What's around for bulk loading?

[GarageBoy]

Since I'm in the US, bulk loading Kodak products make no sense. $75 rolls of Tri X will give me about 18 rolls + cost of cassettes
Tri X in 135-36 is $4.50

OTOH Ilford products are almost half price in 100' rolls

 

[Takkun]

Since I started the thread, I've run through almost an entire 100' roll of Delta, and am on to Tmax. I've been using metal cassettes from my local shop, though careful to keep them in a handful of recycled canisters. I dropped a few out of my pocket and the bottoms popped off. Thankfully, no fogged film beyond the edges. The one concern was that a few spindles I got weren't slotted on one side, so my M5 couldn't rewind them (the M5 and Zeiss Ikon have rewind cranks on the bottom, like the Rolleis)

Agreed on the above; with Kodak, there's virtually no cost advantage if I were to buy pre-loaded in bricks online. Tmax goes for about $70 here, but FP4 is something like $50 plus tax. However, I gotta say the convenience is there; 12-exposure rolls if I need them, and knowing I always have film when I need it.

 

[alienmeatsack]

GarageBoy - for me it's about being able to load a roll of 20 frames for a test shoot, being able to keep tons of rolls of film in the door of my freezer because 100' rolls take up way less space, having freedom to pick and choose my flavour for the loader and experiment.

And I've found that there is less competition for the bulk rolls for sale because some folks don't realize it's easy to do. So I can snap up great films that way.

I also personally prefer 24exp rolls in pre-made cassettes vs the longer 36exp rolls. So when I roll my own, I try to get 20-24 on the roll at most. As a result I tend to get a lot more rolls and fun out of the experience from each bulk roll.

I don't buy TriX or Tmax very often due to their high cost. Especially knowing I can get Arista EDU or Premium or Ilford films for less that make me just as happy.

 

[newtorf]

I always look around CL, evil bay, and online forums for bulk films. My usual cost for Kodak films is about $40 per 100 ft.