35mm reloadable cassettes

[DanielStone]

hey all,

i gots me a predicament here. i got a 100' roll of tri-x a year or so back, and its been staring at me every time i open the fridge to get something . i have been trying to find a source for some cheap 35mm reloadable cassettes, but after searching the 'Bay to no avail(except the people selling the Leica ones for 35 bucks a piece). Freestyle wants 15.75 for 25 of em', but I'm on a SERIOUS BUDGET here. Having just started back at school, I'm pretty much flat broke.

If any of you have any ideas as to a source, or if any of you have and amount you could give away. i'd need total of about 50 or so(to spool up the roll of tri-x for class and summer shooting. around( i have 2 rolls of ektachrome 64 i need to shoot eventually as well ).

they don't need to be dx-coded, and i can borrow a bulk loader from a friend. albeit, it would be nice to have one of my own that is

any help would be appreciated.

-dan
a broke college student(at the time-being that is )

-dan

 

[Anon Ymous]

Go to a lab and ask them if they have any empty cassettes from processed films. They'll probably give you what they have for free.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

I went through a roll of Ilford XP2 using two metal reloadable cartridges, you just load them up, shoot, process, and re-load. I've got a dozen that I've scrounged from various sources now and that does me fine between 3 loaders - but it's well worth asking at a local minilab, they just throw them out.

 

[bdial]

Kodak cassettes aren't reloadable, I pretty sure Fuji's are crimped too, so lab discards of those won't be useful. You can probably find some in yard sales though. And there are probably some kicking around older camera shops (the ones that still exist) that they'd love to get rid of.

 

[Anon Ymous]

Oh, you're not supposed to open them. Some film will be probably there to allow you to tape yours on it.

 

[Neal]

Dear Dan,

You only need a few, I got along with a dozen for several years. A 100' roll will yield about 18 rolls of 36 exposures. Adorama sells a pack of 10 for $6.49. If you live in a big enough city there will be at least one big camera shop that should still sell them individually (if the inventory is very old they may actually be cheaper than online).

Neal Wydra

p.s. Check this out (if you can wait): http://cgi.ebay.com/Bakers-Dozen-Fi...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1234|293:1|294:50

 

[GJA]

Hey. I have a lot and I would be willing to send you some for free since you shouldn't pay for something like this when money is tight. Ive tried using normal film cassettes that came with film inside, but, they never have worked as well.

Mine arn't DX coded,but they are easy to load and re-use and they are metal.

The OP should PM me.

 

[aluk]

I have been completely satisfied with attaching the bulk film to free used cassettes picked up from Walmart's photo lab and re-winding it, though of course this increases the risks of scratches.

 

[eric]

I'm in Socal. Where are you? I have some Kodak brand you can have (brand new). I have a few of them.

 

[Saganich]

I've been reloading cassettes from my local photo lab for a few years now. Just tape the new film to the end of the old leader thats sticking out and roll it up. Bulk loaders are hard to get these days BTW. Reusable cassettes are ok but I don't recommend using them more then 3 or 4 times.

 

[BetterSense]

I used minilab cartridges from Target before as well. It works and they were free.

 

[Thomas Wilson]

I always grabbed the Agfa cassettes from the mini-lab trash can (after asking, of course). They were always the easiest to open, just a little pinch and pop off the rim with your fingers. A much better alternative to the plastic reloadables (in my opinion).

 

[DanielStone]

thanks for the info guys! i'll have to troll the local labs and see if they have some canisters i can try it out on!

-dan

 

[Rick Levine]

Not to be too discouraging, but the last time I used reloadable cassettes was during a day off during my tour of duty in Viet Nam (I was an Army photographer). I was walking down a street in Saigon and had just gotten what I thought were some incredible street scenes. I had a Leica M3 and was attempting to load a new cassette. If you know the M3, the bottom comes off completely and you have to pull the cassette out from the bottom. As I was grabbing the cassette by the spool I dropped it and of course it hit spool side down. It popped open and all of the images were gone. That was the last time I reloaded film. Just be aware of the issue.

 

[John Bragg]

Calumet list several types of reloadable cassettes.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?query=reloadable+cassettes&x=0&y=0&ac.ui.pn=search.Search