35mm bulk film

[Ricardo Miranda]

What brand is that and when was the last time you bought any?

I think Xmas was referring to Ilford.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Opening a box of film and finding a black bag should SCREAM do not go further. What would be the point in having a can inside a black bag. Logic says that the bag would be the last thing you encounter before the actual film. Just another example of people not reading the directions.

 

[Tom Cross]

Opening a box of film and finding a black bag should SCREAM do not go further. What would be the point in having a can inside a black bag. Logic says that the bag would be the last thing you encounter before the actual film. Just another example of people not reading the directions.

A sealed bag maybe. I wish I knew as much as you obviously do.

 

[dourbalistar]

A sealed bag maybe. I wish I knew as much as you obviously do.

I made the same amateur mistake with a roll of HP5+, thinking there would be something sealed tight rather than just folded over. Fortunately, only the first roll or two were fogged. The rest of the roll had light damage to the edge markings, but luckily the image area itself did not seem to be adversely affected. I did not make the same mistake with my second bulk roll.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

A sealed bag maybe. I wish I knew as much as you obviously do.

Tom,
I've been using film for over 30 years, but only started using bulk rolls regularly over the last year.
30 years ago when I wanted to try for the first time B&W films, there were none readily available in my city.
All places only sold colour negative and some positive films.
I got a bit frustrated until the guy at my local lab told me he had a bit of a can of Ilford FP4 left over.
It was taped all over it when he handled it to me saying "open only in the dark".
It got stuck in the brain of a 13 year old.

I'm sure you bought yours online and there was no guy telling you how to use it.
As I posted before, there are other info available on the net for begginers like you.

That doesn't make any excuse that you made a mistake.
Now, grow up a bit more and just admit your error.
Don't try to blame Ilford for not sealing the bag when there is a seal on the box and a warning in most of the Ilford boxes I've seen to "open in total darkness".
Learn from your mistakes and get to be a better person.

And if you get down to London one day, I'll gladly spend an afternoon with you showing the places where you can get helpful advice and the people there.

 

[dourbalistar]

Tom,
That doesn't make any excuse that you made a mistake.
Now, grow up a bit more and just admit your error.
Don't try to blame Ilford for not sealing the bag when there is a seal on the box and a warning in most of the Ilford boxes I've seen to "open in total darkness".
Learn from your mistakes and get to be a better person.

I don't think the OP is trying make any excuse for his mistake or even blame Ilford. Like me, he probably expected a sealed bag. When I made the same mistake, it was just a case of exuberance, excitement, and curiosity at having received my first bulk roll of film. Also like me, I'm pretty sure the OP won't make that same mistake twice.

 

[dourbalistar]

I haven't seen 100 foot rolls in cans for eons.

I haven't ordered any, but B&H shows photos of bulk Arista EDU Ultra films and Fomopan 400 in metal tins. A bulk roll of Eastman Double-X that I recently ordered from Dead Link Removed came in a (recycled?) metal tin. I think two other cinema films Orwo UN54 and N74+ also come in tins: http://www.orwona.com/b-w-35mm-photography-film/

 

[Tom Cross]

I don't think the OP is trying make any excuse for his mistake or even blame Ilford. Like me, he probably expected a sealed bag. When I made the same mistake, it was just a case of exuberance, excitement, and curiosity at having received my first bulk roll of film. Also like me, I'm pretty sure the OP won't make that same mistake twice.

You hit the nail on the head. I wasn't blaming Ilford or trying to suggest I hadn't made a mistake. There are a number of people in this forum who love to try and know better.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

I don't think the OP is trying make any excuse for his mistake or even blame Ilford. Like me, he probably expected a sealed bag. When I made the same mistake, it was just a case of exuberance, excitement, and curiosity at having received my first bulk roll of film. Also like me, I'm pretty sure the OP won't make that same mistake twice.

Yes and I'm sorry for "jumping the gun".

I apologise to Tom for misreading his posts.

 

[Xmas]

What brand is that and when was the last time you bought any?

Ilford bulk comes in cardboard boxes with only open in darkroom in eight languages.
Spring this year, I buy a few boxes at the same time over the counter.
The box and plastic bag fold over is OK unless you store in fridge or freezer.
I'd note that the 135 plastic tubs are not hermetic sealed either.
I don't recall if Kentmere bulk has any warning or not.

 

[Xmas]

I've checked the Kentmere I have to hand does not have any warning, (to only open in darkroom,) and it is the normal Harman/Ilford folded over bag...

 

[Xmas]

I think Xmas was referring to Ilford.

Confirmed Ilford

But

Kodaks 5222 400ft cine normally came:
- Outer card box
- Inner tin sealed with canvass pressure sensitive tape
- Inner black plastic bag

 

[Kawaiithulhu]

To add to the fact checking: I popped open the carton on a hundred feet of Tri-X due to expire in Nov-2016 and it's in a tin, taped shut with black plastic tape like they've always been.

 

[Harman Tech Service]

In the interests of being helpful, I sent a link about this thread to Harman Tech Service using the APUG "Conversation" tool."

Thanks for bringing this to our attention Matt. In recent memory we have only had one customer report this as a problem, however after reading this thread it seems it might be a little more widespread that we thought !

The Kentmere items use a plain unprinted box, whereas the Ilford boxes are printed and contain the multilingual instruction "Open in total darkness" Clearly the Kentmere bulk labelling should have a warning somewhere, so we will look at updating this.

Taping the bags is something we could do, the rolls are packed by hand and this would be an extra operation in total darkness, so will have a knock on for productivity, but the label change is an easy one.

Neil.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

Neil,
As far as I know my Ilford HP5+ roll came with the end bit taped inside the dark bag.
The bag itself wasn't.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I might add that being careful not only applies to new rolls of bulk film. In the past I have been gifted with partially used rolls. I always open these boxes or cans in total darkness to be on the safe side. Often the giver is not sure of the condition of the roll whether in a bag or not.

 

[canvassy]

I might add that being careful not only applies to new rolls of bulk film. In the past I have been gifted with partially used rolls. I always open these boxes or cans in total darkness to be on the safe side. Often the giver is not sure of the condition of the roll whether in a bag or not.

I was given a Watson bulk loader, and didn't realize there was film in it. Not knowing any better I opened it and exposed the film. I lost probably about half a bulk roll of Tri-X Pan

 

[Harman Tech Service]

I can confirm we are updating the labels on the Kentmere bulk boxes with the statement "Open in Total Darkness"
Bags on both Ilford and Kentmere bulk rolls will also be taped with an "Open in darkroom" seal.

Hopefully this will prevent first time users having these accidents in future, thanks for your input.

Neil.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

I can confirm we are updating the labels on the Kentmere bulk boxes with the statement "Open in Total Darkness"
Bags on both Ilford and Kentmere bulk rolls will also be taped with an "Open in darkroom" seal.

Hopefully this will prevent first time users having these accidents in future, thanks for your input.

Neil.

Thanks for listening to the users.

 

[Harman Tech Service]

I can confirm we are updating the labels on the Kentmere bulk boxes with the statement "Open in Total Darkness"
Bags on both Ilford and Kentmere bulk rolls will also be taped with an "Open in darkroom" seal.

Hopefully this will prevent first time users having these accidents in future, thanks for your input.

Neil.

Slight Correction the outer box will have the darkroom safety tape applied not the bag.

Neil

 

[rpavich]

Sorry I didn't explain very well. The black bag wasn't sealed at all, just folded over. I assumed that there would be a tin inside and pulled out the whole roll! I wasn't expecting the bare negative to be so accessible, and quickly put it back in the bag.

I did the same thing when I first bought a roll of Kentmere 400. Unless you really opened up the bag in bright light it's probably not really screwed up too much, just the outer wraps. Make a few test rolls and see.
I learned my lesson, I thought the same thing as you did the first time.

 

[pbromaghin]

Slight Correction the outer box will have the darkroom safety tape applied not the bag.

Neil

Kudos to you, sir. Great customer service!

 

[MattKing]

Kudos to you, sir. Great customer service!

+1

 

[darkroommike]

Ilford (and Harman Kentmere) have been packaged in a two part box and bag for quite some time now, as are most microfilms. I it says "open only in total darkness" on the box. Most films today are also on cores rather than daylight type spools. Exceptions include some microfilms and "Eyemo" 100ft. loads of movie stock. As others have posted, raw film is pretty opaque so you'll be good a few feet into the roll with possible a bit of edge exposure through sprocket holes.

 

[Xmas]

Ilford (and Harman Kentmere) have been packaged in a two part box and bag for quite some time now, as are most microfilms. I it says "open only in total darkness" on the box. Most films today are also on cores rather than daylight type spools. Exceptions include some microfilms and "Eyemo" 100ft. loads of movie stock. As others have posted, raw film is pretty opaque so you'll be good a few feet into the roll with possible a bit of edge exposure through sprocket holes.

If your bulk film is on a spool it will still normally drop into most daylight loaders.
Fuji bulk is normally on a spool. They used to do c41 and mono bulk.

As mentioned earlier in thread Foma normally comes on a 2 inch core and it is desirable to slip a 1 inch core into the centre for smooth loading.

Cine in 400 or 1000 foot cores is easy to load into a spool in a dark bag. The spool tells you when to stop. The B&H perforations don't trouble film cameras normally. But don't try and load more than 36 frames - most camera cine is thicker than stills.