Peter:

I think the AP Loader is the same as this one from Jessops:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15225&item=3843195897&rd=1

Back in the 70's it was sold under the "Telesar" label in the US.

I have never used one. I'm only familiar with the Western/Watson/Alden loader and the Bakelite Lloyds loader.

-Paul

[jdos2]

That's a HANDSOME loader. Only 5 quid, too.

Hmmm.

Almost worth a trip over there to pick it up (we have directly flights from Cleveland)

[peter_n]

:D JD.

Ta, Paul. It looks like a nice loader, but it would be good to hear from someone who's used one.

I may poke around in some other forums tonight. :)

[Kin Lau]

For the 2 Peter's,
My "Bakelite" roller is basically the older version of the "AP". Mine doesn't have an indicator for how much of a roll is left, or a click counter, but it works great.

I also have a "Watson", but the silly thing keeps popping open on me, so I've almost given up on it.

You should be able to get about 20/21 rolls of 36 out of one 100' roll.

[Stu :)]

Right I own two of those AP loaders.
Can't complain, they work and the 'Film Remaining' scale is great. @ 10m Left, I reorder new bulk roll.
I've used them for Velvia, FP4+ and now Neopan 400.
I've also been tempted to buy a bulk roll of Kodak HIE InfraRed, but common sense keeps coming up with all these horrible ideas on what would go wrong.

Also a neat trick for those who don't own a darkroom at home. If the place/store you buy your bulk roll of film from has film processing on site and friendly enough, ask them to load the film into your loader for you and cut out the risk of fogging a whole 100' of your favourite silver.

Neat Trick #2
Avoid the cheap plastic reloadible film cans. A) They are not very light tight and B) I've discovered to my horror that they pop open inside my Bessa R!

Neat Trick #3
Replace the Reloadible film cans everytime you buy a new bulk roll. There is only a certain amount of use you can get out of them and I'd rather not push it. Plus the reloadible cans are cheap, you're already saving a whole lot of $$$, so why risk losing your lovenly perfectly exposed and composed latent images?

Stu :)

[peter_n]

hey Kin & Stu thanks for the info! Good to hear from users... :)

[denishr]

My Kaiser bulk loader is exactly the same as the "Jessops" brand from Peter's link. I guess the one shown on auction is a Kaiser rebranded by Jessops.
Anyway, the loader works just great.

[hoppinghippos]

don't use reloadable cannisters, you don't know if they're still light tight after several uses and they're a devil to insert the film into the gap, plus most imptly, you don't know when the cloth at the gap is dirty and your film is scratched. if you use it over and over again, its inevitable it'll get dirty. simply go to your neighbourhood lab, smile a lot and ask nicely for discarded cannisters! plus these cannisters are already DX coded (if your camera reads DX)

[jdos2]

Does popping open the cans from the lab bend them so they can't be made light tight? The cans I buy are fairly easy to take apart- the metal ones "pop," the plastic ones unscrew a bit, and then come apart (and I think that's the more secure way).

[denishr]

I've always used plastic canisters - I tried metal ones, but didn't like them - too insecure for me - i.e. I was never sure whether the cap is tight enough.
As I said, never had any problems with plastic ones - and those 6 or 7 I had previously got reloaded more times than I can remember (dozens of times each,at least!). No scratches, no problems whatsoever. Much easier to load and handle than metal (USED!) ones. I must stress that I tried metal used cans - not the ones designed for reloading, but ordinary color film metal cans, which I opened using bottle opener :)
I understand that you can buy metal canisters designed for reloading, though I never tried those.
You can use discarded metal ones from the photo-labs without opening them by simply joining the bulk film to the remaining piece of original film still protruding from the container, using sticky tape, as described on many Web sites on bulk loading.

[pshinkaw]

If you need DX coding, you can buy DX coded stick on labels. Porters has them, probably other places too.

Most 1-hour photo labs do not pop open their cassettes. They fish out the leader and pull the film out. If you get used cassettes from them, they will not have been pried open.

Non-Kodak cassettes are easier to open without damage.

-Paul

[denishr]

Originally posted by pshinkaw
If you need DX coding, you can buy DX coded stick on labels. Porters has them, probably other places too.

-Paul

DX coding? WHo needs friggin' DX coding in a rangefinder camera?!!
:D

Seriously, though, I don't think it should be too difficult to print your own DX coded labels - there are several sites that describe the codes. A bit of playing around in a vector drawing program, and you can make your own....
Yesterday I did my labels for the new canisters I got - no DX codes, though. Don't need those steenkin' DX codes :)

[jdos2]

Hmmm. A little aluminum foil, a little duct (sorry, "duck") tape, and there ya go!

[peter_n]

OK it looks like the loader that goes under the various names Kaiser, Jessops, AP, "Bakelite" etc is basically the same thing with different badges on it. I did a bit of research and this is the cheapest one I could find - $39.99:

Arista 35mm Bulk Film Loader (http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=701&pid=5573)

Also I was reading a thread on photo.net last week and a number of former "bulkers" had gone back to buying film in cassettes because they claimed that the savings weren't enough to make up for the hassle of bulk loading.

The one situation where everyone agreed that bulk loading made sense was if you used short rolls for any reason - testing or whatever, say 12-18 exposures/roll. In that situation it's worth it.

[jdos2]

Well...
If I buy film at a buck for 36 shots, put it in a re-usable 50 cent container, and develop it myself...

So far, it's been worth it.

But I can understand someone thinking it not. It's not THAT much a pain, though, to save some $?

[peter_n]

I guess people have problems bulk loading. Personally I'm attracted to it and may well end up doing it...