Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/07/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Feli, I bulkload odd films like movie-tock (Super XX, Agfapan 250 and Tech-Pan). Rather than use a bulk loader I go into the darkroom and just unwind the film out of the can, extend my arms fully and chop of the film. This gives me about 37-38 exposures per strip - roughly 67-68 inches of film. I use the Leica IXMOO cassettes - all metal and the lock on the regular baseplate (older type) will open the cassette and there is no problem with scratches as the opening is big enough (8mm) to let the film clear the edges. You do need to cut a sharp V-shaped end for the spool on these - after a while you get the hang of it and there is less bleeding from fingertips "Oh, that was not the film, that was a finger!". The old Leica template, ABLOON, had a nice "shaper" for that and I simply made my own from a piece of brass plate. For general films like TX and ACROS I use pre-loaded stock. Quicker and easier and the IXMOO cassettes are difficult to explain to Airport Security Guards. It has three different components, an outside shell, an inside shell and a center spool - all are made from metal and the weight is noticeable and on the X-ray it looks quite suspicious. It is a very complex piece, springs and catches galore and you better get some reject film to try with first. The movie-stock is interesting - at the moment I am shooting Super XX and rating it at 250. Great film - not as fine grained as Tri-X but with an extended mid tone, virtually no "shoulder" tons of details in the highlight areas. If you treat it like Tri-X and cut the time by 10-15% (D76 1:1 at 8,5 minutes) you are in the ballpark. I still have a 100 ft roll of Panatomic-X in my freezer that I will use up this summer. I might need to add some Kodak Anti-Fog tablets to the developer, but even after 20+ years it should give me good negatives. You can usually find the Leica cassettes at swap-meet for reasonable prices, but beware, the only ones that work on the M's are the ones with the chrome "knobs" on them. The ones with black paint knobs work on screw-mount bodies, but not on the M's as they are 2mm taller. The IXMOO (chrome knob) will work on both screw and M-mounts. Movie-stock comes in 400ft cans and I usually get about 75-79 rolls out of one can and I keep 80 of these cassettes around for that. A couple of hours work to load them all and then you can shoot to your hearts content. They are heavy though and ? dozen in your pocket makes you list noticeably! They are absolutely light tight and never a scratch. They are also great for short pieces of film - testing a developer or a lens. Tom A -------------------------- Tom Abrahamsson Vancouver, BC Canada