Is bulk loading worth it?

[Nicholas Lindan]

Older cameras - Nikon F's and F2's, Leica M3's et al- had special bulk cassettes for bulk loading. The cassettes had a rotating light trap that opened when the camera base was locked closed. Some of the older bulk loaders - Alden comes to mine - incorporated a mechanism for controlling the light trap when loading these cassettes.

 

[2F/2F]

Do you do that in the dark, then, after retrieving the leader from the spool with a tool? And how do you know how long corresponds to X number of frames, if it's dark?

When this happens, it will be the last roll of the day, so this is not an issue. I just opened the camera in the dark without rewinding, pulled about an inch extra from the cassete, snipped off the shot film, and put it in a black box.

If not the last roll of the day, you can rewind, leave the leader sticking out, and MARK THE CASSETE. Then use a ruler to measure the numbe of shots you want to trim off, with some extra for safety, of course.

As I said, I have only done this three times. Once was b/w, and I did it at home. The other two were color and I had a lab do them.

 

[rwyoung]

Jason -

Three pages ago when I read your originating post I think you expressed interest in using FP4+. It is probably cheaper to bulk load from 100' rolls than to buy factory spooled stuff. Probably after 200' you have just about paid for the loader and 25 cartridges (or sooner if you do the 'gimmie your trash' method of collecting empties from a 1-hr lab).

That said, you could consider something like the new Tri-x or Plus-x mystry film from Arista at $2 per 36 exposure it is pretty competitive with bulk rolling if you also include your time in the equation. I personally have not tried the film but I am ordering on Monday a handful of rolls to test along with some other stuff.

 

[hadeer]

I did a lot of bulk loading when I was still using 35mm camera's, and it sure saved me a lot of money. There is one risk though in that dust particles get stuck in the felt lips of the cassette and can leave you with a nice scratch on all of the 36 hard won images of your film. You have to throw the cassettes away at a certain point, but you can never know when that moment arrives. It can help when you blow them out before loading with compressed air when they are open.
Today bulk loaders can be had practically for free from people who switch to digital (I got one with the film still in it), so the initial cost is coming down too.
As to the point that bulk loading makes it easy to switch film by loading short lengths: I feel that it is more convenient to buy a used (also very inexpensive nowadays) spare body and load that with the other ISO film. In that way, you will have a backup too.
Hans

 

[cdholden]

JBrunner,
While I'm no client, I do have a roll of FP4 that's been sitting in the back of the fridge for the last two years or so. Send me a PM with a mailing address and I'll drop it in the box next time I visit the PO. To answer your question, bulk rolling free film will save lots of money if you shoots lots of it.
Chris

 

[jonjameshall]

That said, you could consider something like the new Tri-x or Plus-x mystry film from Arista at $2 per 36 exposure it is pretty competitive with bulk rolling if you also include your time in the equation. I personally have not tried the film but I am ordering on Monday a handful of rolls to test along with some other stuff.

Anyone know of a similar brand available in the UK?

 

[rwyoung]

Freestyle will ship (at least according to their FAQ page) but of course the shipping cost might eat up any price difference. That is unless you decide to bring over a few thousand rolls...

I think you can email them for a shipping estimate (tell them in the email what would be in your order), check their "contacts" page for an email address. Or you might try using their on-line web page to create an order and get a shipping estimate but I'm not sure if the estimate feature handles overseas shipping. Then cancel or complete as you see fit.

 

[Robert Hall]

If you need some stuff to get started, come down and see me. I have a box of cassettes and a couple of loaders, one of which may still have some delta 100 in it.

 

[JBrunner]

Thanks everybody. I have had several persons offer loaders, etc. I actually have a loader and some cassettes my brother gave me when I bought the F3, hence my starting this thread. The spirit of kindness and comradery here never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Dennis S]

When I shoot if I don't get what I am looking for with 20 shots it certainly won't show up if I have to go ALLLL the way to 36. I like it and thats the way MY world works. Average 30 shots per rl.