Anyone loading their own?

I've been loading my own for a few years, and don't see any reason to go back to buying by the roll.

There is definitely a money savings, contrary to many opinions. A $50 roll of Tri-X gets me more rolls at whatever length I want than that same money would in pre-rolled packages. I've only had scratches from not opening the gate on my Watson. (And those rolls work fine for testing for light leaks, super-gritty-urban-street arty crap, etc.) A key advantage if you only roll it as you need it is you always have film on hand.

A "gotcha" is the last frame and a half on each roll. With a Watson type, you lose that. Not such a big deal once you break the habit of taking pictures until the camera stops winding. Simply wind on 28 or so frames, and stop shooting at the 24th exposure. AFAIK, pretty much all the bulk loaders have a frame counter, so you can easily figure out how many clicks to get the number of frames you want.

I use both metal and plastic cassettes, but have devoted the plastic to Pan F and the metal to Tri-X. The metal have DX encoding and a durable paper label that lets me pencil in the shooting EI in case I'm planning on pushing it in development. The plastic cassettes make carrying film in my pockets through airport security a breeze. I don't find either kind better or worse in any meaningful way.
 
For the occasional short roll you can just chop a 36-exp one in half and stick it in a spare cassette.

I used to bulk load with a stick, two nails and a darkroom, but now (after a six year break) have accidentally acquired two second-hand loaders. One is Computrol (seems to be a feltless design) and the other is from LPL (felt light-trap). All other factors being equal, the feltless variety must be less of a risk I suppose ?
 
I always bulk load. I currently have 3 loaders

1. One with XP2 Super
2. Tri-X
3. Agfa Optima (color)

To those who say it's "not worth the effort"
- This is the perfect mindless "multi-tasking" thing. Last time I did up a bunch, I did it while watching a Netflix flick. The time before that, it gave me something to do in a coffee shop. It's no effort at all...

To those who say it's "not much cheaper"
- 100' of XP2 Super = 18-19 rolls of 36 exposures. I paid around $47 = $2.61 per roll

- B&H lists XP2 Super at $5.36 per roll of 36. 18 x $5.36 = $96.38

That's 104% more expensive "pre-loaded" vs. bulk.

Loaders cost like $10 used on eBay.

Plus, you always have your favorite film on hand.

I get spent cassettes, free, by the shopping bag-full from a local photo shop. I use green 35mm film splicing tape (which was surprisingly a little hard to find but one roll should last you to your grave) to tape the end of the film sticking out of the cassette to the film in the loader.

Bulk loading - the only way to go. I think I messed up one roll with a scratch probably by "winding" in the closed instead of open position.
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Bulk loading is "one of those things" - like developing your first negatives, and making your first wet print, that everone worries too much about. But like that guy crossing the troll bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "that's eeeeeasy".
 
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I've been thinking of rolling my own as well. I shoot about 2~3 rolls of 120 on weekends and 1 or 2 rolls of 35mm during the week. Is it worth it do you think?
 
I'm not crazy, therefore I roll. IMO of course.

Never had one single problem throughout thousands and thousands of feet of film.

Lately I bought 1000 feet of color film for 20$, which translates into 0.09$ the 36 exposure film or so.

Scratches are a problem with bad bulk loading. I sand the interior of my bulk loaders and if properly opened and slowly loaded into the cassettes, the film will never be scratched.
 
Another benefit of bulk loading: if you know someone that works with cine (commercials, music video, or whatever), you might score some cine film, likely free. The roll ends are generally just thrown out, as the leftover 50 feet or so is useless in motion pictures. I got 30 feet of ISO 250 Kodak colour cine film in July, & posted some shots from the Bay Area meet in Aug. (in the relevant thread). The main catch to this film is that you'll have to track down an outfit that processes cine film, as the film will ruin the chemicals that regular processors use. They will also splice your film somewhere into the thousands of feet, literally, that they're doing that day, so you'll likely lose frames from the beginning & end of your roll (though I didn't - luck, probably). Since it's cine film, there are no frame numbers.
 
I've been bulk rolling with a patterson roller for the last couple years. I have two bulk loaders so that I can have two different film speeds going at a time. I still buy colour neg/chromes when the need arises. I have never had a problem with scratching from my felt trap, and I also only use metal cassests. I've never asked the local shop for old cassests, maybe I should do that sometime. It doesn't matter how often you shoot off the rolls, cheaper is cheaper.
 
I must say yesterday's comments about scratches had me thinking twice, but I'm feeling a little more confident now. Finally loaded one of those stupid metal reels properly yesterday. Been using the easy "self loading" reels. Now I can use a smaller tank (1/2 the chemistry,) for the same amount of film. Maybe I can do this too. I just don't want to learn by ruining a $50 film roll.
 
I bought 3 bulk rolls of Efke 100 on a recent Serbian trip. It's nice to have several year supply of b&w film. Plus I love the tones of this film 🙂
 
I load my own, but don't shoot THAT much...maybe a 12 exposure roll/week. It does save money! I don't even use a loader. The darkroom is fine for that. Just cut an arm's length off the bulk roll, wind it on the spool & drop it in the cannister. Button up the cannister & you're done...no felt traps, etc. to cause scratches. A changing bag works, too, but I get dust & lint too frequently when using the bag. Works in a pinch, though.
 
I've been using Watson bulk loaders since around 1970. I have never had a problem with scratching the film. And when I calculate the costs it seems to work out about half price compared to the preloaded cassettes.

Richard
 
Anyone loading their own?

shadowfox said:
Any suggestion on where to get these bulk loaders and canisters?
If I'm hunting on the bay for these, what are the gotchas to look out for?
Click to expand...
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I sold one here over a year ago and then recently put two more on Ebay -- both Watson 100 for 35mm -- but neither sold... I'm in Asheville, N.C. 28805 and open to offers...

I also have six plastic spools and some gadget I can't identify that came with the film loaders...

Here's a pix:


[as to gotchas, I picked these up in an estate sale of vintage stuff and don't know how good they are...It's been many years since I've loaded my own film...
 

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The "gadget" looks like a plastic core from a bulk roll. The film is loaded onto the core at the factory and you place film & core on the spindle in the bulk loader. After you have used the roll you can chuck the core.
 
peter_n said:
The "gadget" looks like a plastic core from a bulk roll. The film is loaded onto the core at the factory and you place film & core on the spindle in the bulk loader. After you have used the roll you can chuck the core.
Click to expand...


Now that you'ved identified the gadget, I can visualize it as the core of a bulk roll of film...thanks...🙂
 
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