New metal film cassettes

pthornto · Apr 7, 2023

Howdy folks- I try to bulk load my 35mm and after about 4 years my original set of metal canisters (generic name but similar to metal Kalt ones I’ve had from a few years before) are getting a bit worn. Looking for some replacements it appears the metal snap on cap cassettes are really hard to find. The plastic screw top cassettes available now get mixed to poor reviews. But then after some searching, I found these from Midwest film co in Witchita KS.

Midwest Film Company 35mm Metal Reloadable Cartridge — Midwest Film Co

Metal snap cap style 35mm cartridge for bulk loading 35mm film. Whether you're into black and white or motion picture color negative these reloadable cartridges are a perfect fit!

www.midwestfilmco.com

Anyone try them yet? Could be a good alternative.

Donald Qualls · Apr 7, 2023

I haven't tried them, but I read (in another thread?) that they have a plastic tab pre-taped to the core, so you can load them without opening the cassette.

Beverly Hills · Apr 7, 2023

pthornto said:
Howdy folks- I try to bulk load my 35mm and after about 4 years my original set of metal canisters (generic name but similar to metal Kalt ones I’ve had from a few years before) are getting a bit worn. Looking for some replacements it appears the metal snap on cap cassettes are really hard to find. The plastic screw top cassettes available now get mixed to poor reviews. But then after some searching, I found these from Midwest film co in Witchita KS.

Midwest Film Company 35mm Metal Reloadable Cartridge — Midwest Film Co

Metal snap cap style 35mm cartridge for bulk loading 35mm film. Whether you're into black and white or motion picture color negative these reloadable cartridges are a perfect fit!

www.midwestfilmco.com

Anyone try them yet? Could be a good alternative.

...a cheap and reliable solution is to use your original new canisters ( from your Ilford Hp5, your APX400 a.s.o.)
twice. You must have a camera with mechanical rewind.
And you should develope your films yourself ( to get the empty original Ilford, Rollei, Kodak kanisters ).

The rest is done with scissors and the new film is taped
to the original 5cm length end of the original film you developed before. Good idea?
( I newer tried before but it could be possible)

armadsen · Apr 7, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
I haven't tried them, but I read (in another thread?) that they have a plastic tab pre-taped to the core, so you can load them without opening the cassette.

Looking for 35mm Cassette For Bulk Film recommendations

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...

www.photrio.com

Hoping to load some up soon and try them out.

Ballinderry-Michael · Apr 7, 2023

I use Leica cassettes most of the time; but the plastic ones I use have Barfen spools, which have a wedge that holds the film (you shape a tongue that doubles securely through the spool). These metal cassettes sound good: I'll try a couple to see whether my spools will fit them.

Thank you to the OP for this thread.

pthornto · Apr 7, 2023

Beverly Hills said:
...a cheap and reliable solution is to use your original new canisters ( from your Ilford Hp5, your APX400 a.s.o.)
twice. You must have a camera with mechanical rewind.
And you should develope your films yourself ( to get the empty original Ilford, Rollei, Kodak kanisters ).

The rest is done with scissors and the new film is taped
to the original 5cm length end of the original film you developed before. Good idea?
( I newer tried before but it could be possible)

I have tried reusing the the preloaded cassettes but I need to remember to leave a long enough film to tape the bulk film to it properly. Last time I did that it, I think the strip of tape I used was too big and made more resistance in the loader. Probably just need to improve my technique.

redbandit · Apr 7, 2023

Hmm in reference to these canisters, how bad are they... is it safe to assume they are at least BETTER then the plastic screw tops that are now and then for sale these days?

redbandit · Apr 7, 2023

I looked at their 249$ bulk film loader,, it appears to be both, 3d printed but uses the loyd legacy pro light trap system.

redbandit · Apr 8, 2023

So who else bought some of the 10 packs last night?

Donald Qualls · Apr 8, 2023

redbandit said:
Hmm in reference to these canisters, how bad are they... is it safe to assume they are at least BETTER then the plastic screw tops that are now and then for sale these days?

In general, the weakness of metal bulk loading cassettes is the light trap felt; the weakness of plastic ones is the felt and the screw-lock end cap. I have a good number of both and haven't noted any problems, but I've had mine for fifteen or so years, in most cases, used them only two or three times each, and some came from other users and are much older than that, and there seems to be a consensus that quality has been dropping off by the year.

Anyone remember the good old days when nearly any commercial cassette was reusable? Hint: before DX coding...

redbandit · Apr 8, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
In general, the weakness of metal bulk loading cassettes is the light trap felt; the weakness of plastic ones is the felt and the screw-lock end cap. I have a good number of both and haven't noted any problems, but I've had mine for fifteen or so years, in most cases, used them only two or three times each, and some came from other users and are much older than that, and there seems to be a consensus that quality has been dropping off by the year.

Anyone remember the good old days when nearly any commercial cassette was reusable? Hint: before DX coding...

I have kodak snap caps, ilford pop tops, and my oddball vivitar branded cannister. I was one of the kids who ordered a 10 pack last night. Im hoping its better at least then current stuff in plastic form.

cptrios · Apr 11, 2023

I just ordered 10 of them as well. I've been using some metal ones I got from Ukraine a couple of years ago. They've been generally fine but I don't quite trust the caps not to pop off...they always just seem to have a touch too much play. It's never actually happened, though!

eli griggs · Apr 11, 2023

Ballinderry-Michael said:
I use Leica cassettes most of the time; but the plastic ones I use have Barfen spools, which have a wedge that holds the film (you shape a tongue that doubles securely through the spool). These metal cassettes sound good: I'll try a couple to see whether my spools will fit them.

Thank you to the OP for this thread.

Just to be clear, you are using Leica cassettes with Leica film cameras no more typical brands like Canon, Nikon, etc?

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 11, 2023

Donald Qualls said:
Anyone remember the good old days when nearly any commercial cassette was reusable? Hint: before DX coding...

I started using 35mm in 1963 and Kodak's cassettes had changed design and weren't reloadable any more. Books recomended slamming the cassette on the table top, long end first - the cap was supposed to fly off. Being 10 years old I beleived the books at first, but could not get the cap to pop off, always resorting to a bottle opener. Then I decided the books were wrong - childhood's end.

eli griggs · Apr 11, 2023

The Ilford cans were the only ones that worked like the above suggestion indicates.

They were strong metal and those caps popped off with a spam or two.

The felt generally failed long before the can itself and I was reloading one to two hundred feet weekly or there about, so many were reused as much as ten times.

Keeping the felt clean of grit was the most difficult thing in reloading, but, in general, a wide piece of painters/masking tape pulled through several times before each reloading, did the trick, although I did have several rolls over time, before conditioning the felt lips, where entire rolls were subject to one long, thin scratch.

Lesson learned.

I have both Plastic cassettes, nice Metal ones out of a box of one hundred, and various reloaded commercial cans, including some old Kalt.

The thing I do no like is that the black metal cans have the DX coding for 100 iso printed on them, so you have to be careful to cover this up for other ISOs.

I'd like to see about making or downloading a file for adding the DX coding for making thin metal temples for various ISOs.

BAC1967 · Apr 11, 2023

eli griggs said:
I'd like to see about making or downloading a file for adding the DX coding for making thin metal temples for various ISOs.

Someone sells DX coded stickers on eBay for various film speeds.

rickylc · Apr 11, 2023

Freestyle, a site sponsor, has DX labels for cans.

eli griggs · Apr 11, 2023

I'll add, the plastic cans and caps are easy enough to keep together with literally, a pinch of blue painters tape or good masking tape, it's just that easy.

Thanks for the tips about the lable DX Codes.

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 12, 2023

Most cameras default to ASA100 if they can't read a DX code. I move the exposure compensation dial to set the film speed: -2 and the camera operates at ASA25, +2 at ASA400 - pretty much covers the range. Yeah, there is TMZ, but I don't bulk load that stuff. And yeah, I like to shoot TechPan at ASA7-ASA12.

Ballinderry-Michael · Apr 12, 2023

eli griggs said:
Just to be clear, you are using Leica cassettes with Leica film cameras no more typical brands like Canon, Nikon, etc?

I don't quite understand the question but, if it helps, the only non-Leica 35mm cameras I have are a Yashica J and a Bessa-T. Leica cassettes aren't compatible with those; so I keep a few plastic cassettes in case I want to use bulk film in them.

eli griggs · Apr 12, 2023

Ballinderry-Michael said:
I don't quite understand the question but, if it helps, the only non-Leica 35mm cameras I have are a Yashica J and a Bessa-T. Leica cassettes aren't compatible with those; so I keep a few plastic cassettes in case I want to use bulk film in them.

Cheers, this is what I wanted to double check on.

JerseyDoug · Apr 12, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
Most cameras default to ASA100 if they can't read a DX code. I move the exposure compensation dial to set the film speed: -2 and the camera operates at ASA25, +2 at ASA400 - pretty much covers the range. Yeah, there is TMZ, but I don't bulk load that stuff. And yeah, I like to shoot TechPan at ASA7-ASA12.

Actually, it's the other way around. Setting the exposure compensation to -2 tells the camera to give the film two stops less exposure. That's what you want to do for ISO400 film, not ISO25 film. +2 = ISO25. -2=ISO400.

mshchem · Apr 12, 2023

Nicholas Lindan said:
I started using 35mm in 1963 and Kodak's cassettes had changed design and weren't reloadable any more. Books recomended slamming the cassette on the table top, long end first - the cap was supposed to fly off. Being 10 years old I beleived the books at first, but could not get the cap to pop off, always resorting to a bottle opener. Then I decided the books were wrong - childhood's end.

This sounds like when on TV when someone shoots off a steel lock with a lead bullet . There's got to be people who still try this.
At least the cassette idea sounds reasonable.

redbandit · Apr 13, 2023

mshchem said:
This sounds like when on TV when someone shoots off a steel lock with a lead bullet . There's got to be people who still try this.
At least the cassette idea sounds reasonable.

I always loved that on old movies and tv shows... two guys would kneel in front of the locked chest or door, one would pull a pistol and shoot the lock...

Never understood how teh lead bullet was supposed to shoot through a hardened steel lock.. or how the bullet failed to ricochet into one of the guys kneeling in front of it.

Donald Qualls · Apr 13, 2023

mshchem said:
someone shoots off a steel lock with a lead bullet

redbandit said:
Never understood how teh lead bullet was supposed to shoot through a hardened steel lock.. or how the bullet failed to ricochet into one of the guys kneeling in front of it.

At least with modern padlocks (and many 19th century designs, too), there are many that can be opened with a simple sharp blow on the correct side of the lock body (with a hammer, rock, another lock, etc.) and a bullet to the correct point on the lock will surely do this. Further, the cheap laminated Master locks can and will start to come apart even from a soft bullet, though it may take multiple shots to get the hasp to release if the impact isn't from the right direction (but why bother, you can pick those with a paper clip).

Now ricochet is a real concern...

New metal film cassettes

pthornto

Midwest Film Company 35mm Metal Reloadable Cartridge — Midwest Film Co

Donald Qualls

Beverly Hills

Midwest Film Company 35mm Metal Reloadable Cartridge — Midwest Film Co

armadsen

Looking for 35mm Cassette For Bulk Film recommendations

Ballinderry-Michael

pthornto

redbandit

redbandit

redbandit

Donald Qualls

redbandit

cptrios

eli griggs

Nicholas Lindan

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eli griggs

BAC1967

rickylc

eli griggs

Nicholas Lindan

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Ballinderry-Michael

eli griggs

JerseyDoug

mshchem

redbandit

Donald Qualls

New metal film cassettes

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