What's around for bulk loading?

Takkun

Ian M.
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Jun 7, 2006
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Location
Sunny South Seattle
Last week I stopped by CameraTechs here in Seattle, and an older gentleman was unloading his entire film kit (several Canon FD and EOS bodies and lenses, two Pentax 67s, and some processing tanks) while I was there. Sad day. They didn't want his Watson loader, so he gave it to me. "Film is dead," he declared.

One man's trash...

So I'm curious what any of you who bulk load use. I've been interested mostly because I have been matching development to exposure a la Ansel and wanted to shoot shorter rolls, but the only 12-exposure rolls I find are drugstore Kodak. (don't get me wrong, I actually love the stuff and feel a little silly loading it into a thousand-dollar camera)

Lately I've been shooting a lot lot LOT of Neopan, but Delta is starting to win me over, especially since I've been doing more and more architectural details and/or weird lighting.

Thoughts, ladies and gentlemen?
 
Tri-x is a strange bird here, with bulk costing about the same as regular rolls.
For Ilford stuff, bulk offers quite a lot of saving.
 
Besides the "usual suspects" there are also almost all Rollei films offered in bulk.
I expect the new Adox CHS 100 II also to be offered in bulk.
 
Glazer's (in our own Seattle, http://www.glazerscamera.com/store/film-darkroom/film/black-white-film?limit=all) has a large selection of 100 foot rolls (6 Ilford and Tri-X) and they have cheaper prices than Freestyle. We need to keep them in business!
I love Glazers! Mostly, because I hate buying anything online, for numerous reasons, and partly because all of my old coworkers from another shop are there now.
I'll probably be stopping in this week.

As for the motion-picture film, this looks promising, as does ADOX, which I've been experimenting in.
 
I usually shoot 24 frame rolls that I bulk load myself. My choice is Tri-X, as that was my favourite film at the time (I now prefer HP5) but I went a bit crazy buying lots of bulk film 2 years ago and still have enough surplus for a while.

I prefer AP plastic reloadable film cannisters. Used to re-use old film cannisters but that got old. The plastic ones are sturdy enough, cheap and easy to open for developing. I use a Konica bulk film loader that seems to be of the same type as the AP bulk loader.
 
Also check with "orwona.com". This is ORWO film - movie stock. They have a 100 iso (Orwo UN 54) which has become my replacement for Kodak's 5231 +X movie stock. They also package them in 100 ft cans as well as the standard 400ft cans. The Orwo 400 iso stock is very good - but at the moment they seem to be out of it. Again, on their site it is listed in 400ft and 100ft cans.
Both versions, the 54 and the 74 (100 and 400 respectively) are very good - and the 74 will probably become my replacement for Kodak's Double X. The Orwo 74 is also a true 400 iso film.
 
6783316861_3395f65df0_z.jpg


ORWO 74, rated at 400 iso, developed in PCK developer (a Vit.C based developer, similar to D76)
Leica M2/M3 hybrid, Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f2.0
 
I bulk load most of my films. It's considerable saving. I have a large collection of bulk films in freezer, including Tri-X, TMAX, HP5, FP4, P4, Legacy Pro 100 (Acros), Polypan F, Rollei Retro 80s. I am expecting a large shipment of Agfa APX 100 bulk films from EU.


Last week I stopped by CameraTechs here in Seattle, and an older gentleman was unloading his entire film kit (several Canon FD and EOS bodies and lenses, two Pentax 67s, and some processing tanks) while I was there. Sad day. They didn't want his Watson loader, so he gave it to me. "Film is dead," he declared.

One man's trash...

So I'm curious what any of you who bulk load use. I've been interested mostly because I have been matching development to exposure a la Ansel and wanted to shoot shorter rolls, but the only 12-exposure rolls I find are drugstore Kodak. (don't get me wrong, I actually love the stuff and feel a little silly loading it into a thousand-dollar camera)

Lately I've been shooting a lot lot LOT of Neopan, but Delta is starting to win me over, especially since I've been doing more and more architectural details and/or weird lighting.

Thoughts, ladies and gentlemen?
 
Also check with "orwona.com". This is ORWO film - movie stock. They have a 100 iso (Orwo UN 54) which has become my replacement for Kodak's 5231 +X movie stock. They also package them in 100 ft cans as well as the standard 400ft cans. The Orwo 400 iso stock is very good - but at the moment they seem to be out of it. Again, on their site it is listed in 400ft and 100ft cans.
Both versions, the 54 and the 74 (100 and 400 respectively) are very good - and the 74 will probably become my replacement for Kodak's Double X. The Orwo 74 is also a true 400 iso film.

Thanks for the pointer, Tom!
I am about to run out of 100ASA bulk.
The 54 looks lovely.
 
Sad news: I just learned, right after loading a roll, that Neopan 400 is discontinued.

Anyone know if Freestyle will get more bulk Legacy 100 anytime soon? In the meantime, I'm off on my way to Glazer's.
 
I personally bulk load 'whatever I can get my hands on'. I have 2 bulk loaders on hand filled with a roll of something all the time. I typically keep color in one and BW in the other if possible.

My current faves are expired Kodak Portra 160NC and Ilford HP5+ 400 for mine, but usually I keep BW Arista EDU Ultra 100 and 400 in the two loaders and shoot color from pre-done cassettes. I just happened to score a bunch of rolls of the expired Portra 160NC so it's been living in my color loader lately.

Without derailing this thread, is this ORWO film something that requires special processing or can you process it in typical BW chemicals (D76 or Diafine) without any problems? I'd never heard of it and your shots above are lovely so I want to try it. I tried some Kodak of some kind in color that required some special steps and it was just too much for me to figure out so I gave up on it. (Does it have a wierd backing? Does it have sprockets?)
 
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Double X Eastman 5222 can be bought at FILMEMPORIUM New York
Reloadable IXMOO cassettes in Ebay at ridiculous prices, but when you have enough of them, you never have to replace them.
Then I am a fan of MACO Rollei RPX films, both 100 and 400 Iso.
 
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