Bulk roll and home loading

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Mark
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I've been looking into bulk loading film, it seems a good way to save a quid or 2.

But what are to down sides of do this?
 
Well I still have my Watson bulk film loader for daylight use, before then used to unload the bulk film from a can into the film cassette in a changing bag.....never got around to exactly measuring the film length so never knew how many shots were on the roll (in the camera).
 
Upsides:

you can load "short rolls" if you know you're wanting to get a particular shot, that you'll only need half a dozen frames for, and you need to process it for a "later that evening" deadline - so no un-necessary burning shots or dev'ing unexposed film - reducing waste

it's generally cheaper, once you've got the bulk loader and re-useable film canisters and so on, in the long run, if you're shooting regularly, it'll save a bit of cash

you get to work with the same film stock over and over, and really get used to how it performs, and perfect your timings and techniques in developing the same


Downsides:

you're going to have to store the bulk loader, or at the very least the film reel somewhere cool, dark and dry - for those of us who refrigerate our film stock, finding space in the fridge for a moisture selaed bulk loader is probably harder than half a dozen rolls of 135 in a freezer box.

you've got the capital expenses of the bulk loader and the re-usable film canisters before you start.

once you commit to the bulk reel of film, you're really committed - 100feet of 35mm is a lot of frames of the same film, unless you're shooting everyday - how long does it take you to make 800 shots ?? Thats how long you're stuck with that film type.

unless you're a confirmed fan of a particular film, and only shoot that stock, you'll probably want to keep other film in stock as well - so if you've bulk loads of (say) ilford FP4, you'll quite likely still want some faster B&W and some colour C41 or E6.

Unless you're just lucky or one of those really naturally mechanically gifted people, you will screw up at some point and load the film badly, or backwards or otherwise donald-duck up - and putting right mistakes with a 100 foot reel of film, in the pitch black of a darkroom - or worse, trying to do it by feel inside a changing bag is a complete sodding nightmare.

if you're shooting modern(ish) cameras then there's the issue of DX coding - you can buy dx stickers, but it's yet another set of expenditure.


I'm not saying don't go for it, far from it, but its something that really requires going into with your eyes open.

If you shoot at least a couple of rolls of 24 frames a week (call it 6 foot of film - or a bulk roll in 4 months, barring accidents) and you pretty much ALWAYS shoot the same film stock anyway, it's a great idea. If you have rolls of film with a christmas tree on each end of the reel and a beach in the middle - not so much.
 
before then used to unload the bulk film from a can into the film cassette in a changing bag.....never got around to exactly measuring the film length so never knew how many shots were on the roll (in the camera).

I used to hand load film in the darkroom (this was back at school) - used to work on the basis that an arms length of film was 20 frames plus a leader and the bit still in the film canister. Based on my arms being around 3 foot long - around 8 frames per foot (call it 38mm frame to frame distance including spacing between - 305/38 = 8 and small change...) - so i'd get maybe 20 frames from an armful... but it was still pretty much guesswork, and you learned to wind the camera on a little more gently after frame 15, especially as I was using a Praktica MTL3 at the time which was prone to mincing film stock at the best of times.
 
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IME the only downside is having a lot of the same type of film. Everything else is gettable aroundable.

- I roll up the whole bulk roll in one go and freeze what I don't need immediately. I don't leave it in the loader. I don't freeze/refrigerate the loader...
- If you buy empty cans off eBay (rather than the black reusable ones), make sure you find a seller who will pick the correct ISO for you (some do some don't). If you have cameras that require DX coding you don't have a problem.
- Short rolls are a godsend if you like testing cameras/development times etc. And 36 has always been too long of a roll for me, so I can make 24 exposure rolls.

One thing to watch out for is that you tape the new film to the old film on the can securely *if you're going to freeze it*. Nothing worse than your tape job falling apart and ending up having to get the whole camera into the dark bag to get the film off the takeup spool (which is a proper nightmare).
 
..memories before the camera was dropped rock climbing o_O

correct Brian - I got the camera for my 15th birthday... and dropped it from the Aig Du Midi just a couple of weeks short of my 21st birthday. First three years I was shooting B&W almost exclusively, as i'd access to the school's camera club darkroom, was hand loading film and dev'ing/printing in said darkroom. Formative years of my photographic journey that'll stay with me forever I guess.
 
You might save a bit of money but not as much as we used to save when bulk film was so much cheaper pro rata. When I was a schoolboy in the late 60s, I remember that when FP4 was new, one of my local photographic shops sold me and my friend 100 feet of FP3 for about 5 bob. In those days cassettes were all reusable and Ilford used to sell refills to put back in used cassettes. The main downside now is that with a teardrop shaped bulk loader, the last couple of frames are fogged. The square shaped bulk loaders fog less frames but are expensive to buy.
 
A lot to thing about. Thanks so much for the awesome reviews.

At present I will put bulk loading on hold, as I'm new there are lots of films I want to try so bulk loading doesn't make sense.
 
Are you going to put your bulk loading kit in the classifieds then, Mark? ;) :p
 
At present I will put bulk loading on hold, as I'm new there are lots of films I want to try so bulk loading doesn't make sense.

Bear in mind that film like Polypan F, Kodak 500T and Eastman 5222 (Double X) can be had for a decent price on a roll as opposed to "by the roll" prices. It's not such a big difference for things like HP5 but stuff like Polypan F can only be had on the roll.

Just a 'bear in mind' though :) Places like Analogue Wonderland are starting to build up a good review section of poeple who've tried different rolls of their stock on 35mm so as you say - there is plenty to try!
 
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