Do you bulk load your own film?

Do you bulk load your own film?

  • Yes I do

    Votes: 277 68.4%

  • No I can't be bothered

    Votes: 128 31.6%
  • Total voters
    405
How many uses do you get from a cartridge? What brand or kind of cartridge do you use?

I remember getting 2 or 3 until the felt got bad in the old days.

I bulk loaded b+w film when I was in school and later to save money. I may want to stock up on film and bulk rolls will be the best option for the money I have to spend.

I see some wanted emulsions disappearing.. I figure I had better fill the little freezer area of my frige.
 
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I like to use plastic cartridges with screw top. I haven't counted how many times I've reused them but definitely 5 or 6 times at least. I haven't seen any scratches yet.
 
Mablo said:
I like to use plastic cartridges with screw top. I haven't counted how many times I've reused them but definitely 5 or 6 times at least. I haven't seen any scratches yet.
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I looked on Freestyle's page and it looks like they have the metal cartridges only. Where do you find the plastic cartridges? They likely are better..

Any problems from static discharge with plastic?
 
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PKR wrote:
I looked on Freestyle's page and it looks like they have the metal cartridges only. Where do you find the plastic cartridges? They likely are better..
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The metal cassettes from Freestyle are good. I have used some up to 8 times without problem, and still going.
 
rog said:
I get about 18-20 rolls of 36 out of a 100ft role.
You can buy it fairly cheap at:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/8044364-Kodak-Tri-X-400-iso-35mm-x-100-ft.-TX?cat_id=402
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Freestyle's shipping charges for overseas customers are just unreal in relation to a 100ft roll of Tri-x ($34 for a $53 roll).

Can anyone refer me to a vendor in the European Union that also offers Tri-X 100ft rolls at reasonable prices? The normal market price for 100ft of original-brand Tri-X in Germany is ~ $ 95,- w/o S&H.

Unfortunately, I don't shoot large quantities, so buying more than one roll at a time doesn't make sense for me.
 
Arjay said:
Freestyle's shipping charges for overseas customers are just unreal in relation to a 100ft roll of Tri-x ($34 for a $53 roll).

Can anyone refer me to a vendor in the European Union that also offers Tri-X 100ft rolls at reasonable prices? The normal market price for 100ft of original-brand Tri-X in Germany is ~ $ 95,- w/o S&H.

Unfortunately, I don't shoot large quantities, so buying more than one roll at a time doesn't make sense for me.
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Unfortunately there isn't any at the moment (as far as I know). Now that the LegacyPro 400 is history only remaining economically sensible options for bulk film in EU *at the moment* are LegacyPro 100 (Acros), Efke films, Foma 100 and some Rollei films, the Rollei 400S for example. Even with these bulk rolls the savings are in the ballpark of 1€ compared to the retail 36-frame cassettes. Situation can change however as it has changed in the past.

I'm keeping my eye on http://www.digitaltruth.com/?uk because of reasonable shipping costs and no minimum orders.
 
I have just seen that various German internet retailers also offer HP5+ 100ft rolls at fairly reasonable prices. Can anyone give me some hints about how HP5+ and Tri-X fare against each other?
 
I used to and think it's a good way to save money on film if you shoot a lot. I'd get a shopping bag full of spent rolls at the local camera shop for free and I'd use 35mm film green splicing tape and tape the film to the remaining tongue of film where the lab cut it. I'd use the rolls about 2-3 times before pitching them. I'd sit at a Starbucks with my shopping bag of spent rolls and loader and load away over a cup or two of joe... Or, I'd do it at home while watching a movie. Rather a mindless task, really. Never had issue with scratches. Spring for a decent loader, they're cheap - and don't overuse the rolls. I did this for a while until I discovered Arista Premium 400. At a couple bucks a roll for what is most likely rebadged Tri-X, it really wasn't worth it. Now, I shoot mostly digital, to the chagrin of some here on RFF. To me, digital - year after year, incrementally made gains and has caught up and surpassed film in high ISO capabilities with 4/3- sized sensors on up to full frame. Fast, reasonably-priced primes have been appearing, camera body costs have gone down (esp. DSLRs), noise reduction algorythims have improved, and film emulation SW does a very nice job to my eye at the very least getting away from that "digital look"... Also - to me, pushing black and white merely increases contrast at the expense of mids. With a decent modern digital, 1600 ISO really is 1600 ISO... I now await my pelting with rocks for making such a statement.
 
No fight from me Nick.
Years spent with watson loader, cut film. All sorts of cameras, mainly RF, stinking darkroom zone system chasing the holy grail with neofin for 20x16 from M2 etc. My wife has been saying why do you mess abt when digital is so much better. Bugger me she is right. My current digital gear beats the hell out of 6x9 Mamiya/Bertram 6x7 RB67.
I am defeated and beaten sigh !!

ron
 
Yes. I don't use a loader: I measure against the wall in the dark (I put a marker to mark 24exp) then cut and spool manually. It hasn't let me down yet.
 
I don't even measure the length. I roll by hand in a changing bag and put in as much film as the film spool takes (~30 frames). I have a couple of bulk rolls left in the freezer (Acros) but I'm not sure if I buy more of it because the high price doesn't make sense any more.
 
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