AP plastic reloadable film cassettes quality (or lack). Any experience?

Anon Ymous · Jan 17, 2019

Hi

I recently bought a bulk roll of Ilford HP5+ from Fotoimpex, along with some AP plastic reloadable cassettes. I hadn't bought any of them before, I had only used some old, metal cassettes, probably Kaiser. The metal ones are still nice after all these years, with minimal wear. The ones I bought now don't seem to be anywhere near as good. It's not the plastic itself that doesn't instil much confidence; it's the velvet/felt material that seems to fall apart. Even rubbing it lightly with my finger seems to leave quite a lot of these fibers, who knows what would it leave on the film itself... Needless to say, I'm not too keen on using them.

So, the question is, has anyone of you tried them lately? Do you have similar experience with them? Do you know any other source of decent quality reloadable cassettes?

Thanks in advance.

koraks · Jan 17, 2019

Anon Ymous said:
Do you know any other source of decent quality reloadable cassettes?

Officially not reloadable, but I tend to reuse Fuji cassettes a lot. If you open them a bit carefully with a beer opener, they can be reused many times. No scratches, dirt or light leaks so far despite having reused some of them a dozen times or more.

AgX · Jan 17, 2019

I repeatedly asked here in vain what is available and, more imnportant, what is made by whom, in order to identify different casettes as otherwise all talking is comparing apples to oranges.

Kaiser still offer reloadable plastic cassettes. Though they might be the same as those made by AP. (Though both are manufacturers they seem to share some products. And both no longer offer metal ones.)

You might try to clean the velvet by pulling something trough them aided with a vcuum. Others have succesfully used weakly sticky tape lape asPost-It on dudsty velvet. True velvet should not loose fibers, as they are woven-in. Maybey in your cae the fibres are from the cut edges.

But of course this is an issue go should ask a refund for. I nearly only buy used stuff as new stuff typically has issue and I have to spent time on it anyway. But it is sad they we get used to buy new stuff with issues already.

guangong · Jan 17, 2019

I used plastic reloadables years and years ago, but preferred reusing Agfa film cassettes. Korak’s Fuji could be an alternative. Now I only reload Leitz and Zeiss cassettes because film never touches cassette opening when in camera. Same is true of Nikon cassettes. Not familiar with Kaiser.
For the most part I use bulk film because I have better control when slitting film for Minox and Minolta 16, making bulk film more economical. Loading my Leitz and Zeiss cassettes is simply a byproduct because I have the film available. For 35mm I prefer to use individual rolls, new, out of the box. There is little cost advantage between store bought and roll your own, but much less hazard of dust, fibers, etc. Do the math and compare total price vs time and possible screw up.

LibraryTroll · Jan 17, 2019

Arista still makes metal reloadable 35mm film cartridges. These currently show available in packs of 5 or 25 on the Freestyle Photographic Supplies website. See here: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/18315-Arista-35mm-Metal-Reloadable-Cartridge-5-pack

I have older metal cartridges that I've had for 30 years that are still serviceable, but I don't think they are these Arista examples. I did buy some of the plastic ones a few years ago simply because they were a really cheap option and I needed a good number of them for a pinhole photography class that I was planning. The camera template was cut from a cereal box and required an empty 35mm cartridge as the take-up. Sadly, the program structure changed into one with a guest speaker so we gave out the materials free to those attending to build at home. I built a "dummy" example, but I never actually took photos with it and I have no idea how well the plastic cartridges worked (or not).

destroya · Jan 17, 2019

I use them and have for over 8 years. Never had any issues with scratching. A few had the felt come out so they were put in the trash. They do what they are designed to do. Just be a little careful when storing them and you should be fine for a long time. I would guess that some of mine have had over 100 rolls put thru them with no issues.

guangong · Jan 17, 2019

I have a box of reloadable cassettes, unused, that were made by Kodak.

Saganich · Jan 17, 2019

I tend to notice exposed rebate with the plastic ones compared to the metal "snap-on" one so perhaps long term storage is an issue. On the other hand I never had a plastic cassette explode on impact when dropped on the sidewalk...depends what your more worried about I supposed... I second cleaning the felt, but more important probably is storing them in clean environment (as opposed to loose in the bottom of a draw like mine often are.)

jim appleyard · Jan 17, 2019

In other threads about re-loadable cassettes, people really like the ones that are/were offered by Brandess/Kalt, but I don't know if they're still made or where to buy them.

tomkatf · Jan 17, 2019

Ilford makes(made anyway) the best ones...

canuhead · Jan 17, 2019

yup, early brass coloured end cap Ilford cassettes were the best. to think of all the ones that got pitched over the years...sigh

tokam · Jan 17, 2019

I still have about 30 old Ilford cassettes currently loaded and in the fridge inside ziplock bags. Using them very slowly and I hope I don't have any corrosion issues.

I also have a stash of plastic reloadable cassettes I bought nearly 30 years ago and still going strong. My main issue with the plastic cassettes is getting the film leader between the felt lips of the cassette. The plastic cassettes do not spring open when the end cap is removed and the gap to insert the film is very narrow. Metal cassettes, on the other hand tend to spring open leaving a wider gap to insert the film before fitting the end cap.

Also be wary of some of the modern metal reloadable cassettes as the are made of a thinner guage metal than Ilford / AGFA cassettes of old. Have to be more careful when aligning the end cap before applying pressure else I accidentally bent one of them and couldn't secure the end cap properly.

cmacd123 · Jan 18, 2019

Almost all of the reloadable cassettes seem to have been made by AP over the years, no matter the brand. the plastic screw caps were based on the ones that were used on ADOX film in the 1960s and they used to be quite good, but I have also found the newest ones to have very poor felt. one I was trying to use for the fisrt time even had the felt come completely out. I always found there were some light leaks from the end where the cap is, as Inserting the film tends to cause wear on the felt at that end.

the metal ones were based on the style that Agfa and Ilford used in the 60s and70s, with the exception that the very old ones had the film come out almost radially, and they changed that when cameras started having windows on the back to show the type of film. I beleive that the last several batches I saw of these started to have a problem with cassette not being fully round, which I assume is due to the tooling wearing out. the also stopped making the DX coded version, which I suspect is also a tooling issue, as the metal would have to be more precisely cut to have the codes come out in the right place. Note at that time Foma stopped using DX coded one time cassettes, and I suspect there supply also comes from AP.

Ilford spent a half million Dollars to bring their one time cassette production in house around the same time because of "quality issues" with the cassettes they were buying. It is not clear if AP was also providing them with empty cassettes.

Bottom line for me is to guard you resuables carefully. I track mine with Twin Check tabs, so I can discard the ones that have worn out.

AgX · Jan 18, 2019

Very informative!

But what do mean by "I track mine with Twin Check tabs, so I can discard the ones that have worn out."? Having a use-count so to say stick on them?

cmacd123 · Jan 18, 2019

AgX said:
Very informative!

But what do mean by "I track mine with Twin Check tabs, so I can discard the ones that have worn out."? Having a use-count so to say stick on them?

I use a twin check tab on the cassette, and note the number with the other details when I load the tank to develop some film. (I normally save up film to do in a batch) if their is too much fog, or other cassette related problems, I decide the cassette is too far gone and use the number to find and discard it.

AgX · Jan 19, 2019

A "Twin Check Tab" is a synonyme for a permanent sticker I assume.

BMbikerider · Jan 19, 2019

I have stopped using plastic re-loadable cassettes because of recurring dust problems. Plastic creates a static electrical charge that attracts dust and the possible risk of scratches. There is a supply of reloadable metal ones in UK from a supplier called Morco (morco.co.uk) and they have not given any problems. They are a little more expensive than plastic but the quality is far better

AgX · Jan 19, 2019

No longer listed.

R.Gould · Jan 19, 2019

Firstcall Photographic in the UK do both Plastic cassettes under their own name or coconut wood cassettes

cmacd123 · Jan 19, 2019

AgX said:
A "Twin Check Tab" is a synonyme for a permanent sticker I assume.

the stickers that Minilabs use to track film processing - two plastic labels, eith the same 4 ot 5 digit number printed on Both. supplied in a roll of several hundred.

Minilabs stick one on the film before it is processed and one on the order envelope. once out of the processor they can match the numbers to the original order.

for cassettes I just stick one tapb more or less permanatly to the bar code area on the cassette. I normaly use the tabs on my film to match the film out of the tanks with my original notes, (one tab on the film, one on the notes. ) when I use a relaodable cassette for the first time I write the nuber by hand on my notes, with one tab on the film and one on the cassette. OTOH, if the cassette already has a tab, I just write that on my notes instead and stick a fresh pair of tabs on the film and my notes.

they are called Twins as both tabs in a pair have the same number.

here is an example of the product https://www.continentalphoto.com/itemdetails.asp?mod=TC2000

removedacct3 · Jan 20, 2019

BMbikerider said:
... There is a supply of reloadable metal ones in UK from a supplier called Morco (morco.co.uk) and they have not given any problems.

Are you sure about the website? Shouldn't it be 'morco.uk.com'? Anyway as AgX already mentioned they are no longer listed. But how about this .... www.ultrafineonline.com/bufilosu.html

Price seems very reasonable ,but shipping to Europe is bloody expensive.

BMbikerider · Jan 20, 2019

I think you are incorrect on both counts. The full URL is www://morco.co.uk The telephone number from elsewhere than UK is 0044 1636 823922. They do not always list everything on their website but they usually carry some stocks but the availability can be sporadic.
I bought mine around 12 months ago. They sell a packs of 10 DX Coded to ISO100. They also produce a paper catalogue which I have (the latest copy) but no cassettes at all are listed, but again they may have them if you ask.

foc · Jan 20, 2019

I tried the www://morco.co.uk but couldn't get them. It appears the URL is https://www.morco.uk.com

Anon Ymous · Jan 20, 2019

AgX said:
... You might try to clean the velvet by pulling something trough them aided with a vcuum. Others have succesfully used weakly sticky tape lape asPost-It on dudsty velvet. True velvet should not loose fibers, as they are woven-in. Maybey in your cae the fibres are from the cut edges...

I tried using some (not very sticky) paper tape to make any lose fibers stick to it. It seemingly did take some lose fibers off, but I was unable to pass it through the slit, it's just too tight as someone else has already said. It's certainly not velvet though. It is a kind of plastic with fibers stuck on it. This in turn is glued to the body of the cassette. Overall, the construction is iffy...

guangong said:
... For 35mm I prefer to use individual rolls, new, out of the box. There is little cost advantage between store bought and roll your own, but much less hazard of dust, fibers, etc. Do the math and compare total price vs time and possible screw up.

Cost savings can be considerable, depending on the case, but the ability to load whatever length is a big plus IMHO. If you're doing any kind of film testing where short lengths are needed, 36 exposure rolls aren't very convenient. Besides, 36 exposures can be a bit too much for people like me.

LibraryTroll said:
Arista still makes metal reloadable 35mm film cartridges. These currently show available in packs of 5 or 25 on the Freestyle Photographic Supplies website. See here: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/18315-Arista-35mm-Metal-Reloadable-Cartridge-5-pack ...

These look very much like the ones I have and are of very good quality. Sadly, by the time they leave the Greek customs they'll be ridiculously expensive. That would be a 15€ fee plus 24% vat on the actual value + shipping. Eye-watering for a bunch of cassettes...

Anon Ymous · Jan 20, 2019

cmacd123 said:
Almost all of the reloadable cassettes seem to have been made by AP over the years, no matter the brand. the plastic screw caps were based on the ones that were used on ADOX film in the 1960s and they used to be quite good, but I have also found the newest ones to have very poor felt. one I was trying to use for the fisrt time even had the felt come completely out. I always found there were some light leaks from the end where the cap is, as Inserting the film tends to cause wear on the felt at that end...

I have no idea what Adox film cassettes looked like in the 1960s, wasn't even born back then. But the funny thing is that all current Adox films seem to come in cassettes that really look like the ones I bought. Here's what I bought, and here's what the factory loaded ones look like: Adox Scala 160, Silvermax, CHS 100. Has anyone used any of these films? Does the top open by twisting it?

AP plastic reloadable film cassettes quality (or lack). Any experience?

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