# Bulk Film Loader ... tips?



## Josh66 (Sep 9, 2010)

OK, So my bulk film loader (this one) and 100' roll of Fuji Pro 160S just came in (I got some reusable canisters too, of course)...

I've never done this before, but the directions seem easy enough (though I don't think they were originally written in English...).  It sounds like they want me to cut the corners off of the end of the film before I feed it into the loader.  Looking at it, it doesn't look like that is entirely necessary...

The main thing I'm wondering is ... I don't know what to expect when I open up the can of film.  Is the end going to be taped down or anything?

Is there some kind of spool that I have to keep or discard?

Should I wear gloves, or will that make it harder to work with?

Since the amount of the roll that I'll actually be touching is very small compared to the whole 100 feet (probably only a foot or so?) do I even have to worry about messing it up?



It doesn't sound very hard, but I figured I better ask if there are any noob mistakes I might be able to avoid...  The worst possible thing I can see happening is dropping the roll of film and letting it unwind all over the floor, lol.  I think that would be pretty bad.

Just waiting for it to get dark now...  No changing bag, so I'll just go in the bathroom with the lights off once it's dark.  Should be fine...
I guess I'll sit in there for a minute or two after it gets dark just to make sure I can't see any light coming in under the door.

I don't think I have to worry about that, but worst case - I can tape the edges of the door with a few layers of duct tape or something...


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## Derrel (Sep 9, 2010)

Make sure you open and load the film into the bulk loader in the dark. As in the dark-dark-dark!!! Nightime is best, or a changing bag.

Familiarize yourself with how the loader works! No gloves are needed...the 100 foot roll come on a spool that fits right on the spindle inside the film loader. No gloves are needed.

Keep your reloadable cartridges clean and free from dust and grit and places where those things accumulate--always keep bulk rolls in film cannisters, to avoid dust and grit.

Stuff some towels around the door. It must be 100 percent DARK!@  Work under a couple blankets if you need to. Once the bulk loader is loaded, you can roll film in daylight....just make sure the door is closed properly before opening the "passageway".


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## compur (Sep 9, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> Just waiting for it to get dark now...  No changing bag, so I'll just go in the bathroom with the lights off once it's dark.  Should be fine...
> I guess I'll sit in there for a minute or two after it gets dark just to make sure I can't see any light coming in under the door.



More like 10-15 minutes.  Another alternative (if no changing bag) is to get 
under blankets at night.


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## Josh66 (Sep 9, 2010)

I guess I'll stuff some towels in the bottom and tape the sides & top, just to be safe.

Actually - I do have another bathroom that doesn't have any windows anywhere near it - I'll use that one, and probably still stuff the bottom of the door.


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## Josh66 (Sep 9, 2010)

Derrel said:


> ....just make sure the door is closed properly before opening the "passageway".


On this loader, the winding handle opens the light seal when you insert it (which can only be done with the door fully closed).


One more question - On the reusable canisters I got, it looks like they're meant to have a tab about 1/2" wide at the end of the film that you just stick in there instead of taping it on...  Is that how 'factory' canisters are?
(I've never taken one apart before...)

If I send the film off (I'll have to sacrifice a few canisters to the lab at first - I got 50, so I should still have plenty by the time I get all the developing stuff I need), what would they prefer?  The end of the film taped on, or cut down and stuck into that slot?


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## Derrel (Sep 9, 2010)

You need to tape the film onto the cartridge's spool!!!!!

The tape is what goes through that slit,and then you tape the film on...if you do not tape the film on to the spool, there will be problems...trust me. I have shot miles of bulk film...it was a way of life for me in the 1980's...

Glad that your loader has an interlock.


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## Josh66 (Sep 9, 2010)

Ah - OK.  It looked like the film was supposed to go through that (there are one-way teeth inside the slot - kind of like a zip-tie, you can stick something in, but it doesn't look like it would come out).  I guess I'll test it with a little scrap of film and see how strong it holds.  I'll still tape it though.

I think I'm going to take apart an old roll of film to see what the 'factory' spool looks like, lol.  I have a roll that's been sitting half shot in a camera for at least 5 years - I'll sacrifice that one, lol.  Just curious how they do it on 'regular' film...


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## Josh66 (Sep 9, 2010)

OK, so I just took apart that old roll I had, lol.  Yeah - it was just taped on...  (The factory spool also looks a lot different than this one - it's just round & smooth, it doesn't have that slot with teeth thing I was talking about.)

I'm glad I did it though, I used it to do a dry run on loading the loader.  It was a lot easier after cutting the corners off.  The whole process was actually much easier than I was expecting.  Of course, the roll was only like 3 feet long instead of 100, lol.

I think the bigger roll will actually be easier though, since it won't be curled as much.


EDIT
I'm done.  It wasn't too bad.  The end of the film already had the corners cut off, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Gonna go load some canisters now, lol.

...I think my daughter ran off with the roll of tape I had set aside for them.


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## zamanakhan (Sep 9, 2010)

quick off topic question... is it cheaper to purchase bulk film? or is there really no point?


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## Josh66 (Sep 10, 2010)

zamanakhan said:


> quick off topic question... is it cheaper to purchase bulk film? or is there really no point?


Hell yeah it's cheaper.
(Bulk _anything_ is always cheaper.)

Fuji Pro 160S is $5 or more a roll.  I paid $50 for that 100' roll, which is enough for 20-25 rolls from what I hear.  I've loaded 5 rolls of it so far, and according the the meter on the loader, I used 20'...  (I did 2 36 exposure rolls, and 3 24 exposure rolls.)  At that rate, I'll get 25 rolls out of it.

That works out to about half price.

With what I paid for the loader itself, I'm breaking even on this first roll, but every 100' roll after that will basically be like getting the film for half price.


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## Josh66 (Sep 10, 2010)

OK, one more question, lol...

The cartridges I'm using are DX coded for 36 exposures and ISO 100 (not worried about the ISO - I'll just change that in camera)...  Since I've been loading some of them with 24 exposures (sometimes I like more, smaller rolls) - what would happen if I forgot to rewind it after the 24th exposure?

Same thing could happen with the non-DX coded cartridges ... what if you accidentally went past however many exposures were on the roll?

I don't think the drive motor in the camera would be strong enough to break the tape, so...?  Would it rip out some of the perforations?  Or maybe break something in my camera?

I'll just stick a piece of tape on the back of the camera and write down how many exposures the roll is (I've been putting tape labels on the rolls, but I won't be able to see that through the window), but I can see how I might forget one time...

Or you could be blasting away at 10 FPS and easily overshoot the last frame...
(I guess I'll have to make sure I never use continuous drive on any rolls loaded to less than the DX code - or with any non-DX coded rolls...)


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## Derrel (Sep 10, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> OK, so I just took apart that old roll I had, lol.  Yeah - it was just taped on...  (The factory spool also looks a lot different than this one - it's just round & smooth, it doesn't have that slot with teeth thing I was talking about.)
> 
> I'm glad I did it though, I used it to do a dry run on loading the loader.  It was a lot easier after cutting the corners off.  The whole process was actually much easier than I was expecting.  Of course, the roll was only like 3 feet long instead of 100, lol.
> 
> ...



Get the tape back from that kid!!!!!!
Great series of posts you've done here tonight. Bulk film has its rewards...but please, do be careful about dropping a reloadable cartridge...the lids "can" pop off of them if they hit the ground just so...


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## zamanakhan (Sep 10, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> zamanakhan said:
> 
> 
> > quick off topic question... is it cheaper to purchase bulk film? or is there really no point?
> ...




i think iam gonna look into this, another way of making the process more personal


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## ann (Sep 10, 2010)

in the long run it is cheaper. the orginal cost may seem more , i.e. the bulk loader,cansters . 

my students get about 20 rolls of 36 exposures from a 100 ft roll of film

be sure you have secured the taped end tightly as the rewind function can rip off it not carefully, but this is rare if you tape properly.


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## Josh66 (Sep 10, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> what would happen if I forgot to rewind it after the 24th exposure?


I'm still kinda wondering about this...

Will the camera 'feel' the tension at the end of the roll and automatically rewind, or will it try to just keep going?  Is there some way that it 'knows' when to rewind non-DX coded cartridges, or do you just have to pay attention to what frame it's on?

I'm using a Canon 1N RS if that matters.  (I didn't see anything in the manual that talks about that...)

edit
Is there any chance of it damaging my camera?  Or the film?

Sorry if this is total noob stuff, but I've never used non-DX coded cartridges before, or DX coded ones that had less film in them than what the DX code says...


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## tirediron (Sep 10, 2010)

I haven't used bulk film for many years, but when I did, I never bothered with a loader.  I knew that the outstretched width of my arms was about 40 frames, so around 38 or 39 I would just manually rewind.


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## Derrel (Sep 10, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> O|||||||O said:
> 
> 
> > what would happen if I forgot to rewind it after the 24th exposure?
> ...



The camera should sense the tension at the roll's end...I'm pretty sure there's some type of clutch mechanism that prevents the camera from stripping out the sprockets,etc,etc...

Not sure if you are developing your own film, but if you are, remember not to just rip the tape at the end of the roll as you load it...that can cause a static electricity discharge, which will lave your film with lots of little mini-lighting-bolt like spark images!!! (I learned this lesson the hard way!)

I never really owned a camera that was DX-capable until way,way late in the game...I stuck with Nikon FE-2,FM,FM-2,and F3-H bodies for around 15 years, well after they had been replaced by newer models,so my DX-cannister film experience is pretty limited.


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## Josh66 (Sep 10, 2010)

Good to know.

I guess on the less than 36 exposure rolls, I'll just keep shooting till it rewinds.  Maybe I'll get one or two extra frames.

(I do like to keep it to multiples of 6 though ... just for easy storage in my negative sleeves...)


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## Josh66 (Sep 10, 2010)

tirediron said:


> I haven't used bulk film for many years, but when I did, I never bothered with a loader.  I knew that the outstretched width of my arms was about 40 frames, so around 38 or 39 I would just manually rewind.


I've heard of people doing it that way...

Judging from my very limited experience ... I think I would have a hard time taping the end of the film to the spool in the dark...lol.


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## tirediron (Sep 10, 2010)

O|||||||O said:


> I think I would have a hard time taping the end of the film to the spool in the dark...lol.


 
Nah, dead easy... you take the spool, put  a 'U' of tape on it, make sure that the sticky sides won't touch, and develop a system so that you can put your fingers on each item (spool, case, locking rings) as you need them.


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