I'm spending about $4.75 per roll for TriX (including tax) if I don't buy new cassettes. About $1 per roll savings. Not a great margin considering the extra effort and potential problems that come with bulk loading. I've had a difficult time keeping the scratching issue at bay in the past. These days I clean the felt before reusing but it's too early to see if this makes a difference one way or the other.
Chris,
After the initial cost of cassettes I figure using 5 feet per roll or 20 rolls per 100 feet that the cost of FP4 is $3.00 a roll and I think $3.30 a roll for HP5.
In 120 Ilford is favorably priced also. Then if you extend this into sheet films Ilford becomes a "no-brainer."
Pretty much the only Kodak film that is inexpensive is Kodak 5222. If you do all the math it too becomes $3.00 a roll without the initial outlay of cassettes. The only difficulty is that for the best pricing and availability one has to deal with 400 foot rolls. BTW there is no discount for bulking up with 1000 foot rolls.
So I'm currently developing a means of using my Topcon 250 exposure loader into a bulk respooler. Pretty much if I cycle 250 loading three times I get 100 feet. All I have to do is cut out a core that adapts to a hollow spool so that it can fit in a standard daylight loader and make provisions for this loader to handle a 400 foot roll.
Pretty much it will be so easy to re-spool 400 feet into 4 100 foot rolls that it is just doing a good friend a favor. Pretty much I figure it would take about 10 minutes. The logistics required are 4 containers that are light tight. A one liter stainless steel developing tank would work, or several smaller ones.
I also have this Leica loader that loads the spool alone without the body and felt. This cuts down the possibility of scratching the film by 50%. I have a tape measure that I happen to have found on the street that I will use as a linear spring to control a cut length of film. Pretty much just turn the crank, load a spool, and then load the spool into the cassette body. Of course this will be done in my bathroom which I will use as a darkroom.
I will be making a perhaps 6 foot long fixture so all this will be on a horizontal surface. I have this hospital bed table that I found being thrown out on 72d Street outside a doctor's office that I have been saving that could be useful as a base.
I have several 3 gallon Kodak hard rubber dip and dunk tanks with light tight lids to use as light safes.
Really crazy will be loading 15 feet of 70mm film into my Linhof CINE's for over 60 and 120 exposures of either 6x7 or 645. How crazy will be shooting a Linhof and not having to reload every 10 shots. Pretty much like shooting a Linhof like a Leica. How about $3.00 a 120 equiv. for medium format.
70mm Rollie 400S in bulk from Germany costs "no money." Limitation though is film speed: only 80-125 ISO depending on light and developer. This film has an extended range that has heightened IR sensitivity so the look resembles ACROS.
I discovered that B&H still has ACROS in 4x5. For night shooting this is the best film for bulb exposures due to no reciprocy failure. I want to freeze some of this for using Christian's old 4x5 Linhof. He gave me a 90/6.8 that is a 28mm FOV that is low coma in rendering. I'll stop it all the way down to get pinhole like diffraction.
For 4x5 Bergger Panchro 400 is mighty cheap. $33.00 for 25 sheets and even less for a 50 sheet box bulking up. This film like Ilford DDX for 320 ISO, but a presoak is required. A crazy film because it is dual emulsion. I get wonderful tonal range.
Time to load up the truck.
Expected delivery is today for the Tower 45/46.
Cal
