Bulk Loader Questions

[Barney]

How many films do you get from 100 ft ?
Where do you get the film canisters from?

Whats best practice load the whole film into canisters or tie the loader up for a year or two?

 

[Kevin Allan]

You should get 18 * 36 exposure rolls from a 100 foot roll.

You can buy reloadable cassettes like these:

or you can use cassettes that have been previously loaded commercially and still have a bit of film left sticking out. This is a bit more fiddly because you need to tape two pieces of film together and sometimes the film sticking out isn't long enough. Also the tape you use has to be strong enough that it doesn't snap but thin enough to be wound back into the cassette.

If you have somewhere cool to store the loader, then NOT rolling it all at once gives you the freedom to load non-standard lengths when you have a need to do so.

 

[Barney]

You should get 18 * 36 exposure rolls from a 100 foot roll.

You can buy reloadable cassettes like these:

or you can use cassettes that have been previously loaded commercially and still have a bit of film left sticking out. This is a bit more fiddly because you need to tape two pieces of film together and sometimes the film sticking out isn't long enough. Also the tape you use has to be strong enough that it doesn't snap but thin enough to be wound back into the cassette.

If you have somewhere cool to store the loader, then NOT rolling it all at once gives you the freedom to load non-standard lengths when you have a need to do so.

The type 517 I developed today was taped to an old cartridge cut end with yellow insulation tape.

 

[FishyFish]

I bought a load of used cassettes from eBay - all Fujicolor 200, which is handy because I'm shooting my bulk rolled Fomapan 400 at 200asa so the DX codes match. I use brown parcel tape to attach the film to the cassette film stubs, which has worked well so far.

I have some reusable cassettes too but I've been put off them a little after a bit of the light-trap felt came loose on one, got stuck on the edge of the shutter, and contaminated every frame on the roll, requiring loads of Photoshop faffing to edit it out of the scans.

 

[FishyFish]

I should also add that I went with Fomapan as it was very cheap and can be had in shorter 17m rolls. Not as economical as the longer rolls, but I felt it was worthwhile while I found my bulk-loading legs in the event I cocked things up and cooked the entire roll.

 

[Cluster]

I went with those used film cassettes that have a short length of film sticking out (Fujicolor 200 as it happens!).
lt works well and I have never had a taped joint fail. I reuse them several times.

I try to wind up most of what I need, then take the bulk roll out. Just a couple of weeks ago, I bought my second bulk loader. That will help.

 

[StephenM]

My bulk loader days were before motor drives appeared on most cameras, which meant I could reuse existing cassettes. Apparently, it was the advent of motor drives thst made film manufactures start using cassettes thst required bottle openers, rather than the old style where you slit the paper with a fingernail and just did the end off.

I have a few reloadable cassettes in a darkroom drawer, but doubt I will use them. The last 35mm film I used was in 2018.