"The other benefit for me of 100ft film is I like 24 frame rolls ... there doesn't seem to be much of an option here with any film!"
Well, the Arista Premium is $1.89 for 24x, and $1.99 for 36x. So, save yourself $0.10 per roll, if you'd prefer.
"For me I don't have that much fridge/freezer space. Storing 100ft rolls is a lot easier than the equivalent single rolls."
"I am in the same boat here. My wife is not too happy that I am using a large portion of the freezer and the refrigerator for film cooling."
(And so on.) Let's see: A 100 ft roll yields about 18 cartridges with 36x inside. I'm sitting here holding a still-sealed 100 ft roll of Ilford HP5+ (sorry, don't have the equivalent 100 ft roll of Arista Premium on hand). That 100 ft roll is shipped in a box that is 4in x 4in square, with a depth just a little bit greater than that of a 35mm film cartridge.
In that box, or in one just slightly larger (say, 4.25 x 4.25), I can fit 16 35mm film cartridge, in a 4x4 array. Seal that box well in plastic, and toss it in the freezer. Toss two more cartridges into my camera bag, and I've just dispensed with 100 ft of film.
Then again, once I load a 100 ft roll into my Watson loader, I'd have to find space for the loader in the fridge/freezer, and that's a lot more space than required by the 100 ft roll itself. It's either that, or load all 18 cartridges immediately and then we're right back where we started.
Sorry, but I'm having trouble seeing any huge space savings here. Certainly not enough to offset the downs of bulk-loading (potential for scratches and whatnot).
(Added: If you wish to keep the 16 cartridges in their cans, the box needs to be bigger, but about 6x6 --- instead of 4.25x4.25 --- is enough.)
