Best brand of bulk loader?

J

jojoman2

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Totally new to bulk loading. Are there any brands I should avoid? There is an abundance of Lloyd bulk loaders on ebay. How are those?
 
Burke and James, Watson Model 100 with plastic handle is to avoid, IMO.
I have three different bulk film loaders and this type is kind of crappy.
 
There are, as far as I know, just two basic varieties--the long teardrop type and the square Lloyd type, both available in a number of different brands.

The teadrop type provides a non-contact film path so that the only scratches you might get are from your own dirty cassettes. The trade-off is that more frames of the tail of the film are fogged. This type also counts frames for you as you wind.

The Lloyd runs film through a felt light trap, which is a possibility for scratching, but the leader on the back end can be made very short so that you can shoot to the end of the roll by feeling the end approaching by the rewind crank, rather than counting, and you get more frames per 100' roll.

For years I used a Lloyd with no scratching whatsoever, by running a back-to-back-folded strip of masking tape through the felt every time I put in a new bulk roll. I also cleaned the felt on the cassettes that way every couple of uses. Counting frames by crank turns is not really a problem.

Now I just load in the dark with no loader--best of both worlds. No scratching, no fogged leaders. My arms stretched out full with my wrists turned in is about 34 frames with the necessary leaders. I bought a Leica loading stand (basically a spool holder with a crank on a small stand like a pencil sharpener, for winding in the dark) but haven't bothered to set it up yet.
 
mdarnton said:
There are, as far as I know, just two basic varieties--the long teardrop type and the square Lloyd type, both available in a number of different brands.

The teadrop type provides a non-contact film path so that the only scratches you might get are from your own dirty cassettes. The trade-off is that more frames of the tail of the film are fogged. This type also counts frames for you as you wind.

The Lloyd runs film through a felt light trap, which is a possibility for scratching, but the leader on the back end can be made very short so that you can shoot to the end of the roll by feeling the end approaching by the rewind crank, rather than counting, and you get more frames per 100' roll.

For years I used a Lloyd with no scratching whatsoever, by running a back-to-back-folded strip of masking tape through the felt every time I put in a new bulk roll. I also cleaned the felt on the cassettes that way every couple of uses. Counting frames by crank turns is not really a problem.
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This is an accurate summary of the differences and accords with my experience. Of the two, I vastly prefer the Lloyd type - I hate having to blindly guess when to stop advancing a roll to avoid shooting on to the excessive exposed tail from teardrop loaders.

The only thing I would add is, if the big disk that covers the bulk roll chamber is over-tightened and left that way for long, it will warp and get light leaks. If you are shopping for Lloyd-style loaders on eBay, ask the seller about this. If they are not a shooter or otherwise have no idea what you are talking about, skip it.
 
It also helps to take canned air before you load the bulk roll into the loader and blow out the felt light trap. Do the same with the film cartridges

Also, store your bulk loader in a zip-lock baggie when you aren't using it to cut down on dust getting into it. Ditto the film cartridges.
 
Basically what I've gleaned is: there are tradeoffs to both kinds. Lloyd style has the possibility of scratching up a whole 100' roll if I don't keep it clean. The teardrop one is guaranteed to fog up more film, making it more costly to use but less risky.
 
there is little to no risk with either method, just don't be careless. Lloyd's is preferable as it wastes less film
 
Scratching is not the issue after I glued the film canister felt at the edge of the loader where it was getting scratched.
 
steverett said:
Or you can use the teardrop one in the dark, and you'll have no fogging.
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Good point. I'm leaning toward the teardrop kind at the moment. Still, I can only use bulk loaders in my secondary camera (my m4). I might bulk load double x for shooting in the rain, since the m4 is my rainy day camera, and keep shooting 36 exp. rolls in my mp.

figuring it out one step at a time... thanks guys. The student discount over at eastman is really amazing--for me it would be like $2.50 a roll to shoot 36 exposures of double x if I bulk load it.
 
jojoman2 said:
Totally new to bulk loading. Are there any brands I should avoid? There is an abundance of Lloyd bulk loaders on ebay. How are those?
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I have used the Lloyd bulk film loader and I have used the Burke & James Watson model 100 bulk film loader. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Lloyd pros:
Smaller size than Watson
Does not wastes film by producing a long leader
Does not waste film by producing a long trailer
Harder to accidentally expose 100-feet of film

Lloyd cons:
No frame counter; must count winder rotations for frame count
Uses felt for light trap; felt may trap particles that scratch film
Cannot load Nikon AM-1 film cassettes for Nikon F2 camera

Watson pros:
Has frame counter
Does not use felt for light trap; therefore, film is less susceptible to scratching
Can load Nikon AM-1 film cassettes for Nikon F2 camera

Watson cons:
Larger size than Lloyd
Wastes film by producing a long leader
Wastes film by producing a long trailer
Easier to accidentally expose 100-feet of film (I have done this once)



Burke & James Watson model 100 bulk film loader by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but the AP style bulk loader is great. It is sold under various names. Freestyle carries it as the Arista Bobinquick Junior bulk loader. http://http://www.freestylephoto.biz/27326-Arista-35mm-Bulk-Film-Loader-Bobinquick-Junior.
It has the advantages of the Lloyd loader (i.e., it leaves only a short section of fogged "tail" at the end of each roll of film). It also has a frame counter and a total length counter (so that you can see how much is left of the bulk roll). It does seem to have felt at the mouth of the loader opening, but the light baffle opens up when it is engaged and ready to spool off a roll. I've never had any scratches.
 
As mentioned already as long as you have dark room and wait until night no real need for a bulk loader, as long as you buy plenty of canisters then you only need to load once in a while.
 
I've recently started using the AP loader, having had a Watson 66 for some time. I find the AP to be first class. There is something about its rectangular shape which I prefer to the Watson teardrop. The ability to see how much film is left is also handy.
 
Any preference as to Samigon reloadble cartridges vs the AP photo group? Samigon is like $70 more expensive for 100 cartridges.
 
I have used the LPL Dayroll bulk loader since the 1980's. It's similar to the AP type mentioned above. I have never cleaned the felt light trap and have not had a problem, since the light trap opens when you push the wind crank in. It's a good reliable design. It is possible to load Leica IXMOO-type cassettes with this loader in the darkroom in a semi-manual fashion, but a Watson type makes this particular cassette loading easier.
 
Over the span of a long career I loaded thousands of rolls (no exaggeration) using Lloyd's-type loaders. Never had a scratch traceable to loading, and I was not particularly careful about keeping the felt trap clean.
 
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