Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Phong asked: > How does one go about bulk loading ? You need a light-tight space (film proof, not just paper proof). I use a Harrison tent, because I don't have any other light tight space -- and because it means that my light tight space is small and portable. A 100 ft bulk roll is loaded onto a (daylight) bulk loader in total darkness. Once that is done, you then load individual film rolls in normal light. A film cassette spool is taped to the end of the bulk film, loaded into the cassette, and placed in the daylight bulk loader. Then you spool up however many frames of film you want on that cassette, up to about a max of 40 frames. Then you take the cassette out of the bulk loader, cut off the film and trim the end sticking out of the cassette into a tongue. > What equipment does one need to bulk load ? The aforementioned light proof space; a bulk loader; spare film cassettes; scissors; tape. There are two main different types of 35mm bulk loaders. The "Alden" type: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh2/controller/ home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=1446&is=REG http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh2/controller/ home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=61874&is=REG ...and the Lloyd type: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh2/controller/ home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=31737&is=REG The Alden type is more expensive (around $40 new; Lloyd around $30 new), but has the redeeming feature that it won't scratch or ruin your film when you load it. Get the Alden type. Some people don't light daylight bulk loaders and say that you should bulk load in total darkness. The reason for this is that the bit of film that you (in daylight) tape to the film cassette core is going to be damaged by daylight. They argue that the last frame/frames of any roll is going to be damaged by daylight and therefore that you always have to reshoot the last frame on any roll -- or risk loosing an award winning picture. In practice, I find that this is not a problem. First off, I rarely shoot award-winning pictures at the end of rolls (actually, I rarely shoot award-winning pictures, period). Secondly, if done right, the amount of film which is damaged by daylight during bulk loading will never see the film gate -- because the distance between the cassette core and the film gate in a camera -- and thus will never be a issue in any case. Finally, if you're totally paranoid about this, it's simply overcome by loading a few extra frames on your rolls (say 38-40 frames) but to stop shooting when your frame counter shows 36. That way, you're guaranteed that the last frame to see the film gate in the camera has been kept in total darkness all the time. Reloadable 35mm film cassettes also come in two types: metal and plastic. Plastic are supposed to be easier to load and supposedly don't suffer from the problem of unexpectantly popping open when you least want it (i.e., after you've exposed your film, while you are still in daylight). Use the metal kind: With normal use (i.e., you're not throwing them, sitting on them, or doing anything else stupid with them) the metal ones do not pop open; with an evening's practice, they are not more difficult to load; and they have the wonderful advantage over the plastic type that they do not generate static electricity in amounts rivalled only by particle accelerators which attract every speck of dust within a six kilometer radius onto your film. Cassettes can be reused. Figure on using them around 5 times, then tossing them out and getting new ones. The felt light traps deteriorate with excessive use (and need to be cleaned when reloading in any case) and it's not worth risking it. They're cheap: A cassette costs around 70 cents. Buy them new... not second hand. The Leica reloadable cassettes -- as I'm sure that at least one member of this list will chime in and say -- have the advantage of not having any felt light trap, thus not requiring replacement, and being essentially reusable indefinately. They are also a pain in the arse to load, are slightly non-standard size, and require the old-style M baseplate to operate correctly in the camera. Leica reloadable cassettes sell for around $10--$20 a pop. That's the equivallent of 14--28 of the new ones. Each new one can be used safely 5 times. So, you need to shoot 70--140 rolls of film with each cassette before you start saving any money with the Leica version. Go with the modern stuff. For tape, I use the colour-coded, cloth-backed, 1" wide 'gaffer tape' used by the movie industry to keep everything from lights, to film cannisters, to extras in place, but any good tape that isn't too wide and can resist the pull of a motordrive is good (because we all use RapidWinders, right...? ;) The advantage of colour coding is that you can then also stick a piece on the outside of the cassette to keep track of what's inside -- unless you like to write the name of the film on every single cassette. > What film is available to bulk load ? You buy film in 100 ft (30.5 m) rolls. Ilford FP4+ and HP5+ are about $25 for one such roll; Delta 400 is around $40; Kodak Tri-X is about $40 (USA film); Neopan 400 around $35; Agfa APX-100 about $25 (all prices from B&H). Figure that a roll is 6 ft of film, which gives you on the order of 15-20 rolls of film, depending upon exactly how much you spool up in each cassette. I usually get around 16-18 rolls out of a 100 ft reel. Most B&W 35mm film emulsions, Ilford XP2 Super, colour negative (Agfa Portrait-160, Fujicolor, Kodak Portra), colour slide (Agfa, Fuji, Kodak). See: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh2/controller/ home?O=NavBar&A=search&Q=&ci=333 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh2/controller/ home?O=NavBar&A=search&Q=&ci=339 > What kind of savings are we talking about? You get around 18 rolls of film for $25 with HP5+, which works out to $1.39/roll. Compare that to $2.69/roll or $134.50/50 rolls (also $2.69/roll) from B&H. Starting out from scratch, and counting 200 rolls, it works out as the following: Bulk loader: $40.00 Film cassettes: 20 @ $0.70 x 2 (use only 5 times) = $28.00 HP-5+ film (gives 18 rolls): $25 x 11 = $275.00 Bulk loading: $343.00 ($1.71/roll) Pre-loaded: $538.00 ($2.69/roll) Savings: $195.00 After you're initial 200 rolls, the next 200 will only cost you ($28+$275) $303, for a roll-cost of $1.51/roll. I push this further, by buying cheap Eastern European film, or getting film which is close-dated or out-dated. If you wanna get really funky, start looking for 400 ft rolls of B&W movie stock, or left-over pieces of 400 ft rolls that didn't get used up. You cannot use a daylight loader with a 400 ft rolls, but a normal (film proof) darkroom lets you load these by hand. At the moment, I have around 400/500 ft of film in my freezer that cost me a total of $0. Useful links: The Bulk Loading FAQ: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/genie/bulk.html Voices from the Archives: http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v02/msg06128.html http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v02/msg06178.html http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v02/msg06141.html http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v07/msg03840.html http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v02/msg06138.html http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/v19/msg01286.html M. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html