Bulk film

[natharit_srimanus]

Hi all, I'm a college student with a rather tight budget for film. Lately, i've

been thinking about bulk-loading my own film to save some money. Does anyone

have any experience in this topic? Why should or shouldn't I consider this

option to factory-loaded films?

 

p.s. I live in two countries and travel by air quite often. Would the airport

securities be suspicious of the non-factory packaging?

[michaelging]

I have shot thousands of rolls of Bulk loaded tri-x,before the paper switched to factory loads. It used to be a lot cheaper to bulkload then it is now.I still have some ASA 25 film that I bulkload as its not longer available, which I have taken though security without any problems. You get 18 rolls of 36 exp. off of a 100ft roll. In most cases your cost is around half of factory loads. You do have to be careful of dust and light leaks,so be careful.

[conrad_hoffman]

With reasonable cleanliness and technique you should have no problem bulk loading. The film works out cheaper, but I find the really big advantage is being able to make up short rolls for specific projects. No reason to shoot a 24 if all you need are ten. Yes, you lose the leader, and watch out for the exposed portion on the end, but IMHO it's still well worth it.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

I have used bulk film for some time. A bulk loader will cost around 15 USD/EUR or even cheaper as used equipment. You will need a few film cartridges. Unfortunately the lids are no longer removable with a bottle opener as they used to be 20 years ago. Also, almost no photo shop does in-house processing any more - I have received dozens of cartridges from photo shops which had their own lab then.

 

I once read a suggestion to use film cartridges with a piece of original film reaching out so you can attach your bulk film to that piece.

 

There are also re-usable cartridges made for bulk loading available but they are not cheap.

 

Otherwise there are no big problems. Only advice I can give you to attach the end of the bulk film to the spool (or piece of film reaching out) in the darkroom, too, because otherwise you will loose some frames towards the end of the film. I used to shot a roll until the film advance stops at the end of the film, and if you attach the film in daylight the last two frames will be lost.

 

Airport security will be as dangerous or harmless to your self-loaded cartridges as it is to factory loaded cartridges. Re-usable cartridges usually are made of plastic but some single-use cartridges are plastic, too, so this should not cause any problems.

[terence_spross1]

One problem: film magazines (there called magazines by Kodak when they are reloadable) don't have the film speed code and bar code on them. So cameras that set film speed automatically have to be overridden. Also, some labs (especially your corner drugstore) won't accept a magazine/cassette without the bar code. (For fear of contamination by a mislabeled film.) This is no problem if you process yourself. If you have an automatic camera that can't be set manually. You can use conductive tape placed on the magazine in the same position, copied from another known roll of the same speed. I used pieces of tape cut from an aluminum tape made for sealing house foam insulation bought at a building supply store. Alternately, conductive tape intended to repair circuit boards can sometimes be found at an electronics store.

[terence_spross1]

Another warning: when using a bulk loader for the first time. Only load one roll, use and process. Make sure your loader and procedure doesn't introduce light leaks and especially scrutinize the negs for scratches. Smooth the film guide, if neccessary before ruining a whole bunch of rolls.

 

I bought a bulk-loader for the first time this year. I am not completely convinced I like it. I loaded many rolls in the past in the darkroom using cotton gloves, clips mounted to the edge of the darkroom shelf at pre-measred lengths. (15 exp was a favorite length). I had a homemade spool holder with a hand drank at one end. It was fast, and scratch free. (Being cheap I used to splice re-used leaders on the rolls to save even more money.)

[bsmith]

you can buy DX-coded re-usable film canisters for less than a buck each, if that's an issue.

 

I started bulk loading about a year ago, and it is so quick and easy I would encourage you to do it yourself. One potential problem is accidentally exposing the reel to light. I did this at one pont on my first bulk roll, but was still able to use enough of the film to get my processing and everything down. Now that I've replaced the fogged roll, I'm happy as can be. I've not had a problem with bulk-rolled film in airports - no-one cares as long as it is film and not some secret death ray-looking thingy.