Bulk Loader preferences

Flotsam · Jun 19, 2005

I'm just wondering what the preferences are here. I haven't bulk loaded in years but as I remember, the Watson type required you to pull more film out to tape it on the spool, wasting film and causing an exposed trailer on every roll (ruining the last couple of frames) while the Lloyd type pulls the film through a felt light trap increasing the danger of scratches. Has anyone used the ones sold under the Adorama brand?
Thanks

jjstafford · Jun 19, 2005

The Watson 66B was excellent. I don't think it is still made. All the loaders leave a wasted frame or tww at the end. No big problem, just wind 38 frames. I have two or three 66Bs in storage, one with AeroPlus-x. You want one, just pay shipping and it is yours.

David Brown · Jun 19, 2005

Do it in the dark!

If you have space in your darkroom, roll your own in the dark. It's easier than loading developing reels (after a bit of practice) and you will have neither the scratches or the fogged ends. Plus, there is no cost for a loader.

Just my suggestion. YMMV

Cheers

David

Nick Zentena · Jun 19, 2005

1) Alden

2) Watson.

You can avoid the wasted film by doing half of what David suggests.

Turn the lights off. Open the loader. Tape everything up and assemble. Close the loader. Lights on. Load the film. Lights off. Cut the film. Remove the roll. Close the loader. Lights on.

I'm not sure it's worth it to save the three or four frames but it's doable. No wasted film.

Claire Senft · Jun 19, 2005

I much prefer to bulk load without a loader.

Konical · Jun 19, 2005

Good Evening, Ben,

I've never used the Alden, but I have always found the Watson highly satisfactory. It does fog a very short length of film, but, with care, that can be minimized.

Konical

Nick Zentena · Jun 20, 2005

The Alden and the Watson are VERY similar. A new Alden is better made then the current Watson. OTOH I'm not sure if Alden is still making them. Other then the build quality I don't think any differences exist between the Alden and the Watson. The Watson is built well enough it's just the Alden is built the way they used to build things. Supposedly older Watsons are built to the same standard the Alden is but I don't remember that far back-)

Flotsam · Jun 24, 2005

Has anyone used the bulk loader that is made by AP in Spain and sold under the Adorama brand? I just got one and I'm pretty impressed. It combines the very short exposed tail of the Lloyds design with the scratch-free opening gate of the Watson along with a good safety interlock. It seems to be well built and thoughtfully designed. It even keeps track of the amount of film remaining on the bulk roll as you wind off rolls. Neat.

The instructions are a bit baffling and remind me of those hilarious Japanese-to-English instruction translations from the '60s. But it is certainly understandable. I mean, How many people could there possibly be in the world who speak both Spanish _and_ English?

Tach · Jun 24, 2005

Flotsam said:
Has anyone used the bulk loader that is made by AP in Spain and sold under the Adorama brand? I just got one and I'm pretty impressed. It combines the very short exposed tail of the Lloyds design with the scratch-free opening gate of the Watson along with a good safety interlock. It seems to be well built and thoughtfully designed. It even keeps track of the amount of film remaining on the bulk roll as you wind off rolls. Neat.

The instructions are a bit baffling and remind me of those hilarious Japanese-to-English instruction translations from the '60s. But it is certainly understandable. I mean, How many people could there possibly be in the world who speak both Spanish _and_ English?

That's the exact loader I use, and I'm very happy with it. No problems whatsover; just remember to keep the exposed 'tail' short in order to save your last frame.

The spanish instructions are not very clear, either...

Flotsam · Jun 24, 2005

Tach said:
That's the exact loader I use, and I'm very happy with it. No problems whatsover; just remember to keep the exposed 'tail' short in order to save your last frame.

That is why I don't like the Watson. I tend to shoot until the flim stops advancing. With that long exposed tail, that is when you realize that the last couple of shots that you took were ruined.

Flotsam · Jul 11, 2005

I just processed my first home-spun roll out of this loader. I wound a 35 frame roll (My Saunders proofer takes 7 - 5 frame strips) and it came out great with about an inch of clear unexposed film before the inch and a half of exposed tail. Very efficient, accurate counter, scratch free and no ruined last frames. I'm loving this thing so far.
Just thought that I'd post an update/review for the general interest.

celluloidpropaganda · Jan 8, 2006

Belated, but thanks to Flotsam for the further info on the AP. I've been looking around Freestyle (want to start bulk-loading the various Fuji B&W films) and couldn't figure out anything about them, but the AP/Freestyle-brand sounds like it's worth a few more dollars.

srs5694 · Jan 8, 2006

The last time I checked, Adorama has the same bulk loader as the Freestyle one for $10 less. Both are house-brand versions of what looks like the same design. I don't own either, though.

narsuitus · Jan 8, 2006

I have used the Watson and the Lloyd bulk film loaders Even though I too do not like the long leader and trailers the Watson produces, I got rid of my Lloyd loader when I started using scratchless felt-free film cassettes.

At one time, I tried using the lights on/lights off method that Nick Zentena described. However, I stopped using it when I somehow managed to accentually open the door of the film loader with the room lights on and the film gate open.

What I do now is use my Watson to load 36 exposures and set my camera to stop shooting after 30 exposures (3 frame leader and 3 frame trailer).

I am having a bigger problem of finding good bulk film deals. If anyone is aware of any, please let me know.

srs5694 · Jan 8, 2006

jdef said:
The cheapest 100' rolls I've seen anywhere are the Arista/Pan F+ @ $16ea. I love this film.

When I checked the prices for my post above I didn't see it listed on Freestyle's site any more. My guess is they've sold out -- either that or their search system flaked out again (it's not 100% reliable, in my experience). It was a great bargain when it was available, though. I've got three 100-foot rolls in my freezer. ;-)

battra92 · Jan 8, 2006

jdef said:
Might need to pick up a few more loaders too.

One idea I've toyed with is that of taking my bulk loader and prespooling everything at once, then tossing the film in a bag and putting it in the freezer so that I could use the loader more than once. The downside would be that I'd have to get more cassettes though. ^_^;;

battra92 · Jan 8, 2006

Flotsam said:
That is why I don't like the Watson. I tend to shoot until the flim stops advancing. With that long exposed tail, that is when you realize that the last couple of shots that you took were ruined.

Since my Nikon N75 pulls all the film out and goes backwards I just remember to shoot two junk shots first or like suggested earlier, just remember to

Of course, the solution would be to use the Watson in a darkroom or inside a changing bag (for those of us like me who can't have a darkroom at home.)

srs5694 · Jan 8, 2006

narsuitus said:
I am having a bigger problem of finding good bulk film deals. If anyone is aware of any, please let me know.

You don't mention where you are. In the US, the best prices I'm aware of on bulk film are at Freestyle, on their house-brand films. The Arista.EDU Ultra line (made by Foma), in particular, is a great bargain, at $18-$20 per 100-foot roll. B&H generally seems to have the best prices on other brands of film, but they aren't quite as inexpensive as the Arista.EDU Ultra films (they start at $25 for Tri-X, although it's currently listed as a "special order" item). Of course, there's also eBay, but that's a gamble for quality, and in my experience you'll end up looking long and hard before you find something that's really a significant bargain, particularly when you factor in shipping.

celluloidpropaganda · Jan 8, 2006

Dead Link Removed

Highly recommended seller (at the rangefinderforum) from Japan. Bulk Neopan 1600 for $30, bulk Acros 100 for $37ish, neither of which seem to be available stateside. His Neopan 400 bulk is only $7 cheaper than B&H. Hard to beat Neopan 1600 for $1.50/roll.

Probably not worth bulk-loading Neopan SS (another option there), since B&H/etc. sell it for $1.89 a roll imported.

celluloidpropaganda · Jan 8, 2006

Adorama has 100ft rolls of Tri-X for $29, for some reason. I can't figure out why they're $15 cheaper than B&H - it doesn't appear to be short-dated or even imported.

Dead Link Removed

SchwinnParamount · Jan 9, 2006

celluloidpropaganda said:
Adorama has 100ft rolls of Tri-X for $29, for some reason. I can't figure out why they're $15 cheaper than B&H - it doesn't appear to be short-dated or even imported.

Dead Link Removed

That appears to be the old packaging... NOS Tri-X. It is probably short dated, although the web page does not say so.

srs5694 · Jan 9, 2006

battra92 said:
One idea I've toyed with is that of taking my bulk loader and prespooling everything at once, then tossing the film in a bag and putting it in the freezer so that I could use the loader more than once. The downside would be that I'd have to get more cassettes though. ^_^;;

That's what I do. I like having the film pre-spooled so I can just grab a roll or two and go. (I keep some frozen and some thawed.)

Bulk Loader preferences

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