Bulk Loading

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PollitowuzHere

street shooter
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Simply put, what is there to know about bulk loading?
Which loader is the best?
Also, is it worth to buy the reloadable cassettes or what other options are there?
Thanks!
 
Yes, and Lloyd

Yes, and Lloyd

Yes, the reloadable cassettes are the best (=only) way to go. Once in a great while I can rescue a factory-loaded cassette (Efke) but usually they are crimped shut at the factory & you destroy them to get the film out. The all-metal ones (look like factory-type) are usually available "anywhere." I prefer the plastic kind, where the end-cap goes on-off with a quarter-turn (bayonet-style). They almost never pop off by accident, but the metal kind? well, I've searched through my pockets for the end-cap at least twice, holding my hand over the open end of the cassette. Not a happy moment.

The best of loader is the simplest - Lloyd's. Freestyle has them in stock, with their own brand on them - newly made. I see the old Lloyd-branded ones on eBay occasionally.

I use the Lloyd in room light - works fine, you don't have to go into the dark like some people do with the Watson or Alden "high-end" types. I have both, and Lloyd-style is better, easier AND cheaper. Freestyle & Ultrafine both have another kind, rectangular-boxy, with lots of features. Looks nice, but Lloyd has 5 parts, total: chamber, lid, screwcap, door, crank. You cound crank turns.
 
Yes, and Watson. The Watson seems, to me, the easier and more convenient loader, since it has a built-in frame counter. There are pitfalls, though. The cassettes are harder to find than in days of old, and there's one brand of metal cassettes that pop apart if you look at 'em crossways. B&H sells a cassette under the GENERAL name, and those work better. Plastic cassettes? I think they attract dust and they aren't all that sturdy, either.

The truth is, I load my own out of nostalgia more than anything else. It's cheaper, but not THAT much cheaper. But it reminds me of my starving artist days, feels terribly authentic...and I'm saving 48¢ a roll! That's right, spending thousands on Leicas and lenses and gadgets and gizmos, and being thrilled at saving 48¢ a roll. Laughable, but what the hell.
 
I've always used Watson loaders and find that I like the Kalt brand cassettes best...and the newer ones have DX coding...well, 100 & 400 asa...
 
Or is it possible to DX encode the cassettes? Asking because I'm curious about getting a Yashica T2-T3, and I know that it takes the ISO from the DX code, not sure if you can manually change the ISO.
 
PollitowuzHere said:
Or is it possible to DX encode the cassettes? Asking because I'm curious about getting a Yashica T2-T3, and I know that it takes the ISO from the DX code, not sure if you can manually change the ISO.
Click to expand...


I have seen stickers with the codes that you put on the cassettes...I'm not sure of what ASA/ISO codes they come in...
 
I've thought about bulk loading my film, but one thing concerns me. I know that you lose a few frames at the end of each roll. How many do you lose, and how much more film should you load in order to have 36 usable exposures?
 
I have a Contax G1, and I have found that I like to shoot about 25-28 per roll, so, I start my counter at 5 before "0" and end at "30", I stop shooting at "28" though, because the Contax G1 will try to use 1/2 frame at the end., I also snap off to 3 or 4 at the beginning.. Because I pre-load my exposed film in the reel before I go dark for developing. I have the Camera rewind with the "Leader-Out".. but, if you load your film 100% in the dark, 3-4 frames each side should be good., the cassettes can hold about 45 frames max. plenty for the leaders at both ends.
 
I used to buy new film cartridges for bulk loading, but now I just use film cartridges that are discarded at film developers. I attach two pieces of tape to the end of the film stub that sticks out of the film cartridge.
 
And if for example I want to bulk load slide film. Developing that means I'll have to send it out. Do I tell the developing service that I want the cassette back (if I use discarded film cartidges for example)?
 
PollitowuzHere said:
Could you tape the film to the bit of film that's left sticking out of an used film cassette?
Click to expand...

Risky. The extra thickness risks reducing the integrity of the light trap and increases the likelihood of the film coming adrift. No doubt plenty do it, and will tell you it's fine. But I wouldn't do it.

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how choose cassetes.html choosing reloadable cassettes.

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how load bulk.html -- how do I (and why should I) load 35mm bulk film?.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roughly 1/2 the rolls i shoot are bulk loaded. mainly by using Leica IXMOO brass cassettes or Nikon's reloadable cassettes. I do use "regular" cassettes too for test purposes and for cameras that do not accept the Leica/Nikon cassettes.
I use Kodak's movie stock (XX at 250-320 iso or +X rated at 100 iso). The films comes in 400 ft rolls (smallest size) and though it is a boring job to load 800-1000 ft (200 IXMOO's - takes 4-5 hours) or 65 Nikon cassettes - it does give me 4-6 weeks of shooting.
I am good at procrastinating too - there are 400 ft of EK 5231 (+X) in the darkroom at the moment that needs to be spooled up in Nikon cassettes for my "July - Nikon Rf month" project. OK, still a couple of days left of June!
 
I bulk load almost all B&W film I use. Factory loaded B&W rolls I tend to use in a few auto-DX cameras I like to use for certain reasons. I ask for empty cassettes at minilab, and also use some reloadable ones which I bought "to try".
Bulk loading normally is cheaper than factory loaded and one can load exact length of film needed.
 
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