Best brand of bulk loader?

[sepiareverb]

Lloyd’s here. I have two of them, but could be fine with just one. I tend to load a whole 100’ into cassettes all in one sitting, usually in front of the TV. Have not had scratches, I too keep them stored in plastic bags.

 

[newsgrunt]

Thanks for the tip. It would reduce the film waste in Watson loader, 1 frame/ roll I guess.


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also, cuz you *KNOW* that the best photo *WILL* be the last frame lolol

 

[kiemchacsu]

also, cuz you *KNOW* that the best photo *WILL* be the last frame lolol

Actually in the opposite way,
Since using bulk load film, i know that the last 1-2 frames would be burn out already so normally I shoot quickly last frames to finish the roll in soonest way.


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[julio1fer]

I have used Lloyd's for more than 40 years, probably a thousand 36-frame rolls or more, with zero scratches. I keep the loader in a plastic bag.

Felt should not be that bad, remember it is featured in the 35mm cassettes anyway.

I use Kalt plastic cassettes, and also reload used 35mm cassettes.

My late father loaded 35mm from bulk in the darkroom. He had a wood beam with nails marking the exact length; film was cut with scissors. I did it myself more than a few times. We loaded the whole 100 ft into cassettes in a single pass.

I have read that HCB loaded his bulk film in cassettes in a changing bag, using no loader. He just counted the turns in the 35mm cassette, which is not that hard. It seems clever.

 

[Farside]

About 1980 I bought my first bulk loader, similar to a Watson, along with a handful of re-useable cassettes. I went through many hundreds of feet of cheap B&W film and enjoyed saving a few bucks. The results were mostly ok, and I didn't run into any problems along the way, just by following instructions. I didn't have a proper darkroom, so loaded the bulk roll into the loader at night in a dark room, under the duvet. 🙂
It worked well enough.
That was followed by many years of being loader-less and buying shop film.
Ten years ago, when my interest in photography had been re-awakened by decent digicams falling into my financial reach, my old interest in film resurged also, and I bought a Watson-type Computrol loader, along with about 50 Kalt-type reloadable cassettes.
I haven't loaded a single one yet, but the bug has resurfaced and I've just bought a 100ft roll of Fomapan 200.
At the time of the buying craziness in the late 2000 decade, I picked up a trio of Shirley Wellard reloadable cassettes along with a bench-type loader, but I don't see me using that.
In the fridge, there's 1000ft of Kodak type 202, just waiting to be used.
I've got enough film to last for a while, once I get around to using it.