Telesar 35mm Daylight Bulk Film Loader

I picked this up last weekend at the Nova Darkroom secondhand sale. I say secondhand but soem items like this one may have been new. Nova needed to free up the space taken up by items that hadn't sold at the usual prices. It was still in its original box and wrapping and looked to be unused. I had a good look at it last night and everything looks straightforward but there was a couple of things that I'd appreciate anyone's comments on, if they have this particular bulk loader or one that is similar.

It's a rectangular boxed shaped one with the cassette holder in the top right where the crank fits and it looks like the Jessops one or the AP Bobinquick one sold by Firstcall.

I tried a length of exposed film through it without a cassette as I have yet to buy a re-usable cassette. I noticed that pulling the film through the opening where it would go into the cassette was OK except for frames 2 and 30 where it became very stiff.

Will this problem be resolved by the use of a cassette and crank? Obviously the frame dial and dial showing film length remaining are interconnected, presumably by cogs, access to which appears possible by undoing two crosshead screws. Would it be worth looking inside this to see if the stickiness is being caused by anything? The instruction book makes no mention of accessing this part of the loader and I don't want to end up with cogs flying out or beig unable to refit properly. Maybe I should leave this part well alone?

Secondly it recommends winding 5 frames on before counting frames. In fact S(start) to frame 1 is 5 frames on the dial.This amounts to about 8inches(20cms) which seems a lot, given that you need only expose about 3 inches(7-8 cms) before fixing to the spool, placing inside the cartridge and counting the frames without further exposure to daylight. The leader at the other end means about another 2 inches exposed. However I suppose when drawing the film across the camera sprockets when loading probably means about another 2-3inches being exposed and then a little bit more before frame one on the camera is lined up.

So it may be that 5 frames is the minimum unless someone can tell me different based on their experience.

So in summary: should I worry about the stickiness of the frame counter on frames 2 and 30 or will it be less noticeable when winding with the crank and is 5 frames the right amount to wind on to avoid using film that has already been exposed to daylight?

The Telesar is manufactured for and distributed by Masel Supply Co. Corp, 128 32nd Street. Brooklyn. New York so I would assume that our N American subscribers' experience is likely to be particularly relevant.

Thanks in anticipation of all your collective time and effort in replying

pentaxuser

pentaxuser said:

Secondly it recommends winding 5 frames on before counting frames. In fact S(start) to frame 1 is 5 frames on the dial.This amounts to about 8inches(20cms) which seems a lot, given that you need only expose about 3 inches(7-8 cms) before fixing to the spool, placing inside the cartridge and counting the frames without further exposure to daylight. The leader at the other end means about another 2 inches exposed. However I suppose when drawing the film across the camera sprockets when loading probably means about another 2-3inches being exposed and then a little bit more before frame one on the camera is lined up.

Click to expand...

Most cameras require 2 to 3 frames to be wound off before you start taking pictures. Add another couple of inches to get the film seated properly on the takeup spool and you have your 5 frames. Remember that a couple of frames will be lightstruck at the end of the roll when you tape the film to the core before inserting it into the cassette. They have to be taken into account too.

Pent -

I have aTelesar loader that has served me well for more than a quarter of a century.

The problem you describe involving frames 2 and 30 is not familiar. There is a tendency for the counter mechanism to get stiff partway through a roll. You will note that the counter dials appear to be spring-loaded; pressing down on them can cause them to stiffen up.

My experience is that the counter is useful to help understand how much film is left on the bulk roll, but I found that counting clicks is a more effective way to determine how many exposures have been loaded into the cassette.

I standardized on 35 exposure rolls - because that allowed me to cut the film into strips that could be loaded into 7x5 frame polyethelene storage sheets that would then contact on standard 8x10 paper. I put three extra exposures on each end of each roll to allow for the roll-end effect (wherein the first and last frame are always fogged).

Sadly, earlier this year my faithful Telesar developed a terminal illness of the clicker. I tried taking it apart, but the result was that parts flew all over the darkroom. I can still use it, but alas - no clicks. So I strongly recommend leaving those two cross-head (aka Phillips head) screws alone.

I bought a used or new-old-stock (NOS) Telesar via eBay a few months back. It's clearly a 1970s refugee, with a claim of being "computerized" (because of the mechanical counter, no doubt) and cheesy "computer" font on the box. I believe it's an earlier version of what Jessops, Freestyle, Adorama, and others are selling today; it's got the same layout and features, but some styling details differ.

In any event, when I roll film such that the roll counter moves one full turn (start to start, or however it's labelled), I get the equivalent of what would be called a 34-exposure roll if it were factory-rolled. This means I get 34 or 35 exposures on a motor-drive camera such as my Ricoh XR-X 3PF and an extra frame or two if I use a manual-wind camera and start shooting on or before frame "0," according to the frame counter.

Unfortunately, my loader has a serious problem: It scratches film. The design is such that the film is drawn, emulsion side down, across a curved plastic part inside the loader. The scratching problem seems intermittent and light with the first bulk roll I tried (Kodak T-Max 100), but much worse with the second bulk roll (Fomapan 200). Fortunately, for the second roll I did a couple of rolls and tested them in a couple of cameras, so I spotted the problem and could move the film to another bulk loader without ruining it all. I don't know if the problem is caused by a bit of dust, an imperfection in the plastic, or something else, but I no longer trust this bulk loader, which is a pity, since I like the film-remaining counter concept that seems to be unique to this design.

Thanks all for the replies. Yes I did suspect that undoing the cross screws might be disastrous so thanks for confirming that. As far as scratching the film is concerned the irony is that on the box it advertises its design as being specifically useful for avoiding any scratching!

I'll just have to try it and see.

pentaxuser

It's possible that the internal design has changed from my ~1970s model to more recent ones. Certainly mine has a pretty lame design from a scratch-avoidance perspective. Even so, I can't image they'd all scratch film (otherwise they'd all be in landfills and the design long forgotten), so there's probably some microscopic defect with mine, or I just got unlucky with dust.

srs5694 said:

It's possible that the internal design has changed from my ~1970s model to more recent ones. Certainly mine has a pretty lame design from a scratch-avoidance perspective. Even so, I can't image they'd all scratch film (otherwise they'd all be in landfills and the design long forgotten), so there's probably some microscopic defect with mine, or I just got unlucky with dust.

Click to expand...

Thanks for those words of comfort. Yes, I am banking on only yours and not mine having that defect. I have just gone into the darkroom to examine it again. In fact on the box flaps it actually says "completely scratchproof" Maybe the design was improved. I passed the film through the channels again and it does seem that when under tension it barely touches one surface only so should be scratch free.

I doubt if mine's as old as the late 1970s. It was probably lying in Nova Darkroom's store for a good number of years but hopefully not 30 yrs!

pentaxuser