Looking for 35mm Cassette For Bulk Film recommendations

Nitroplait · Jan 29, 2023

I got 10 of those vintage Soviet cassettes from Ukraine before the war, and I must say I am not as exited as some people.
Mine were all NOS. They are typical Sovjet era quality - some fit tightly, some don't.
Some don't just drop into a Barnack leica - they have to be pushed in.
They smell bad of residual chemicals (more than 30 years after production!).
Their outer black paint sticks to masking tape if you use that for labelling your cassettes.
I paid €24 including shipping if I remember correctly, and while not a fortune, I find reuse of regular commercial cassettes much more convenient and economical.

You can see with your naked eye that they are not made to tight tolerances:

KitosLAB · Jan 29, 2023

Nitroplait said:
I got 10 of those vintage Soviet cassettes from Ukraine before the war, and I must say I am not as exited as some people.
Mine were all NOS. They are typical Sovjet era quality - some fit tightly, some don't.
Some don't just drop into a Barnack leica - they have to be pushed in.
They smell bad of residual chemicals. Their outer black paint sticks to masking tape if you use that for labelling your cassettes.
I paid €24 including shipping if I remember correctly, and while not a fortune, I find reuse of regular commercial cassettes much more convenient and economical.

You can see with your naked eye that they are not made to tight tolerances:

35 kopecks)) exactly the cost of a film without a cassette)) Montana jeans are about 400 times more expensive))) But in reality, at that time we preferred plastic cassettes, they were more convenient for us

Nitroplait · Jan 29, 2023

KitosLAB said:
35 kopecks)) exactly the cost of a film without a cassette))

OT: I am curios how precut film was packaged and sold without cassettes? Aluminium foil, black paper..?

M-88 · Jan 29, 2023

Nitroplait said:
OT: I am curios how precut film was packaged and sold without cassettes? Aluminium foil, black paper..?

Like this. This is from Soviet era, expired in late 80s. A bare, pre-cut film is wrapped in black paper, then put in a cardboard box and sold just like that.

armadsen · Apr 5, 2023

I noticed that Midwest Film Co (which I had never heard of) has started selling metal cassettes: https://www.midwestfilmco.com/shop/midwestfilmco-metal-reloadable-35mm-cartridge. I bought 10 of them for $2 each, and they arrived today. Haven't had a chance to load and shoot any film in them yet, but they seem decently constructed. They come with a bit of transparent plastic attached to the spool presumably for taping film to so you don't have to tape it to the spool itself. It would allow them to be used without popping them open (though they do pop open easily).

Radost · Apr 5, 2023

I like the AP cassettes . Have not experienced shedding and they work well. Never had a scratch.
I like the twist lock design.
I like that I can twist unlock in the changing bag

snusmumriken · Apr 6, 2023

M-88 said:
Like this. This is from Soviet era, expired in late 80s. A bare, pre-cut film is wrapped in black paper, then put in a cardboard box and sold just like that.

View attachment 327968

I love this kind of thing. No more packaging than is really necessary, all compostable.

Anon Ymous · Apr 6, 2023

snusmumriken said:
I love this kind of thing. No more packaging than is really necessary, all compostable.

Meanwhile, the other day I spotted this:

FOMA FOMAPAN 100 - 135 Set 6x film 35 mm/36 on spool + 1 cartrige - fotoimpex.com analogue photography

Content of the set: 5 films wound on a central spool- without cartridge + 1 film on a spool- in the cartridge for multiple use Advantage: financial saving, ecological ...

www.fotoimpex.com

M-88 · Apr 6, 2023

snusmumriken said:
I love this kind of thing. No more packaging than is really necessary, all compostable.

It makes a lot of sense nowadays because of environmental concerns. However, back in Soviet Union, these were typically made to cut down the cost.

I should probably shoot this roll and dip it in Rodinal. If only I weren't so lazy.

Radost · Apr 7, 2023

Radost said:
I like the AP cassettes . Have not experienced shedding and they work well. Never had a scratch.
I like the twist lock design.
I like that I can twist unlock in the changing bag

Here is link https://www.fotoimpex.com/films/ap-ap-plastic-film-cartridge-35mm.html?cache=1680850356

redbandit · Apr 8, 2023

armadsen said:
I noticed that Midwest Film Co (which I had never heard of) has started selling metal cassettes: https://www.midwestfilmco.com/shop/midwestfilmco-metal-reloadable-35mm-cartridge. I bought 10 of them for $2 each, and they arrived today. Haven't had a chance to load and shoot any film in them yet, but they seem decently constructed. They come with a bit of transparent plastic attached to the spool presumably for taping film to so you don't have to tape it to the spool itself. It would allow them to be used without popping them open (though they do pop open easily).
View attachment 334895

how well does the plastic go into the canister if you wind it in? Or how well does it come out of the canister...

Good idea on saving the tail portion of the film. But at same time, how does it compute into frame count for x turns equal 10 frames

Looking for 35mm Cassette For Bulk Film recommendations

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