Bulk Film.

[Black&White]

Been years since I've bulk loaded film....(don't even know if I remember how!) ....but what would 100' give you in exposures? or how many rolls of 24 exp. would I expect to get? Thanks.

 

[Monophoto]

A 35mm frame is 1.5" wide. So if you allow for 9" at each end, a 24 exposure roll would be a bit more than 61" long. Therefore, a 100ft roll would yield 19 full rolls, and a short roll to play with.

 

[Dave Parker]

I get close to 20 36 exposure rolls out of a 100' bulk roll....I just measured a 36 exp roll and it is 64 inches from attachment point to the roll to the end of the tab..a 35mm frame is approx 1 3/8 long...of course I have never allowed 9 inches on either end and have never had any problems, at most I loose a couple of inches on each end..

Dave

 

[htmlguru4242]

I don't bulkload myself, but those that I know that do get anywhere between 18 and 20 rolls; it dependso n exactly how you load the cartriges.

 

[Black&White]

thanks guys!

 

[srs5694]

Aside from Monophoto, the replies you've gotten mention 36-exposure rolls. I don't believe Monophoto's calculation is correct, since I get about 18 36-exposure rolls out of a 100-foot bulk roll. The 12-exposure difference between 36- and 24-exposure rolls works out to 432mm (not counting inter-frame space, so it's a slight underestimate), so 18 24-exposure rolls would be 7776mm shorter than 18 36-exposure rolls. That it turn translates to 306 inches, or 25.5 feet, left after loading 18 24-exposure rolls. Call that 1/4 the 100-foot roll length, so with 18 24-exposure rolls being 3/4 the bulk roll, the whole thing should yield something on the order of 24 24-exposure rolls.

 

[Steve Roberts]

Been years since I've bulk loaded film....(don't even know if I remember how!) ....but what would 100' give you in exposures? or how many rolls of 24 exp. would I expect to get? Thanks.

The beauty of bulk-loading to me is that I'm not tied to 24 or 36 exposures, but can also load 17, 31 or whatever - usually by accident when I'm guesstimating the length in total darkness!!! It all makes for an interesting life.

Steve

 

[kraker]

bulk load 90 m...

Sorry for piggybacking on this thread, but it seemed like a good place for my question.

I recently bought 90 metres of Polypan F Professional (50 ASA, really an unknown brand, but I couldn't resist for 20 Euros). Only later did I realise that 90 metres certainly will not fit in my daylight loader.

One possibility, though not very convenient, is to go back to my old-fashioned way of measuring an arm's length of film in the darkroom and putting that in a 35mm cassette, repeat until it does fit in the bulk loader.

Another idea is to wind about 30 meters onto an empty bulk film spool, bulk load that, and repeat. Disadvantage: numbering of frames will be counting down instead of up.

Any other suggestions? What would you do?

 

[Steve Roberts]

Any other suggestions? What would you do?

By the time you get down to the 30m that most bulk film loaders will handle you'll be so good at doing it by the handraulic method that it will hardly be worth getting the bulk loader out of the cupboard! Suggest you leave it there!

There must be a lot of fun to be had with so much film so cheap!

Steve

 

[srs5694]

I recently bought 90 metres of Polypan F Professional (50 ASA, really an unknown brand, but I couldn't resist for 20 Euros). Only later did I realise that 90 metres certainly will not fit in my daylight loader.

I seem to recall seeing bulk loaders with greater-than-30m-capacity on eBay. I've a vague recollection that they were 200 feet (~60m) in capacity, but you might be able to find something with even greater capacity, and even a 200-foot model would be helpful, since it would minimize the amount of respooling you'd need to do.

If your main concern is the backwards frame numbers from respooling before using your existing bulk loader, you could the the respooling twice. That'd get you something with the correct frame numbering, at the cost of increased effort and increased risk of a mistake causing scratches or other problems.

 

[Dave Parker]

I have a 200' Alden model 72 that has counters and such on it, it will take a 200 foot reel of film.

Dave

 

[Donald Qualls]

I recently bought 90 metres of Polypan F Professional (50 ASA, really an unknown brand, but I couldn't resist for 20 Euros).

You're likely to find you like that film a lot if the ISO 50 speed suits you -- it's rebranded Ilford Pan F+. Getting it in 90 meter length suggests it's originally cine stock, but with Ilford, the cine B&W is the same emulsion as what we get in 35 mm cassettes. So, you got yourself close to 70 Euro worth of Pan F there...

What I'd suggest is to obtain a used 35 mm cine camera spool (and can, if possible -- IIRC, these usually come in 120+ meter size, and the spool may not fit back in the can your short end is in) and rewind the film onto that, then wind off approximate 30 meter lengths onto used bulk roll cores (which will now have the correct numbering direction).

 

[kraker]

You're likely to find you like that film a lot if the ISO 50 speed suits you -- it's rebranded Ilford Pan F+. Getting it in 90 meter length suggests it's originally cine stock, but with Ilford, the cine B&W is the same emulsion as what we get in 35 mm cassettes. So, you got yourself close to 70 Euro worth of Pan F there...

So far, the information I could find about this film on this and other sites is inconclusive, although most evidence indeed points in the direction of Ilford. Hey, there's even a hint on the film can: "Entwickler:" (developer) "ILFORD ID-11".

At least for the first few rolls I will just do a quick job of taking about 1.5 metres and putting it on a 35mm cassette in the darkroom. After that, I will decide how to proceed. Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

[kraker]

At least for the first few rolls I will just do a quick job of taking about 1.5 metres and putting it on a 35mm cassette in the darkroom. After that, I will decide how to proceed. Thank you all for your suggestions.

Took a while, but I finally shot and processed the first roll of Polypan F, just thought I'd share some experiences here.

First, it's rated ISO 50, but based on the limited number of developers I'm using right now and the information of the Massive Dev Chart, I decided to rate it at ISO 25 and try the HC110 dilution H, but then with Ilfotec HC. What I did was HC 1+63, 12:30 mins, first 3 minutes 4 inversions (0, 1, 2), then one inversion every 3 minutes (3, 6, 9, 12). I haven't printed anything yet, but just by the sight of things, the negs look quite dense. So, maybe I could still be rating at ISO 50, which would make the film a *bit* more useable

Anyway. I commented earlier on how I would be able to use the 100 meter meterware with only a 30 meter bulk loader. In this respect, the good news is that there's no numbering or anything else on the film. So, I could spool about 1/3 of the 100 metres onto an empty spool and use that from the bulk loader without having reverse numbering. I'm not sure whether I like that, I guess reverse numbering would have been better than no numbering at all...

I guess my next attempt will be at ISO 50, and from there adjust the development / inversion times. More news later (don't hold your breath, though).

 

[ricksplace]

Sorry for piggybacking on this thread, but it seemed like a good place for my question.

I recently bought 90 metres of Polypan F Professional (50 ASA, really an unknown brand, but I couldn't resist for 20 Euros). Only later did I realise that 90 metres certainly will not fit in my daylight loader.

One possibility, though not very convenient, is to go back to my old-fashioned way of measuring an arm's length of film in the darkroom and putting that in a 35mm cassette, repeat until it does fit in the bulk loader.

Another idea is to wind about 30 meters onto an empty bulk film spool, bulk load that, and repeat. Disadvantage: numbering of frames will be counting down instead of up.

Any other suggestions? What would you do?

Last year, I won on ebay two 400' rolls (that's right four hundred feet) of fp4+ and a 200' roll of panF. They are cine film and don't have frame numbers. They shoot just fine, and I can't notice any difference from "regular" 35mm ilford film, other than the sprocket holes are not square, but slightly beveled. They feed fine in all of my 35mm's. I rewind the film onto a 30m spool and drop it into my bulk loader(s). At the price I paid, I can live without frame numbers. IIRC I think the total for the three rolls was about $45 before shipping. gloat.

I have checked back to the seller on occasion to see if any more of this surplus cine stock was available, but alas, to no avail. The seller was photoliquidator, I think. It was not listed under film, but rather under movie accessories. I got the film so cheap because of where it was listed. No-one else noticed it. For those of you who have the time to cruise ebay, good luck!

 

[Gerald Koch]

I regularly use two Kodak cine films 5231 and 5222. The Kodak films are on a slightly thicker base to allow for the stress that cine films encounter. Because of the thicker base it is not possible to get 36 exposures loads. I usually make 24 exposure loads instead. You may experience something similar with the Ilford films. BTW, Ilford no longer makes cine films.

 

[Helen B]

As far as I remember Ilford MP film was identical to the still film, on the same 125 micron acetate base. The only difference was the B&H perforations and the footage numbering. It didn't have the equivalent of Kodak Keykode (machine readable footage numbers) - which was a bit of a downer.

Best,
Helen

 

[DWThomas]

In my wayward youth I got ahold of a bulk roll of film and resolved the length measuring issue by driving two 6 penny finish nails into an out of the way vertical moulding in the closet where I operated on film. Then one just tapes the end of the bulk roll to the spool and hangs it on the upper nail. Unroll until reaching the lower nail (by feel) and snip it off. Accurate results every time.

Of course, at my current age, I might no longer be able to bend down low enough for a 36 exposure roll!

DaveT

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Funny, I have been bulk loading for 20+ years, and most of them I was rolling 3-4 100ft rolls a month, and I have learned a few tricks. One is to put a small pen mark on the inside of the loader to orient the cut in the same place. I also mark the '0' on the counter, then roll past the mark and plus 3 frames. Gives me a perfect 36 exp. with one 'bonus' frame in case I need it, and accounts for the (excessive I think) blank wind-on the Nikon F4 does. Now here is the funny part! Same loader, same mark, same count. I use lots of Neopan 400 now (lots, like sometimes 7-10 100ft rolls a month) and I can get 20 rolls even, with one tiny sub-roll of between 6-7 frames extra, and I can nail this exact count each and every time, each and every Neopan bulk roll. Now, when I use anything else, Anything, be it Tri-x or HP-5 or Portra 400 NC or Astia or whatever, never never do I get the 20 rolls. Its always 18 rolls plus a 12-15 frame tiny roll. I've done this so much over the years and personally speculated enough that I'm convinced that the Fuji Neopan is a longer than 100 ft roll. Now it get weirder! After a dry spell of US Neopan I ordered some Neopan 'Presto' from Japan, Dirk at Megapearls, 100 ft and guess what! The same 18 rolls plus 12-15 frames. After the 15 Presto 100ft rolls later, I got my shipment of US Neopan and guess again! Back to the 20 rolls plus 6-7 frames. Its no longer speculation for me, its a fact. 20 rolls.

 

[srs5694]

The seller was photoliquidator, I think. It was not listed under film, but rather under movie accessories. I got the film so cheap because of where it was listed. No-one else noticed it. For those of you who have the time to cruise ebay, good luck!

Film Emporium is a Web retailer that sells motion picture film. I've never bought from them, though. Their prices aren't the bargains you report, but they're not bad if you want a lot of film.

Concerning the comments about frame numbers, FWIW Foma's 100-foot bulk rolls for still cameras lack frame numbers in my experience. If you buy Freestyle's Arista.EDU Ultra rebranded version, they lack any edge markings at all. The Foma-branded bulk rolls do at least identify the film manufacturer and type.

 

[Gerald Koch]

I use lots of Neopan 400 now (lots, like sometimes 7-10 100ft rolls a month) and I can get 20 rolls even, with one tiny sub-roll of between 6-7 frames extra, and I can nail this exact count each and every time, each and every Neopan bulk roll. Now, when I use anything else, Anything, be it Tri-x or HP-5 or Portra 400 NC or Astia or whatever, never never do I get the 20 rolls. Its always 18 rolls plus a 12-15 frame tiny roll. I've done this so much over the years and personally speculated enough that I'm convinced that the Fuji Neopan is a longer than 100 ft roll. Now it get weirder! After a dry spell of US Neopan I ordered some Neopan 'Presto' from Japan, Dirk at Megapearls, 100 ft and guess what! The same 18 rolls plus 12-15 frames. After the 15 Presto 100ft rolls later, I got my shipment of US Neopan and guess again! Back to the 20 rolls plus 6-7 frames. Its no longer speculation for me, its a fact. 20 rolls.

Strange, and can't be explained by the Fuji being supplied in metric length rolls as they are 30.5 meters long, which turns out to be 100.04 ft.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Yeah, it is strange. My conclusion to all this is that way back when I knew of a few newspapers who used Neopan exculsively and I think a few others did too and the US Fuji got Fuji to roll it long so it made an even 20 rolls. I have nothing really to back that up.