Bulk Loading and Me

Stephanie Brim · 05-09-2005

Pretty soon I'm going to ditch the pre-loaded film and start doing it myself and I wanted some opinions. I want at least two bulk loaders, but I'm thinking that if I always want to keep the same type of film in them that I should try to pick up four. I like to shoot in both black and white and color and most of the time I tend to shoot in either 100 or 400 ISO. Getting two loaders for each type of film would save me some time in the long run and I use the film most definitely.

So here's the thing: what films would you choose and why? I'm thinking of doing Tri-X as my 400 ISO black and white and Delta 100 as my 100 ISO black and white. Then I'm thinking of using Agfacolor Ultra 100 as my 100 ISO color and Fuji Press 400 ISO film.

Here's the thing: I want both ISO 400 films to respond well to pushing and pulling where it's needed. The color will be developed in a lab while the black and white will be most likely developed by me. I'd also like black and white films that mesh well with Diafine so that I can just use the one developer and not have to worry about having two tanks. The color films I'd like to be capable of rich color saturation. I was thinking of using Reala instead of the Agfa, but I've seen some *really* nice results with the Agfacolor Ultra. The color will most likely be used for Lomo-type photography and spur-of-the-moment shots with either my Canonet or my Argus.

Any other recommendations for film?

jdos2 · 05-09-2005

I have two different films that I keep stocked: Illford Pan f (50 speed) and Tri-x.

I develop in Diafine, giving me effective speeds of 80 and 1250, respectively. With an 8x ND filter, that 80 lets me shoot wide open with the Noctilux, and without it, I can get f/1 and 1/125 with the Tri-X inside a restaurant. Fine for what I like to do.

I only have one loader. I change films in the bag, and that's it.

Wayne R. Scott · 05-09-2005

Stephanie,

I doubt that you will follow my advise, but I think one bulk loader, one film and one developer would be a good practise until you have gained some experience with that film. Having said that, if I were to shoot four types of bulk film on a limited budget this is what I would do:

Go to the nearest one hour photo lab and ask, beg, plead for 100 to 200 empty 35mm cannisters. These will have about 1/4 inch of film left sticking out. You can tape your bulk film to this tongue and wind the film into the cassette. I would then roll out the entire 100 ft roll into 8, 12, 24 exposure rolls. Then label each of these as to film type and number of exposures. I would place these rolls into a large zip lock bag and keep in the 'frig. Then I would load my next 100 ft roll into the bulk loader, rinse, and repeat.

I do not like loading 36 exposure rolls on reels so I do not load more than 24 exposures to a roll. YMMV.

Good Luck.

Wayne

Doug · 05-09-2005

Wayne's advise is excellent, and that's what I have done as well. Run off the whole bulk roll into cassettes in one session. Then you have the loader empty for the next bulk roll, perhaps a different film. I'll quarrel with his advice in only one respect; I load to 30 exposures.

That's just for my convenience in storing the 6 strips of 5 in the Print File pages. I've also loaded some 12-15 exposures too, for other purposes.

As to which films... I'd suggest you only load from bulk when you've settled on favorite films. Not all films are available in bulk rolls, though, so there's a danger in getting to like one that isn't, hmm. While Tri-X is a real classic, in combination with Diafine it's not really a 400-speed film, as JD mentioned. I also like his suggestion of Ilford Pan F but I shoot it at EI 50 with Diafine, and Ilford FP-4 at EI 250 for a good general-purpose film. I also bulk-load Ilford XP chromogenic and shoot it at EI 250. In my view, ISO 100 and ISO 400 are rather close at being only two stops apart, but 50 (or 100) and 1250 could be a combination!

I'll guess you will find a very limited selection of color neg films available in bulk rolls.

Alan · 05-10-2005

I always wanted to bulk load film and learn how to develope them myself to gain more control and save money. Can any of you please tell me what I'll need to buy in order to do this without a dark room and with the least fund? Thank you

Justin Low · 05-10-2005

Alan, you might want to take a look here. This site has a fairly comprehensive article on film developing. It's rather friendly to read too.

To load your film into the tank without a dark room, you will need what's called a changing bag, or dark bag.

Wayne R. Scott · 05-10-2005

You will need

1. Bulk film loader. (Watson, Alden or Llyod's come to mind).

2. Scissors

3. Tape

4. Film

5. Empty 35 cassettes

6. A very dark closet or bathroom were you can see NO light after 5 minutes of being in there. this is just for putting the bulk film into the holder. Once it is loaded you can load your 35mm cassettes in the daylight.

Wayne

oftheherd · 05-10-2005

Maybe someone could comment on their own experiences to the contrary, but I usually hear advice not to try and push color film except for slides. Most seem to feel color film doesn't push well if at all. Color negative film apparently doesn't do well with under exposure.

Color negative film is at least as problamatic as to temperature control, and probably more so in toxic chemicals that must be disposed of. I haven't done it in many, many years. Well not sides or b/w for that matter, so things may be different.

Anybody?

pshinkaw · 05-10-2005

Wayne's advice is what my father gave me back in 1965 when he handed me his Kodak 35. He told me to that consistency was very important while I was starting out. That way I could identify my mistakes and learn from each one rather than have several mistakes contribute to each other. I used one film, one developer and one camera for a long time.

-Paul

peter_n · 05-10-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Low

Alan, you might want to take a look here. This site has a fairly comprehensive article on film developing. It's rather friendly to read too.

To load your film into the tank without a dark room, you will need what's called a changing bag, or dark bag.

Great link, Justin. Thanks!

Stephanie Brim · 05-10-2005

Yeah, that is a nice link.

The reason I want at least two bulk loaders is that I shoot *A LOT* of film. I just realized this a while ago when i had 12 rolls build up on me in two weeks. And these were 36 exposure rolls most of the time. Considering that I'm a big fan of low grain, I'll probably load a roll of either Tmax 100 or Delta 100 in one and a roll of Agfacolor Ultra in another so that I have both black and white and film covered. As of now, I'm shooting with slide film and black and white. I'm guessing that Tri-X and TMax will switch off in the black and white loader, but Agfacolor will be a main constant.

I've decided on, I think, two Watson loaders, about 25-30 canisters (screw-top ones gotten from an actual photo dealer), a roll of Tri-X (since I have 17 rolls of TMax left), and a roll of Agfacolor. Another thing I'm going to try and get next weekend after I get paid is a tank and some developer. Considering my choice of film, I may go ahead and invest in the Diafine and perhaps some Rodinal. I'm lucky enough to have a grandmother with a large sink in her basement and a decently long line for drying film.

A few clips, a plastic tub, and a can of air will round out what I really need all at once.

So some other questions. What fixer is best for use with Diafine? Can I use the same fixer with Rodinal?

Justin Low · 05-10-2005

Stephanie, I personally use two bulk loaders, one for a slow film, and another for a fast film. In my case, that'd most likely be 100TMAX and Tri-X.

For the fixer, whatever you have on hand should work nicely. I'm not aware of any special requirements that Diafine has. IMO, the alkaline fixers are overrated for film—they do save one a lot of time when printing though.

Stephanie Brim · 05-10-2005

Hrm. I'm looking at replacing that Rodinal in my list with a couple 5 liter packages of ID-11. I'll be shooting a lot of Tmax and some Pan-F and I want something low grain.

Justin Low · 05-10-2005

You might want to give XTOL a try.

peter_n · 05-10-2005

I get all my Neopan 100 & 400 souped in XTOL by a lab - great for low grain.