first bulk load a success, but uh boy

[jano]

Yesterday I received a fleabay watson film loader. Also received a 100' rll of arista edu ultra 200 from freestyle.

The instructions that came with the bulkloader were.. poor. I spent nearly an hour reading them over and over. Duh.. what about rff? I searched this board, and found some info which helped me get confident to start the process.

With my hands in the changing bag, I discovered one of the reasons the arista film comes so cheap ($19?!): it was nothing more than a roll of film! It wasn't attached to a reel of any sort (a little tube in the middle from what I could feel) and man, it took forever to get the thing loaded. Hardest part was keeping the film from unwinding. And then I forgot to take the little fat-thingy to get the reel to fit on the bulk-loader pole inside. Worst part was my hands started to sweat and I could feel the film becoming sticky. Yikes!

But it's done. 😀 Time to go have fun shooting cheap! I'm considering doing all the cartridge loading in the changing beg to reduce lost film. Doesn't seem too difficult.

Jano

 

[kmack]

Congrats. Welcome to the bulk club. I have two loaded now and may grab a third.
It gets easier as you get more practice.

You really don't need to load the cartridge in the bag. I was too lazy to even try. The last frame is always a half frame. It seems wierd to me, I always think that I wll loose more, but the last frame is about it.

 

[dnk512]

I received my film loader and my 2x100' film a year ago. I have not found to courage to go through what you did. I sweat easy :-(

 

[jano]

You really don't need to load the cartridge in the bag. I was too lazy to even try. The last frame is always a half frame. It seems wierd to me, I always think that I wll loose more, but the last frame is about it.

I'm trying to figure this out.. to get the cartridge loaded and ready to take up film, requires at min ~4in. that's more than 1/2 frame?

I'll try the bathroom next time. I have one more bulk loader on its way, still deciding what film to get.. trix or efke 25? I haven't shot the latter, have a couple test rolls here ready to go.

 

[kmack]

I'm trying to figure this out.. to get the cartridge loaded and ready to take up film, requires at min ~4in. that's more than 1/2 frame?

I'll try the bathroom next time. I have one more bulk loader on its way, still deciding what film to get.. trix or efke 25? I haven't shot the latter, have a couple test rolls here ready to go.

4 inch? I seem to think that I rarely have to use more than 2 inches. I still may have some snips at home from when I developed last. I will check.

 

[markinlondon]

I seem to lose about a frame and a half in my Watson (two at worst) at the end of the roll. If you're worried about wastage roll as many frames as you can. Short rolls waste proportionally more film. Strangely Silverprint here in London have just reduced their Ilford prices per roll to about what I consider the break even point for bulk loading so it's back to the tailor-mades for me for a while at least.

Mark

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

With the planning of a darkroom in the house I will move into in a couple of months, I have also started to get interested in buying bulk film. I haven't done any research into it though, and reading this thread had gotten me a bit confused.

Bulkloaders? I figured you'd get a big roll of film, and some sort of open-able re-usable film roll to which you attached the end of the big roll, and just start winding. I did a picture search for "bulk loader" and came upon some pretty strange looking devices.

Does any of you know a website where the process is clearly explained and where I can find exactly what equipment I would need to start using bulk film?

Try here:

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

http://www.clubsnap.org/display.php?file=articles/bulkloading/bulk_loading.htm

Wayne

 

[jano]

If you're worried about wastage roll as many frames as you can. Short rolls waste proportionally more film.

Not really worried about it, just being the typical attitude encountered with trying to do things perfect the first time around 😉

 

[jano]

Bulkloaders? I figured you'd get a big roll of film, and some sort of open-able re-usable film roll to which you attached the end of the big roll, and just start winding.

Look at figure 2.1 on this web page. You see the reel of film there on the upper left (the black covering by the tins)? My arista edu ultra did not come with that top/bottom cover. It came more like a roll of toilette paper, with a little thingy in the middle surrounded by film. The film slips easy like this, and that center hole was too big for the shaft inside the loader. The loader came with an adapter that fits inside the hole of the film reel and then snugly fits on the shaft. I found the easiest way to get the film was to put it in without the adapter, then slip the adapter in afterwards. *shrug*

 

[tetrisattack]

For what it's worth, I've done a few hundred feet of bulk film without the aid of a bulk loader. In the dark, I just pull out an arm's length from the spool and wind it onto the cartridge core. My arm's length is calibrated to 28 frames. 🙂

 

[jano]

Yeah, yeah, I know, I read about you in the search 😛

 

[titrisol]

No core in the center? That is quite normal.
I prefer putting the bulk roll in the loader inside the bathroom or closet, more room to breathe and no sweaty hands


Fear not wasting, after the first couple of rolls you'll get better and could damage less than 2 inches per roll.

 

[jano]

Okay, I'll try the bathroom next time.

Soo.... which bulk-film do I want next? 🙂 Trix, efke 25, something else? I have the following develoeprs at home: xtol, ronidal, and diafine.

 

[DxPhoto]

I bulk-load film all the time. Tri-X is my working horse. I use used containers from Ritz Cameras or any 1-hour labs. and I started doing this without a loader. I do these in a walking closet. My only problem is how to lineup the film and the "tongue" from the used containers nicely. The solution is to cut the film nicely without any angle. then tape the end to the 'tongue'. You need line it up before you can tape it (I put the tape on the tongue first, then put the film to the tongue, line it up to make sure no angles there, then fold the tape).

Now I have a loader, but I still do it in the closet. I have a bessa R so sometimes I do get the last frame without the tape. 🙂

 

[kaiyen]

Efke 25 scratches very easily. Careful when bulk-rollilng. I rolled 5 of them and 2 have scratches that I think are from the bulk load.

I bought 400' for TXT a while back. Good, flexible film.

You can still get, I think, some Pan F plus and Delta 100 from Freestyle as their Arista films. Worth it to buy some.

allan

 

[DxPhoto]

Efke 25 scratches very easily. Careful when bulk-rollilng. I rolled 5 of them and 2 have scratches that I think are from the bulk load.

I bought 400' for TXT a while back. Good, flexible film.

You can still get, I think, some Pan F plus and Delta 100 from Freestyle as their Arista films. Worth it to buy some.

allan

Where did u get the 400' tri-x. I only got 100' packages.

 

[ErnestoJL]

With the planning of a darkroom in the house I will move into in a couple of months, I have also started to get interested in buying bulk film. I haven't done any research into it though, and reading this thread had gotten me a bit confused.

Bulkloaders? I figured you'd get a big roll of film, and some sort of open-able re-usable film roll to which you attached the end of the big roll, and just start winding. I did a picture search for "bulk loader" and came upon some pretty strange looking devices.

Does any of you know a website where the process is clearly explained and where I can find exactly what equipment I would need to start using bulk film?

Michiel:

Hama makes (or made) a very interesting bulk loader with a film counter, the same style as a camera film counter, but I don´t know if it´s still available and where. It´s a bit expensive, but I think it´s worth.

For reloadable cartridges, JOBO is still making a plastic cartridge with screw on type cap. Price in Argentina is about USD 2 each, probably it´ll be cheaper in other places.

Ernesto