Bulk Loading Film

[NelsonFoto]

Dont see any other reason but fun eh?

Here go 9 good reasons:

6 recently expired bulk rolls of Pan F Plus (55' each), 1 bulk roll of Tri-X Pan (100'), 2 used LLoyd's film-loaders.

Total cost for film? $60 shipped. For film loaders? Used, $24 in great shape. Complete investment? $84 for enough film to last me... well, to last me a good long time.

Fun? You betcha. Wise? Yup.

 

[rover]

How many rolls of 24 (or 36) do you get from a 100 ft bulk roll of film?

 

[rover]

18 rolls of 36. Considering B&H prices for USA Tri X you save about $1.19 per roll once you pay for the upfront investment, which isn't too much. (one roll of TriX 36 exp is $3.69 while a 100 ft roll of USA TriX is $44.95.)

Now, if you buy the TriX made in the US for worldwide distribution, $29.95, now we are talking big savings, $2.03 savings per roll. Not bad, it makes a roll of TriX $1.66.

 

[NelsonFoto]

If buying film with lots of time left on the date, ie buying it full price, yes, there is little advantage over convenience to rolling your own save for ability to roll off fewer shots so yer not wasting frames or holding onto a 36 exp roll for month between time to shoot it all.

BUT! If you are buy short-dated or recently expired film that has: A) Been stored correctly and, B) Priced accordingly, one can save a lot more. You chuck the film in the freezer and it will keep for years.

For example, my own deal. I hit an auction for 4 long rolls of Pan F Plus and 1 long roll of Tri-x Pan. The guy sends me 6 roll of Pan F and a roll of Tri-x Pan. That's 55' x 6, and one roll at 100' - do the math. All of this for $60.

Pan F Plus rolls - 2 expired last October, the other 4 expired this month. The TXP expired December.

Pan F long rolls go for $40 at Adorama. You can figure the price for TXP long roll. Big savings either way.

And yes, fun too!

🙂

 

[ray_g]

ok, i have a really novice type question regarding bulk loading.
on the film box it says to open in total darkness.

do they mean the actual box?
i'm guessing that the film is in a green plastic wrapper like enlarging paper in the box.
is that the case?

joe

OK, another novice question: How exactly do you load the bulk loader after opening up your film. I mean - how do you transfer the film to the spool? Do you take the outside end of the film roll, attach the tongue to the loader's spool and wind the entire roll of film on? Seems like a long process, potentially getting fingerprints on the emulsion side of the film. Or am I missing something?

 

[T_om]

Here 'ya go:

http://www.goshen.edu/~marvinpb/bulkldr.html

This thread has photos of the same method I use to connect the leader to the spool core.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005Kxs

And here is a bit of reading about bulk loading, no photos though.

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/genie/bulk.html

Tom

 

[Doug]

How exactly do you load the bulk loader after opening up your film. I mean - how do you transfer the film to the spool?

How to get the bulk roll into the loader and ready to load individual cassettes? This is done in the dark... Cut the black plastic bag off the bulk roll and place the roll into the loader in the correct orientation so the leader goes straight into the cartridge loading well. Close it up and from here it all can be done in the light.

 

[ray_g]

Thanks. The part I'm not sure about, though, is the part that is done in the dark. The part about transferring the film from the black plastic bag to the loader (as I won't have the chance to see what the bulk film roll actually looks like).

Do you just transfer the film onto the bulk loader's empty spool (in the main compartment), or do you need to unwind the film and spool/wind it onto the bulkloader?

 

[wclavey]

I use Watson loaders, so it might be slightly different but...

1. Open the loader - - take the cover off the main compartment and put the 2 parts in the changing bag.
2. Put the unopened box of film in the changing bag.
3. Close it all up and put your arms in.
4. Open the box of film; remove the bag from the film.
5. There will be a small solid spool in the center of the rolled film. Place the spool onto the long screw running through the center of the main compartment. The film shuld be oriented so that the loose end of the film unrolls in a counterclockwise direction, coming off at the top - - if you were to pull on the loose end, the film roll would rotate counterclockwise.
6. Pass the loose end of the film through the opening of the main compartment into the winding chamber.
7. Place the cover back on the main compartment, making sure that the notch goes around the loose end of the film.
8. Tighten the screw on the cover.
9. Make sure the gate (created by the notch in the lid...) is locked in the "Closed" position - - rotated fully clockwise.
10. Remove the loader from the changing bag - - it is now loaded and ready to use.

Let me know if you want someone to talk you through it. I'm in CT, too and it's a local call.

 

[ray_g]

5. There will be a small solid spool in the center of the rolled film. Place the spool onto the long screw running through the center of the main compartment.

Got it! Again, sorry for the very basic question.

Cool, another member in CT.

Thanks for the offer. I may just take you up on it if I get stuck. 😉



Ray

 

[ray_g]

Where in CT are you?

 

[wclavey]

I'm in West Hartford, but will be moving to the Weathersfield area in 2 months - - just a few miles down the road to the south...

 

[ray_g]

I'm in West Hartford, but will be moving to the Weathersfield area in 2 months - - just a few miles down the road to the south...

You are not too far from two other RFF members, whom I am sure you will be hearing from soon.

I am along the shoreline, in Clinton. We seem to be spread out all over the state, with another two in Stamford, and Easton.

Always nice to have a fellow RF (and OM 😀 ) enthusiast nearby!

 

[Doug]

Do you just transfer the film onto the bulk loader's empty spool (in the main compartment), or do you need to unwind the film and spool/wind it onto the bulkloader?

No need to unroll the bulk roll of film, that would be quite a mess. 🙂 Just drop it in as wclavey said.

 

[rover]

You are not too far from two other RFF members, whom I am sure you will be hearing from soon.

Who Ray?

Oh yeah, me.

Good Morning and welcome.

I am letting Ray work out all the beginner bulk loading kinks so that when I start it will be a smooth process. I, like our president, am not a details guy.

 

[taffer]

Well I've been with my ear on the door, so to speak, so thanks for the information as well ! I was thinking of sacrificing the last frames on the already loaded film so that I can see how it's put inside the loader...

 

[Goodyear]

You guys are a bad influence on me...

I began my bulk-loading adventure this weekend, dropping 100' of HP5 into the computrol (from pics, I trhink that's basically a watson) loader I got for £0.01.

Getting that roll into the loader may be one of the fiddliest, most stressful things I've ever done! Glad it won't be a weekly job.

I loaded up a cassette with 4 or 5 frames to dev uneposed to check it all went okay - looks good, except for some slight fogging along the very edge where (I assume this is the case) I hadn't closed the cassette quite tight.

Next couple of (short) rolls will be non-critical to make sure it's all alright.

 

[ray_g]

I am letting Ray work out all the beginner bulk loading kinks so that when I start it will be a smooth process. I, like our president, am not a details guy.

Great... I guess that makes me Condoleeza.... 😉

 

[Doug]

I loaded up a cassette with 4 or 5 frames to dev uneposed to check it all went okay - looks good, except for some slight fogging along the very edge where (I assume this is the case) I hadn't closed the cassette quite tight.

Next couple of (short) rolls will be non-critical to make sure it's all alright.

Very good thinking! I hadn't heard this suggested, but it sounds like an excellent idea when just getting into loading, or after getting a new bulk loader. So easy otherwise to load the whole bulk roll into 20 cassettes all with the same basic problem/error! I was lucky that it all went well for me the first time. 🙂

 

[tetrisattack]

Bulk loaders cost almost as much as a roll of film! So I still don't have one. This is how I do it, inspired by a certain old-school photographer on the photo.net leica forum.

I do the whole operation in the dark. I put a soft, lint-free towel in the can the roll comes in, stand the roll upright (the can corrales the roll and prevents it from coming discombobulated, and thus saves undue wear on my heart) and I pull out an arm's length at a time -- about 30 frames for me. While I'm pulling off the length of film I lift the spool gently off of the towel with my other hand to avoid friction against any surface.

If I were more enterprising I'd put a cut-up coathanger through the core and balance it over the bathroom sink so the roll would be suspended in air and free from scratches.

When I'm done I reassemble the can, tape it back together, seal it all away in an airtight ziploc bag, then chuck it back into the freezer. You could salvage some silica gel and toss that in with the film to be double-sure it's safe from moisture during the freeze/thaw cycle but everything's been great for me so far.

If it's good enough for Al Kaplan, surely it's good enough for everyone else, right?