Rolling your own film

I measured 119cm from the roof of the bathroom (this is Japan; no high ceilings) along the wall and put a piece of tape there. I was able to measure out, cut and roll in less than 10 minutes. So far, so good

In the beginning of last century, Oscar Barnack measured the first 35mm still roll by stretching his hands to their widest. That's how 36exp/1.65m roll length originated.

If you are of similar anthropometrics to Barnack, you'll find that this method will give you close to perfect 36exp rolls, very quickly.

I'm about 175cm with typical arms, and measure length between the hands of my outstretched arms. This gives me short rolls, but they fit in a 35 frame negative page nicely. With factory loads, I have to split things up unfortunately since there is from one to three extra frames to stick in some other page. Ugh!

Three general threads on bulk loading 35mm film merged.

Bulk rls

Bulk really pays off when experimenting with film. Less traumatic to foil 10 shots as opposed to 36.