Attempting to load a bulk reel of film into an AP bulk loader and then using the loader to put film onto a cassette in real time, for the first time. Wish me luck.
Hi from New Zealand, first time here so thankyou for taking the time to share your experience. I purchased exactly the same loader on the NZ trading site for around 10 dollars which was a steal. I'm lucky to have bought an old Ravco darkroom revolving door from a school clearing out their stuff, so anything that used to involve a bag is now redundant. I also save used cartridges for the specific DX coding info. 👍Cheers, new subsciber.
I love all the analogue gadgets so have been thinking about doing this myself. Currently for Tri-X, which I love, it doesn't make economical sense since bulk works out at more per roll than the individual canisters, which is slightly bonkers! But clearly great as an option esp. for e.g. small projects or careful zone system work.
They (Kodak) really don't seem to have a coherent pricing strategy. The jury is still out for me re BL. I'll let you know how things go after developing half a dozen rolls.
Great to see you attempt to bulk load film. Instructive for everyone who aspires to learn the process. Would like to hear your point of view on different focal lengths for photography especially on 35mm vs 50mm.
@@mattbentley-walls3106 I have watched just about all your videos.. They are much appreciated. However, my question pertained to your views on other photographers who use a particular focal length that defines their photography, i.e., Henri Cartier-Bresson with his 50mm or Ralph Gibson.
The 35mm vs 50mm Vlog I did covers examples of HCB, Garry Winogrand, Matt Stuart and various others and gives example of their work and how the various lenses affect the image.
I made the same mistake a couple weeks ago, I loaded my first 4 rolls (thankfully I didn't loaded more rolls than this), and I had light leaks on a lot of frames and a lot of scratches on all the film. These plastic cartridge are awful, next time I will reuse factory 35mm rolls of Ilford/Kodak/Fuji.
I started bulk loading my 35mm film around 1960, so let me offer a few comments and tips from 60 years of experience. In 1960, you could buy almost any B&W or color film, except Kodachrome, in bulk. Most B&W is sold in bulk today, but almost no color. In 1960, there were three lengths sold: 27 feet - $12; 50 feet - $18; and 100 feet- $36. If you think those prices were huge bargains compared to today, check inflation values. Inflation adjusted prices today are actual less for non-Kodak films, some much less. On reuse of ordinary film cartridges, the video misses a major point. Almost all film cameras today use either mandatory or optional DX coding to set film speed on the camera's meter. Almost all commercial cartridges today are DX coded to a specific film speed. If you load ISO 100 speed film in a ISO 400 coded cartridge, you might end up accidentally shooting the roll two stops under exposed. So, (1) match film and cartridge speeds, (2) buy little DX coded stickers to relabel your cartridges, (3) physically modify the DX codes on cartridges to fit the film (YT videos re how to); or (4) use a camera with manual meter speed selection. On loaders, the AP shown here is the best on the market today, but at $120 US, it is quite overpriced. The old Lloyds units pinch the film through a felt gap in the loader to keep it light tight, and it can acquire enough dirt to scratch your film. The old Watson loader and its copies use a switched trap which does not drag your film through anything when loading. It is a bit hard to load the bulk film roll, but is probably the preferred design. The best used loader is the Aldens brand. They are designed after the Watson, but built of much better materials and with greater precision. New, they were quite expensive, but are of just average used cost today. So, shop for an Aldens, accept a good deal on a Watson, and skip the Lloyds, and their respective copies. Finally, when buying new reload cartridges, buy them from an established "brick and mortar" store, like Freestyle, B&H or Adorama. They have a vested interest in not retailing the cheap Chinese knock-offs sold on the internet.
Hi from New Zealand, first time here so thankyou for taking the time to share your experience.
I purchased exactly the same loader on the NZ trading site for around 10 dollars which was a steal. I'm lucky to have bought an old Ravco darkroom revolving door from a school clearing out their stuff, so anything that used to involve a bag is now redundant.
I also save used cartridges for the specific DX coding info.
👍Cheers, new subsciber.
I love all the analogue gadgets so have been thinking about doing this myself. Currently for Tri-X, which I love, it doesn't make economical sense since bulk works out at more per roll than the individual canisters, which is slightly bonkers!
But clearly great as an option esp. for e.g. small projects or careful zone system work.
They (Kodak) really don't seem to have a coherent pricing strategy. The jury is still out for me re BL. I'll let you know how things go after developing half a dozen rolls.
Great to see you attempt to bulk load film. Instructive for everyone who aspires to learn the process. Would like to hear your point of view on different focal lengths for photography especially on 35mm vs 50mm.
Check out my Channel. There's an extensive 35mm vs 50mm over there that may be of interest.
@@mattbentley-walls3106 I have watched just about all your videos.. They are much appreciated. However, my question pertained to your views on other photographers who use a particular focal length that defines their photography, i.e., Henri Cartier-Bresson with his 50mm or Ralph Gibson.
The 35mm vs 50mm Vlog I did covers examples of HCB, Garry Winogrand, Matt Stuart and various others and gives example of their work and how the various lenses affect the image.
I have always been put off bulk loading. I don't use a dark bag at all because I develop my film using an Agfa Rondinax daylight developing tank.
Going by some of the comments here I don't think you're missing much.
I made the same mistake a couple weeks ago, I loaded my first 4 rolls (thankfully I didn't loaded more rolls than this), and I had light leaks on a lot of frames and a lot of scratches on all the film. These plastic cartridge are awful, next time I will reuse factory 35mm rolls of Ilford/Kodak/Fuji.
Suspected this might happen. Thanks for the info. Did you load any film onto used Ilford (for example) canisters and if so, was it any better?
I started bulk loading my 35mm film around 1960, so let me offer a few comments and tips from 60 years of experience. In 1960, you could buy almost any B&W or color film, except Kodachrome, in bulk. Most B&W is sold in bulk today, but almost no color. In 1960, there were three lengths sold: 27 feet - $12; 50 feet - $18; and 100 feet- $36. If you think those prices were huge bargains compared to today, check inflation values. Inflation adjusted prices today are actual less for non-Kodak films, some much less. On reuse of ordinary film cartridges, the video misses a major point. Almost all film cameras today use either mandatory or optional DX coding to set film speed on the camera's meter. Almost all commercial cartridges today are DX coded to a specific film speed. If you load ISO 100 speed film in a ISO 400 coded cartridge, you might end up accidentally shooting the roll two stops under exposed. So, (1) match film and cartridge speeds, (2) buy little DX coded stickers to relabel your cartridges, (3) physically modify the DX codes on cartridges to fit the film (YT videos re how to); or (4) use a camera with manual meter speed selection. On loaders, the AP shown here is the best on the market today, but at $120 US, it is quite overpriced. The old Lloyds units pinch the film through a felt gap in the loader to keep it light tight, and it can acquire enough dirt to scratch your film. The old Watson loader and its copies use a switched trap which does not drag your film through anything when loading. It is a bit hard to load the bulk film roll, but is probably the preferred design. The best used loader is the Aldens brand. They are designed after the Watson, but built of much better materials and with greater precision. New, they were quite expensive, but are of just average used cost today. So, shop for an Aldens, accept a good deal on a Watson, and skip the Lloyds, and their respective copies. Finally, when buying new reload cartridges, buy them from an established "brick and mortar" store, like Freestyle, B&H or Adorama. They have a vested interest in not retailing the cheap Chinese knock-offs sold on the internet.