Do you Roll your Own film?

Do you Roll your Own film?

  • Yes, I own a bulk owner and rollout each and nearly every roll of film I shoot

    Votes: 41 37.6%

  • No, I don't roll my own film, prefer to buy already rolled.

    Votes: 26 23.9%

  • I go back and forth as I like the conveance of both

    Votes: 42 38.5%
  • Total voters
    109
  • Poll closed .
Depends on what I can find...if it's a good price in either form I'll buy it...
I just rolled some Arista 400 today that I just might use tomorrow...
I might have ten 100' rolls of film waiting to get used...
Been doing it since high school...
 
It varies a bit as I tend to switch back and forth between 135mm and medium format.

And some very good films just aren't available in 100ft rolls ... Adox comes to mind!
 
Keith said:
It varies a bit as I tend to switch back and forth between 135mm and medium format.

And some very good films just aren't available in 100ft rolls ... Adox comes to mind!
Click to expand...

Keith,

Is this what you're looking for ?

http://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/filme/kleinbildfilme-135/adox-chs-100-meterware-305-m.html
http://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/filme/kleinbildfilme-135/adox-chs-25-meterware-305-m.html
http://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/filme/kleinbildfilme-135/adox-chs-50-meterware-135305-m.html

Stefan.
 
Not any more as I'm worried about scratches and accidentally exposing all 100' at once, might never happen but I don't want to risk it!
 
I'm half way through my first 100' roll of Foma 400 and enjoying the massive cost savings (a ~36 exposure self-rolled Foma 400 is 1/3 the price of buying a 24 exposure roll of HP5 in a store locally).
The downside is I'm really moving into colour and enjoying it considerably more lately, which annoys me.
 
I've been digital since 2003, but in my 30+ years of shooting film I hand-loaded thousands of rolls. Probably more Fuji RDP-100 than anything else, but also many, many rolls of various black & white films and a lot of Fuji duping film, which I believe only came in long rolls. Very few problems. However, I recently sent a hand-loaded roll of Fuji slide film to Dwayne's as a test and they would not process it.
 
I bulk roll most of my b&w. I don't find it inconvenient at all. I like the freedom of rolling the lengths that I need. It's less wasteful and greener, too. However, I still buy pre-rolled color and b&w when it's unavailable in 100' rolls or on sale (and there have been a lot of sales lately).



/
 
I don't, but I should. It was very relaxing loading the film into the holders when I was shooting 4x5. Enjoyed that a lot (but hated toting a 4x5 camera on my bike).
 
I have been rolling my own since the seventies and currently have a 100 ft. roll of TriX in the freezer. I use a Watson 100 manufactured by Burke & James. I might even be the original one that I bought back in the day.
 
I hand roll some emulsions. Definately Eastman Double-X, it's well worth the trouble. I spool off 36 exposures, right off the 400' roll, using the "TomA method". Right now, I'm also bulk rolling Tri-X, Fuji Presto 1600, Fuji Presto 400, and 100' of Panantomic-X, which I picked up last year.

I also bulk load 70mm film, to use in my Hasselblads. My freezer is well stocked at the moment.
 
I bulk roll the XX and various other emulsions lurking in the freezer. For XX/XXX I tend to use the IXMOO reloadable cassettes (or my Nikon Rf cassettes).
At the moment I have about 560 rolls of Arista Premium 400 "ready rolled" too. Sometimes a bit more convinient. Carrying 8-10 IXMOO's is a bit of a strain on the pocket!
 
From http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how load bulk.html, whicjh has a lot of 'how to' information on bulk loading:

Before you decide to load your film from bulk, take a hard look at how much film you are likely to shoot, and how much you will have to spend on cassettes and any other supplies. If you reckon you are likely to save less than $100/80 euros/fifty quid a year, ask yourself if it is really worth it, given the disadvantages listed below.

the disadvantages
Rolling your own is time-consuming and if you use velvet-lip cassettes the risks of scratching and light leaks are greater than with factory-loaded cassettes. There is also the point that if you do not anchor the film adequately on the spool, it may pull off when you are shooting, which very rarely happens with commercial cassettes.
Cheers,

R.
 
I used to bulk load Velvia slide film and Reala/Portra negative for many years until I started buying spooled film, but I am going back to bulk loading. I usually load 20-30 36 exp rolls in one session, while watching TV. It is an automatic task that does not require much thinking. I have never gotten scratched film because of bulk loading.
 
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Roger Hicks said:
.....There is also the point that if you do not anchor the film adequately on the spool, it may pull off when you are shooting, which very rarely happens with commercial cassettes.
Click to expand...

This happened to me once, but with a happy ending. I had a roll of Tri-X pull off the take-up reel in my MP a few months back. To remove the film, I had no choice but to take off the bottom plate and open the back door. Of course the film was light-struck. I considered throwing the roll in the trash but decided to process it anyway. The resulting pics (of a model friend of mine) were very surreal. One actually ended up on the LFI Master Shots category.

But your point is well taken. I now very carefully apply tape to the end of any roll I bulk load.

Jim B.
 
I switched a few years ago from bulk film for the reasons Roger has listed, but I still have many 100ft rolls of film in the freezer, so I am returning to bulk loading. In fact, I have so many 100ft rolls of film that I could shoot film for several years with what I have in the freezer. There may be several types of film, from Fujichromes to Portra and Agfa B&W and Freestyle and ...
 
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