35mm Film canisters?

Gerald Koch · May 19, 2006

Butler makes a tiny cylindrical brush intended for cleaning between the teeth that is small enough to clean the velvet in the light traps.

Kodak used to sell a reloadable cassette which was made of heavy gauge metal and were the best I have ever used. Wish you could still get something similar. The Kalt ones are the best ones that I can find now.

I have had the ends of the plastic cassettes come loose and no longer use them.

srs5694 · May 19, 2006

I've used several types:

Generic plastic cassettes from (IIRC) B&H -- I prefer to attach my film end to the cassette and start loading in total darkness to avoid fogging the end of the roll. The problem is that I have a hard time getting the film inserted in these cassettes with the lights out. Once I ended up ruining the felt light trap doing so and had to transfer the film to another cassette.
Plastic cassettes from Svema film -- I find these a little bit easier to load in the dark than the ones from B&H, but these cassettes are also just a little bit taller. This means they won't fit properly in one of my three bulk loaders except with the cap off. I once had the cap from one of these (loaded with the original Svema film) come off when I unloaded the camera. (Fortunately there was just some fogging around the sprockets.)
Metal Kalt re-usable cassettes -- I find it easier to get the film into the cassettes in the dark with these than with either of the plastic types I've used, but sometimes it's hard to get the caps to snap in place. You can get them with DX coding for ISO 100 or 400, but not (AFAIK) other speeds. This fact alone makes these my preferred method of loading ISO 100 or 400 film, for the benefit of my three DX-only cameras.
Re-used factory-loaded cassettes -- If a factory-loaded cassette is unloaded without removing its caps (as 1-hour labs do), it's possible to tape your film to the stub that sticks out the end of the factory cassette and re-load it. I find this impossible to do in the dark, though, so I end up fogging a bit of film at the end. I also had my film detach from the factory film once, so I had to unload the camera in the darkroom. I recall I was a bit sloppy about attaching that roll, though. On the plus side, you can find cassettes DX coded appropriately for most common speeds. You can either re-use cassettes from film you use yourself or get some from a local 1-hour lab. In my experience, labs will just hand them over to you for free, making this the cheapest way to do it.

As was mentioned earlier, the plastic cartridges (both types) seem to produce more friction as the film is pulled out in the camera. This makes motor-drive cameras strain a bit. It's possible some would prematurely rewind the film.

Overall, I think I prefer the metal Kalt cartridges, followed by the plastic Svema cartridges and re-used factory-loaded cartridges (a tie), followed by the generic plastic cartridges. My ratings change whenever I do a bulk-loading session, though; whatever cartridge type I use most during that session tends to drop a bit in my rankings.

donbga · May 19, 2006

Cassettes For Sale

srs5694 said:
I've used several types:

I have 60 brand new Kalt cassettes for sale (non DX) for sale. If anyone is interested please PM me.

jim appleyard · May 19, 2006

I've had the tops pop off the cheapie metal ones; not good! Save yourself the hassle, buy the Kalts. I'm cheap and I also use the pre-fab ones from the one-hour labs. Most labs are quite happy to give them away. The tops never (?) come off these.

Brac · May 19, 2006

The trouble with plastic cassettes is that usually they sit a bit loose in the film chamber. IF you use them with a modern camera having a window in the back cover for checking the film type, there is a danger of light leaking in. Also they are no good for DX coding if your camera requires this.

Donald Qualls · May 19, 2006

srs5694 said:
I've used several types:

Generic plastic cassettes from (IIRC) B&H -- I prefer to attach my film end to the cassette and start loading in total darkness to avoid fogging the end of the roll. The problem is that I have a hard time getting the film inserted in these cassettes with the lights out. Once I ended up ruining the felt light trap doing so and had to transfer the film to another cassette.

I've adopted a modified method of doing this -- when I cut the film after each cassette is loaded (in the light, so I can see where I'm cutting and get the cut straight) I'm fogging a short bit anyway; I attach the film to the cassette spool and assemble the cassette without pulling more film through the loader's trap, then douse the lights to pull the additional film out and seat the cassette before closing the loader's door. That lets me do most of the operation in the light, but fog only the unavoidable bit at the tail of the film -- and do all the fussy cassette handling in the light. My experience has been that except for the most compact cameras, the fogged tail won't extend to the last frame I get before the film comes up tight, though it's certainly theoretically possible to fog half a frame if you happen to load just so. The most compact cameras (my Jubilette, for instance, or my Pen EES-2 half frame), I just have to watch the counter.

BTW, plastic cassettes work just fine for DX if you buy the DX labels -- some cameras (like my Vivitar PZ-3125) make ground contact on the cap of the cassette, but that's the fixed end for plastic cassettes, so the label can lap over the cap if needed without interfering with future reloads. I need to get a few of those; aluminum foil only gives me EI 1600 or 3200. Either that, or I need to glue the foil to the cassettes and put on tape masks for the coding...

Roger Hicks · May 19, 2006

Dear Brad,

What sort of camera are you using? Remember self-opening cassettes from Leica, Shirley Wellard and others.

Cheers,

Roger

Derek Lofgreen · May 19, 2006

I use the leftover ones from the 1hour labs. They hand them over free as srs1594 said. I use scotch tape on both sides of the film to tape it on the leftover factory stuff. It's sort of tricky at first but you get the hang of it. Before I load a cassette I take the sticky part of a post-it note and clean the felt to make sure there won't be scratches. Crack them open with a bottle opener to load on a real when I'm ready to dev. I have had no problems but I might be skating on thin ice.

D.

Brad Bireley · May 19, 2006

Roger Hicks said:
Dear Brad,

What sort of camera are you using? Remember self-opening cassettes from Leica, Shirley Wellard and others.

Cheers,

Roger

I'm using a Kiev4a & a Yashica14E Lynx.

battra92 · May 19, 2006

I just ask the local lab to give me their junk ones. They don't care and it works well for me.

Flotsam · May 19, 2006

I re-use Efke and JandC cassettes. They pop open and closed easily and securely unlike the crimped closed/pry open Kodak and Ilford etc.

Here's a handy tip: Before loading the cassette and while the end cap is off, I slide a post-it down into the slot an pull the tacky strip through it. It is just sticky enough to pick up any dust and grit without destroying and unraveling the felt.

Roger Hicks · May 20, 2006

Dear Brad,

The Kiev will use Kiev cassettes and probably Contax as well, and as far as I recall the Lynx has a pull-up rewind knob and can therefore be used with Shirley-Wellards. These are both labyrinthine cassettes which are loaded in the dark; closed; put in the camera; then opened either automatically (Kiev/Contax) or manually (Shirley-Wellard, via manipulation of the rewind lever).

Cheers,

Roger

AgCl4ever · Mar 19, 2007

Failures with bulk load minilab free cassettes?

Hi everyone,

I have been using one hour lab freebie factory cassettes for C41 (XP2, etc) film with good results until this weekend. I have been taping the fresh film to the tab of remaining film from the factory cassette, [using photolab splicing (leader) tape] as suggested in many threads and pages. No problems with 4 rolls of 100', and no need to ask for cartridges back from the lab. Until this weekend - (luckily) near the end of a studio model shoot that funny feeling that I must be at frame 55 on a 36 exposure roll. Sure enough, opening the camera in the dark revealed the film, no longer connected to the tab from the cassette, on the take up spool. The tape had separated.

What kind of success/ failure rate have people expeienced with this method of attaching film to factory cassette tabs?

Ken

patrickjames · Mar 19, 2007

What kind of camera are you using it in? Back in the day I noticed that faster motor wind cameras would rip the film from the tape, so I no longer use bulk film in those cameras.

I do use gaffer's tape for taping them, but that stuff is not lab friendly. It works great for me though. It has a very strong hold, but I can remove it easy enough when I am loading it onto reels for developing and can reuse it as well (I just fix the tape, which is remains attatched to the leader, to the side of the cassette).

Hope this helps.

Patrick

jim appleyard · Mar 19, 2007

I've only had a problem once or twice and it was not the cassettes fault, it was the tape or my error in putting it on. Use only good tape. I tried to save money by buying cheap masking tape, but buying cheap, gets you cheap. It's also a good idea to put tape on both sides of the film.

glennfromwy · Mar 19, 2007

I use Scotch tape, both sides and I'm careful to mash it on there really good. No problems to date.
On the films that I process myself, I've never seen it come off in the soup, so I've always assumed it's OK for the mini labs.

dxphoto · Mar 20, 2007

I use mask tape. out 180 rolls I have used, I have not had any problems. I have used those rolls in bessa R, G1 and canon elan II. I tape it on both sides (round it up). make sure it is even everywhere. make sure the taped part can rewind into the cassette without too much extra force.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 20, 2007

One thing to be careful about when reusing cassettes from a minilab is to inspect the light trap for fraying threads. I had one get caught in my shutter once, resulting in an expensive repair.

Monophoto · Mar 20, 2007

Those studio model shoots will do it every time - you get so involved in the subject that you lose touch with reality!

Seriously, I must have run through several dozen 100' rolls of film over the past 25 years - I've literally worn out a bulk loader - and I don't think I've ever ripped the film off the spool. I use the black plastic tape that comes on the bulk rolls for the first few rolls I spool up, and then use ordinary (cheap) masking tape after that. My camera (Nikon FM-2) has a Spiratone motor winder that makes funny noises when it senses too much resistance, and that tends to let me know that it's time to change film.

I'm also using the same cassettes that I started with years ago - mostly uncrimped either Agfachrome or Ilford HP-5 cassettes that snap together. I quickly check the felt light trap for fraying, and run a knife blade across the felt to knock loose any grit that might have accumulated to avoid scratching.

Jim Jones · Mar 20, 2007

I do much like Louie, except I use some old Scotch brand Lithographer's tape that adheres tightly, and well worn Kalt metal cassettes. They haven't failed yet.

Kilgallb · Mar 20, 2007

I was shooting a few at my Son's high school grad with a Canon EOS Elan with a motor drive. When I pressed the button to rewind early I heard a funny grinding sound. In the dark room I discovered the fujicolour film cassette (Not a self load) had opened up in the camera. The bottom cap fell off so I had to take it to a real lab for development. (One hour labs cannot deal with this situation.)

It is the first and only time I have ever had a problem with a factory loaded cassette. Well, I guess it has to happen to someone.

I have reused Kodak and Ilford factory loads when I was a kid for self loads and never had a problem. But a factory loaded film falling apart, who would think it would happen.

darkroommike · Mar 22, 2007

tape failure?

Where did the tape fail, was it your tape or the end of the original roll?

AgCl4ever · Mar 23, 2007

darkroommike said:
Where did the tape fail, was it your tape or the end of the original roll?

My tape failed - the original film tab stayed taped to the cassette spindle. I'm thinking that the splicing/ leader tape is looking more and more like the problem.

Ken

Paul Verizzo · Feb 1, 2008

35 mm Cartridge Desert?

Getting "back into" film after an eight year digital journey, I was ordering some materials from Freestyle. I was going to order carts but then saw many postings here about freebies from Wal-Green's and elsewhere. (Slaps forehead.) So, I put that money into other items, then went free cart shopping, visions of 2 gallon baggies filled up.

HA! Wart-Mart, had no clue what I was asking about. Wal-Greens just lied, as did the CVS. Very amazing, they just don't have them. W-G #2 at least looked and said that they just sent them to recycling. I even looked in back, but nada.

Finally I went to the last remaining real photo store in this town of 60,000 and he scraped up five carts, no cans. "Pretty sad, this is it for the day (at 3 PM)." So I bought his last PX and a TX.

So, my experience was quite different than many of the forum members!

BTW, the staked carts can be opened carefully with the right can opener. I then used a very small screw driver to slightly widen the channel of the cap, and voila!

But I guess the next time I order from Freestyle, I'll buy carts. It pains me to think of the dozens I threw out moving last fall thinking if I got back to film, it would be a long time out.

luke_h · Feb 1, 2008

I'm not sure I follow. even if you managed to pull one of the end caps off of a retail film 35mm cassette, it'd be unlikely to refit to the main body again without falling off. they're pressed by machine. It's like trying to put the orange juice lid back onto the cardboard can.

As for reusable ones, I much prefer the plastic ones over the metal ones. The metal ones sometimes are DX encoded which can be handy if you're using some automagic cameras like my Olympus Stylus Epic.

But I would never use whatever the photo labs have pulled apart.

35mm Film canisters?

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