Shortening Factory Film

[1750Shooter]

OK, I know it sounds weird, but I do a lot of 15-18 shot things & I hate to toss the rest of a roll of color away. Sooooo, I thought, why not cut a 36 exposure roll in half (in a dark bag, of course) & respool it to get 2x16 rolls. Almost sounds too easy. Can anyone see why it wouldn't work or any problems? Thanks for any input. If I decide to try I'll post my results.

 

[filmtwit]

You won't have the same head and tail leader you'd have from 2 actual 16 frame shots. So cutting a 36 frame piece of film will probably yield something closer to 12-14 frames per roll when you a 36 frame roll in half.

 

[Terry Christian]

Why not simply buy a 100-foot bulk roll of your favorite film and roll your own canisters instead? You can make them as short as you like.

 

[1750Shooter]

I'd love to roll my own, but Ektar is not available in bulk & talking to both B&H & Freestyle left me understanding that there is almost no new color bulk available!

 

[dispake]

Nothing wrong with doing that but like FilmTwit mentioned, you'll be wasting some frames.

 

[Rob-F]

A 36 exposure roll yields about 37 to 38 frames. It takes maybe 4 frames to advance to "0" which is generally usable as the first frame. OK maybe 5. And one or two at the tail. So if it takes about 7 frames for leader and tail, that leaves 30 frames, or 15 per roll. It will take some carefully calculated cutting to split it evenly, though!

Another idea is to cut one a little longer: maybe 18 or 20 shots, and leave a short roll for tests and smaller jobs. Better than wasting it.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Let's look at the math:

The typical 36 exposure roll gives 37 frames plus 7 wasted. So it's 43-44 frames.

Cut it in half = 2 x 22 frames.

7 wasted in each half. That's two fifteen frame short rolls. Interesting idea.

Does it matter if you are not doing your own development?