35mm bulk loader?

[Murray@uptowngallery]

What's on the market these days for bulk loaders, pros, cons?

How do used ones hold up, light leaks, etc?

Thanks

 

[zenrhino]

Murray, I have 2 each used Watsons and Aldens and have never had a problem with any of them. I prefer the Aldens just for the aesthetics, but ymmv. There are new ones out there -- the Lloyd and Bobinquick ones are pretty nice, I've just never used one outside of school.

 

[jmcd]

Alden 74. I have found it to be durable, and have never had a problem with scratches. However, the tail end of each roll, your last frame or so, is exposed to the light if you tape the film to the spool in daylight.

Now, I just fasten a strong clip onto the door trim in my darkroom, snip a length of film from the roll and grip it with the clip, and roll it up. Simpler, and no surprises at the end of the roll with dark frames.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I have one original Kaiser from Germany and 5 Japanese copies, which were at least ½ the price of the German one.

The Kaiser and it's copies are really good as when you insert the winding handle it opens the film gate. This allows the film to travel through the gate without being hindered by a light trap made up of a brush or like material, possibly felt.

Prior to that, I always eventually received some tramlines on film from dust embedded in the light trap.

Mick.

 

[One_DaveT]

My Watson 100 works well for me. All brands seem to sell for opening price on e-bay, many of which are hardly used. I'd recommend picking your preferred brand/model used one based on the sellers shipping cost ;-)

Regarding used ones and light leaks. Keep in mind where and how these are used. People don't travel, drop, or abuse them while they are in their posession. I would speculate most used loaders are as good as new.

I keep all of my unused bulk film in their canisters in the freezer, so my loader is always empty and haven't had the need for multiple loaders. I do tend to load 5-10 casettes at a time.

 

[Michael W]

I own 4 or 5 bulk loaders. They are different brands but all the same design. Hansa, Konica, AP. Some I got from ebay for approx $20 & one from a camera fair for $10. It's a simple design & works well. I'm not much of a mechanic but I did take one apart once to fix a problem & it was amazingly simple & basic inside. The only problem I have with one of them is that the roll length counter doesn't reset when I put in a new bulk roll. Not a problem as I generally load 10 rolls in one session & then 10 in the second session & that's pretty much the end of the roll.

 

[Murray@uptowngallery]

Thank you all.

M

 

[PhotoJim]

I keep all of my unused bulk film in their canisters in the freezer, so my loader is always empty and haven't had the need for multiple loaders. I do tend to load 5-10 casettes at a time.

I load the whole 30.5 metres (100 feet) at once. My loader is always empty, unless I have put in a fresh spool of film and haven't loaded it into cartridges yet.

 

[ricksplace]

Lloyds. I have three of them. All of them work perfectly, including the cheap copy of a Lloyd's. Can be purchased on ebay for cheap. Make sure it comes with the handle (detachable). You should be able to get one for under $10.

 

[marsbars]

Not meaning to hijack this thread but I have never used a bulk loader, but have been interested in the idea. Once they are loaded does the rolling of individual cartridges happen in the light. Or does it all have to take place in a dark room. I know that loading the loader has to be in the dark.

 

[bdial]

Once the bulk roll is in the loader everything else happens in the light. The bulk roll is put into the loader with the end in a chamber that holds the cassette. You tape the end onto the cassete spool, and assemble the shell around it, close the chamber and roll the film into the cassette.
You end up with an inch or so near the spool that is fogged, and sometimes that will catch the last frame.

 

[Nick Zentena]

A daylight loader is used in the daylight -)

I'm not sure about the point that bulk loaders never get abused. A lot would have been used in school or other places.

The Watson and Aldens are the same design. Old Watsons are much better made then newer Watsons but the design hasn't changed any. My first choice would be an Alden but that's just what I like.

 

[pentaxuser]

I have two but have only used one so far. Most photographers need at least two different film speeds so I'd get two loaders. If you're a big user of B&W then over the years a bulk loader can save you a lot of money as well as giving you flexibility in the number of frames loaded. If you have a selection of say 12 frame cassettes then even with the variable weather in the U.K. you can indulge in the the zone system development (N, N+1, N-1) to the extent of burning off 12 shots in flat light conditions then swopping to another cassette in sunny conditions later in the day. As bulk film is so much cheaper it may not matter if you shoot say 8 frames then have to change films and waste 4 frames. Of course such changeable conditions may not arise where you are but in the UK we famously have all 4 seasons in the same afternoon.

Just a tip but when you get a loader try loading a spoilt film into the loader in the dark. Both of mine have a labyrinthine path from the centre to the mouth and if you haven't tried to trace this path a couple of times as a dry run with spoilt film you might get into difficulties with the bulk film and it wouldn't do to get it wrong with "live" film. Loading a bulk loader isn't complcated but it's a bit like loading a reel for the first time with film for development. Practice is well worth the effort

pentaxuser

 

[Murray@uptowngallery]

Thanks for the tips. I haven't used one since 1977. I was even shocked at what empties cost!

I found an unused use Watson 100. That'll work.

 

[Dennis S]

bulk loaders

I have 3 Watsons. I bought a old Watson 66B which has a very nice look to it and feels more solid than the 100s. Who can afford to shoot mega rls with out one ?? With out one I would be paying 5X as much. Nice to do if you have nothing better to spend your $$$ s on. I have things like food and accommodation to take up my excess money.

 

[Anscojohn]

I have not used a loader since college in the early 1960s. Three nails along the door jam of the darkroom give me the lengths needed for shorter and longer rolls. Never a problem with scratches; no dead frames at the end of the roll. We don't use a de-loader to get the film out of the cartridge--why use a loader to get film in?

 

[Mike Wilde]

surplus bulk loaders

pm me if you are interested - yours for the cost of postage

I have three that are surplus in addition to the two that I actively use.

From memory - they have been in a box out of sight for about half a year or more since they were gifted to me- two lloyds and 1 watson or alden. The lloyds are the old small bakelite ones where you count the the cranks on the wind lever to estimate the number of frames loaded. The watson or alden is the type that clicks on every frame wound on, and is the older bakelite design.

I find that I really only need one. I have a stable of cassettes, well maintained, from way back from before store brand film clinched the bottom on the cassette - heck - they even pre-date DX coding. I usually keep about 6 -36's of each type of film I work with wound on cassettes and kept in the fridge. When I get down to one or two rolls left, I load more.

That way the pan F , fp4, hp5, tmax 400, kodalith 6556 t3, and fine grained positive release film that is still in bulk form can stay individually enclised in a taped shut steel tin in the freezer. Once a while back I would keep bulk loaders in a plastic zip lock in a coffe can in the freezer, but it takes up too much space, in addition to leaving a larger thremall mass to allow to warm before loading onto casstes can begin.

 

[edz]

One word of warning on bulk loaders: NOT all can handle all films as many were designed for cores. While many films still come on cores (such as Ilford) not all do. Some films (and nearly all microfilms) come on spools. These won't fit. The "popular Telesar (once sold also under the HAMA brand), Alden, Watson and Llyoyds were, I think, designed exclusively to be used with film on cores (film wound on a little tube of plastic or cardboard). Back in the 1960s and 1970s one bulk loaded to save money and the design for core was right. The films one purchased were all on core and more or less similar. Today its not. It used to be that bulk film cost less than 1/3 the price of cassettes. Today the price advantage for bulk loading 36 exposure cassettes has more or less vanished. Today the films tend to be more diverse and come on all kinds of different cores and spools (Foma, Agfa) and base thicknesses and materials vary widely. Bulk loading has its place today, I feel, exclusively with specialty and industrial film stocks (precisely many of those that don't come on cores and/or those with thinner bases). Standard "interesting films" to bulk load, for example, are traffic/surveillance --- generally inexpensive films with extended red (often sold in non traffic markets as "IR film" for high prices)---- microfilms and motion picture stocks. Few of these will probably come on 30 meter cores.

 

[AgX]

You end up with an inch or so near the spool that is fogged, and sometimes that will catch the last frame.

With more films coated on an undyed PET base releasd as bulk roll this fogging starting from the spool will most likely be more severe and should be considered.

Either attach such a film to the spool in the dark, or fill more film into the cassette to keep this fogging off the 36 standard frames.
Of course there still will be fogging originating from the leader.