[Leica] Re: Bulk Loading

[william lawlor <wvl@infinex.com>]

Michael, bulk loading is the way to go and Watson is an excellent 
loader. I have five bulk loaders in use at present. Thre for b&w, one 
for Konica Impresa 50, and one for slide film. I got all my loaders 
for a few dollars each at garage sales and thrift shops. I have two 
of the old Lloys bakelite jobs and they work just fine. One came with 
a roll of film that has bn off the market a looong time.

I order most of the film from b&h, but also Freestyle Sales.Freestyle 
often has some really odd deals on bulk film. Provia II and Konics 
VY100 come on expensive-looking mental spools. The Impresa 50 has no 
number or id on the edges. A 36ex roll of K50 is about $5.A 100' is 
$21. I bought 50 plastic cassettes from B&H and have re-used them 
many times. They are much easier to load than the metal end crimp 
kind, however, last week I removed a roll from my Rollei 35 and the 
end cap came unscrewed. Film was screwed, of course. Handle with 
care. The economy of film this way is great, but, you can keep a 
large variety of emulsions on hand easily also. Some users buy a 100' 
roll and load them all and cold storage them next to the prok chops.

I started using bulk loaders in the 1950's. A high school photo 
buddy's dad worked at the hollywood studios as a cameraman. We got an 
unlimited supply of short ends of Super XX in big flat film cans.

Regards, Bill Lawlor