Matt, the other reason to go fairly slowly when loading (especially in the winter months) is that you can have static electricity build up when you go too fast. As you can imagine, having a spark discharge isn't exactly good for your negatives!).
You can actually just cut the leader on a diagonal and it will feed into the take up just fine. It's a minor thing but does save you a cut. Also, blue painter's tape works great for attaching the film onto the spool. It's thinner, cheaper and generally leaves no residue.
I know this video is a few years old, but I wanted to thank you as it's still a great learning tool. After years, I'm think I'm finally up to bulking - and your video assuaged my fears. Thanks, Matt. Love your chanel
Hi Matt, I'm just starting analog photography and watched many of your videos. Even a simple procedure as this, you explain it easy and very well. My compliments. Lot's of greetings from The Netherlands, Dennis :-)
nice matt. been bulk loading and i've been reusing my factory canisters to bulk load into to avoid the chance of popping the end open or light leaks in those plastic pos film canisters. I use a lead retriever, get the lead out and load onto my dev spool and cut the end of the film so i have about 1" of original film sticking out of the canister. then i can tape top/bottom of the bulk load film end onto it and load it back up. works great and you can use them for quite some time and not have to worry about them accidentally opening up.
***** another good reason to do this would be to take advantage of the DX coding on the film canisters... just make sure you're loading the same iso film that was originally in the canister.
great video, just to confer about the loading speed, just like re-winding film in a camera a "static charge" builds up on the plastic film stock (emulsion or backing ) when it runs past itself or the canister/ cameras' film pressure plate by FAST rewinding, causes an "arc-flash" as the static charge built up finds a ground on the loader or camera , this static discharge gives us the common white streak on the film. ( when I rewind film I count to myself 1,and a 2, etc. my rewinding crank passing the camera mirror box at the count of each number(1,2,3) ) haven't had a static problem yet.
those reusable film canisters look amazing. i remember bulk loading in high school and reusing old tri-x canisters, massive pain in the ass. great video man!
Just bought a film camera because I was really inspired by a friend of mine's film photography and I'm looking into doing this so I save money on film in the long run, I just wish there was a bulk roll of colour film or if there is I've yet to find it great video and very helpful for future reference
I feel the same. You can pretty easily find bulk E6 film but good luck developing that! Haha... It seriously destroys the prospect of saving money. I'd love to get my hands on some bulk Portra 400/ Fuji 400H--- though ideally in 6cm width for 120.
This brings back some memories. I took photography in high school in the 80s and our teacher used a film loader to make 24 exposure b&w rolls for students for $1 a roll. We had to save the canisters for reuse.
Thanks Matt, great job on simple and direct instruction. I have the Arista 35mm Bulk Film Loader - (Bobinquick Junior), and wanted to buy another loader for having different speed film available to load. I like the cheaper price of the loader you have, but just know that I would screw up the opening and closing of the 'gate'. It only takes once to mess up and loose valuable film at $50-$100 each! I think I'll save up, and buy another Bobinquick Junior or similar, which doesn't have that gate to worry about. the extra $40 or there-abouts will give me peace of mind. Also, the added benefit is that there is a counter on the loader that reads how many feet are left on the 100 foot roll.
To demonstrate loading a bulk roll, you can use a dummy strip of film about 2-3 feet long, or longer. You can ask the processing labs if they have a long strip of waste film (eg. blank cassette accidentally sent for processing from another customer, or test roll).
Subscribing for the first time. I had shoot with digital a lot and going back to film. I miss the old time however it is a new experience for me to develop my own prints at home with enlarger. It's not easy. It is totally different than software manipulation and digital.
I much prefer the square Lloyd style film loaders, as once you're used to them, you can waste much less film, I typically only expose 1 frame at each end to light and as the leader end is exposed during loading into the camera anyway, I'm only losing one frame per film. I've found using the type of loader you expose much more to light during the rolling, you say yourself you have to add 3 extra frames to get 36 shots on a film.
thanks for the shoutout!! really digging your videos! Every time I think of making new RUclips videos I think, "Why bother, Matts got this covered" haha
That loader seems to expose quite a lot of film on the end you tape to the spool. Have you experienced that your last frame gets ruined because of this?
Thanks for this entertaining video! I didn't know how this would work at all. Btw. I noticed that you probably cannot open the top part while the gate is open, there is a notch in the big round thingy that prevents you from doing that.
At 6:15, another alternative is to pull the knob opposite the winding crank, so you can get the cassette out from the loader. That makes it easier to cut the film with the scissors.
Hi Matt, Thanks for the video, this video help me out for starting to load film. One thing, I notice that I lost the last frame because is in the part exposed when loading the film, so the distance it is not enough when the camera stops because of the end of the film, so the last photo I took is is in the part burned, now I stop one frame before but I lost a couple of photos because of that. On the other hand I realized that when I load the film from the canister to the real it makes very hard when loading the last part of the roll ( it didn't happen to me with the original ones from the shop). I have got black strips along the film on the first two shoots, the ones that are in the center of the real when loaded, I suppose the film strip it is too long for the real and it gets bended. This happened in a real that it is not a Paterson, but it as hard to load in the Paterson as well and I get black parts on the film holes. Does it happen to you? Thanks
Another great video, Matt. :) Just a suggestion/tip, at 6:20 you mention that cutting the leader is a pain to do. I've found it's easier to either 1) remove the canister before cutting; or 2) pull a little bit film out of the canister for a bit of slack, which makes it easier to cut (this part of the film is likely to be exposed anyway when loading the camera).
Hi Henric, Yes, you will lose a small amount of film, but most of what you lose ends up being the leader, or film that would be exposed when loading the camera anyway.
I used these loaders back in middle school. The trick to getting an accurate count on the counter is to start before zero. If a commercial roll of film says 36 exposures on the box, it likely has 39 frames on it.
Thanks for this Video Matt..been shooting more and more film over the last year,mostly medium format but have gotten into 35 mm as well and have been toying with the idea of loading my own film..would you recommend having 2 loaders so you can have different films in each one and be able to switch between the two?
Thank you so helpful. I just started teaching BW photo and have to load the film for my students. Got to get one of those bulk loaders....whats the best place to purchase?
I just developed my first rolls of film today, tips from your videos probably saved my a lot of anguish. So, thank you! How much did you invest and how much are you saving by bulk loading?
Oh. And if not counting the upfront costs (I'll assume you're shooting a lot of film for this to make sense), he's ending up paying about $2.50 per roll of film.
About 16 years ago I use to work on a cruise ship as a photographer and we only had bulk loading film canisters. Imagine loading around 200 of them canisters each night with a shit loader on which the counter never worked, constantly messing up the frame count and the must fun of all was dropping them on the floor and the canister popped open 90% of the time.
Love the videos you're producing. I have a question, though. Where do you purchase your film? I've been dealing with B&H and was wondering if there was a cheaper place that might be better. Thanks.
Hi Matt, Thanks for the info - great stuff as usual. I was just wondering how you store your bulk film for the long haul or essentially how to store it for the long haul if you buy your film fresh. As I live in Canada I try to buy a lot when the exchange rate is lower. I have 6 100' rolls of Ilford various B&W in the refrigerator. Should I move it to the freezer. The oldest was purchased about 6 months. ago. Any info from yourself or other subscribers would be much appreciated. Another reason is the fear of a price spike (oh surely not!) for film as this adds crazy taxes and duties + the exchange rate too. Thanks
It's also easy to make 10 frames films or any frames you want to test a camera or just to take a few pictures without obliged to wait till the end of the 36+ frames. Based on my usage, it divides film cost par 2.5. The only problem with reusable canister is with DX only cameras such as Pentax P30, but it's easy to fix with tin foil and strong paper.
I gave up bulk loading many years ago but recently came back to it but I am having the same problems with it. After shooting and developing the film I find that the Sprocket Holes at the edge of the film itself gets imprinted on to the actual negative. I can crop some of the images but not all, this is very, very frustrating as I have several cans of 100' film in my fridge. What do you think the problem and more importantly the solution is ? Regards, Mamiyapress.
+Paul Frederiksen My Pentax Spotmatic has a film reminder dial on it that lets you choose between 20 and 36 frames per roll - I should clearly be spooling 20 per roll too! I'm off to order a bulk loader… :-)
Great video, I didn't know about this, and I am really happy that I bumped into your channel. I am just wondering, since you go to 39, how many films do you get out of 100 feet. Here in Slovenia, HP5+ is about 6,20€ = almost 7 dollars, and I just want to do the math if it is worth it (shipment costs,etc....) And also what kind of a film loader you have for rolling the film... do you recommend any specific film loader... I look forward to your answer, and keep up the good work with the videos.
Thanks for this, ive just been given a bulk loader and have been unsure how it loads into the loader since its done in the dark, im not sure what way the spool goes in.
Hey Matt, any idea how you’d go about starting out with a 400ft roll of film? Any smart way to go about splitting it up so it fits into the loader? Thanks for this video btw
Hi Matt thx for the Education. Was wondering what you think of the Ultrafine Xtreme 400 B & W 35mm x 100 Ft.. Have you tried it,I am going to give it a try
Great video. I just started (attempting to) load my own film but for some reason the film just keeps skipping over the sprockets inside the loader so the counter is negated. I have a Watson loader. Any suggestions? I looked at the manual but it seemed as though I'm doing everything correctly.
What what's inside the HP5+ box? . Is there another plastic container in the white box or is the large roll straight there so that if you open the cardboard box in daylight you're instantly stuffed! :) I've just purchased my first loader and bulk roll and am hesitant to get started.
With Ilford film the bulk roll is packed inside a black plastic bag, this bag is not sealed or taped closed, but it is folded with the open end in the bottom of the outer box so no light can get in if you take the lid off the box. This makes it reasonably safe from accidental light exposure, but also makes it quite easy to open the box, remove the film and place it in the bulk loader without having to fiddle about with scissors, knives etc. in the dark.
Matt, Sorry for asking this stupid question. I only have 5 reusable canisters. So after loading these 5 rolls. Do I remove the bulk of film from the loader. Put it back into the box and into the fridge? thx
You can leave the film in the loader, it will be safe. But keep it in a cool place. Of course, taking the film roll out and storing it in the fridge works as well.
If you don't need to bulk load a different film, you can leave it in the loader. The loader with the film in it can be stored in the fridge. I have the same model and have done that.
Hey matt, thanks heaps for sharing this. Im just getting started with film photography and this seems like a great way to save on film. Where do you normally shop for your film? Cheers!
***** Cool! They offer nice shipping price to Australia. I'll give it ago! Also when I was looking for the film, I found that Adorama EBAY store has the HP5 for 54bucks, but with the shipping it gets too expensive to get it in australia. Maybe its a good deal for you guys in the US. Cheers. Looking forward for more videos.
Hi Matt, thanks for the video! Just wanted to know if you use plastic or metal canisters? Also, how often do you need to replace them? Also, how many rolls do you get out from a 30m roll?
+Gabor Halasz It looks like a plastic canister in the video to me. I've not tried this myself yet, but it seems as though people get between 17 and 19 rolls of around 35 exposures from a 100ft (30m) roll. See www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-63949.html.
A few years ago there were reusable cassettes that were DX coded for either 100 or 400 speed film, but they haven't been available new for some time now. Try ebay; you might find them there.
Theoretically, yes. But good luck finding bulk rolls of 120, a loader, light-tight paper backing, and then guessing at the correct length for each spool (no sprockets).
It's not all Ilford... But that's certainly the most useful thing that's available. There are a couple other BW stocks that can be had in bulk as well as a few E6 color films but I seriously discourage you from bothering with E6 film. Getting that developed is both prohibitively expensive, hard to find, and really intended for extensive work in post.
+cwolff The benefit is that the film is around half price if you buy it in 100' rolls. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't see why they would have any problems with your canisters. With the others they just open them and throw them all away, but I'm sure you could ask if they'd just give them back to you.
Thanks for the video, thinking to try bulk film, one question: as we know film has two sides, and we only expose the shiny side of the film when taking pictures, for these bulk film which side is the shiny one? thanks
Actually, the emulsion side - the one presented to the light source when in camera - is the dull side. On the bulk roll it is the side facing inwards and in the loading compartment it is the side facing downwards.
The dull side is where the picture layer is. When you load the bulk film into this model of loader, the dull side should be facing towards the inside of the loader's chamber. Remember the mantra... Shiny Side Up.
So just to reiterate, if you turn the film counter knob to 39 you're really on getting about 35 exposures? I'm just a little confused because you said something about getting your money's worth haha
You have to take into account the leader portion that is exposed when you open the top to cut the film. When you load the film you pull a few more frames out of the cannister to reach the take-up spool. So he was saying that if you want 36 frames to click it to 39. Personally I click my Watson loader (same one as him) 40 times.
Very useful but I always had this question. What happens if you load more than 40 frames? I mean, there's space inside the cannister and I've bought films which came up with 42 effective frames.
You can get cinema color bulk film here: filmphotographyproject.com/store/film/bulk-film-rolls or alternatively you can get this: www.ultrafineonline.com/ko35x100ftpr.html Other than these two sites you can't easily find bulk color film. If you manage to find any other bulk color film give me a shout.
Well done! I was bulk loading 35mm film 50 years ago, and partly due to your video, I'm going to get back into it. Thanks...
Matt, the other reason to go fairly slowly when loading (especially in the winter months) is that you can have static electricity build up when you go too fast. As you can imagine, having a spark discharge isn't exactly good for your negatives!).
You can actually just cut the leader on a diagonal and it will feed into the take up just fine. It's a minor thing but does save you a cut. Also, blue painter's tape works great for attaching the film onto the spool. It's thinner, cheaper and generally leaves no residue.
I know this video is a few years old, but I wanted to thank you as it's still a great learning tool. After years, I'm think I'm finally up to bulking - and your video assuaged my fears. Thanks, Matt. Love your chanel
this is REELY helpful. haha.
REELY underrated comment!
ALLAH ‘AKBAR!!!🇮🇶🇵🇰🇸🇦🇸🇦🇸🇦🇸🇦
This is the video I wish someone made a year ago. Thank you.
Hi Matt, I'm just starting analog photography and watched many of your videos. Even a simple procedure as this, you explain it easy and very well. My compliments. Lot's of greetings from The Netherlands, Dennis :-)
nice matt. been bulk loading and i've been reusing my factory canisters to bulk load into to avoid the chance of popping the end open or light leaks in those plastic pos film canisters. I use a lead retriever, get the lead out and load onto my dev spool and cut the end of the film so i have about 1" of original film sticking out of the canister. then i can tape top/bottom of the bulk load film end onto it and load it back up. works great and you can use them for quite some time and not have to worry about them accidentally opening up.
***** another good reason to do this would be to take advantage of the DX coding on the film canisters... just make sure you're loading the same iso film that was originally in the canister.
great video, just to confer about the loading speed, just like re-winding film in a camera a "static charge" builds up on the plastic film stock (emulsion or backing ) when it runs past itself or the canister/ cameras' film pressure plate by FAST rewinding, causes an "arc-flash" as the static charge built up finds a ground on the loader or camera , this static discharge gives us the common white streak on the film. ( when I rewind film I count to myself 1,and a 2, etc. my rewinding crank passing the camera mirror box at the count of each number(1,2,3) ) haven't had a static problem yet.
Nikon F5 rewinds whole roll in less than 5 seconds without any issues. I highly doubt you can hand-wind faster :) Cheers!
@@Netcom27 Static is more of a problem when shooting in cool/dry climates
those reusable film canisters look amazing. i remember bulk loading in high school and reusing old tri-x canisters, massive pain in the ass. great video man!
Just bought a film camera because I was really inspired by a friend of mine's film photography and I'm looking into doing this so I save money on film in the long run, I just wish there was a bulk roll of colour film or if there is I've yet to find it great video and very helpful for future reference
I feel the same. You can pretty easily find bulk E6 film but good luck developing that! Haha... It seriously destroys the prospect of saving money. I'd love to get my hands on some bulk Portra 400/ Fuji 400H--- though ideally in 6cm width for 120.
This brings back some memories. I took photography in high school in the 80s and our teacher used a film loader to make 24 exposure b&w rolls for students for $1 a roll. We had to save the canisters for reuse.
Started using metal cartriges quickly went to plastic,so much more reliable and easier. Thanks for the video
Just got one of these and a roll of bulk film at an estate sale. Stoked! Thanks for this tutorial.
Thanks Matt, great job on simple and direct instruction. I have the Arista 35mm Bulk Film Loader - (Bobinquick Junior), and wanted to buy another loader for having different speed film available to load.
I like the cheaper price of the loader you have, but just know that I would screw up the opening and closing of the 'gate'. It only takes once to mess up and loose valuable film at $50-$100 each!
I think I'll save up, and buy another Bobinquick Junior or similar, which doesn't have that gate to worry about. the extra $40 or there-abouts will give me peace of mind.
Also, the added benefit is that there is a counter on the loader that reads how many feet are left on the 100 foot roll.
Great info Matt, thank you. I always thought of this process as being something I'd never tackle, you've shown me otherwise.
To demonstrate loading a bulk roll, you can use a dummy strip of film about 2-3 feet long, or longer. You can ask the processing labs if they have a long strip of waste film (eg. blank cassette accidentally sent for processing from another customer, or test roll).
This is going to save a lot of money for my high school photography class, thanks!
Subscribing for the first time. I had shoot with digital a lot and going back to film. I miss the old time however it is a new experience for me to develop my own prints at home with enlarger. It's not easy. It is totally different than software manipulation and digital.
Excellent demo Matt, cheers. I'll definitely be going for bulk loading next time I restock on B+W…
I always wondered how to bulk load film...This video pretty much covered...Thanks for this awesome tutorial.
I much prefer the square Lloyd style film loaders, as once you're used to them, you can waste much less film, I typically only expose 1 frame at each end to light and as the leader end is exposed during loading into the camera anyway, I'm only losing one frame per film. I've found using the type of loader you expose much more to light during the rolling, you say yourself you have to add 3 extra frames to get 36 shots on a film.
Been bulk loading, aka saving a fortune, for a couple years now. Its the way to go! Great video
If only I could buy Portra 400/ Fuji 400H in bulk rolls.
Thanks Matt, I was looking a tutorial for bulk loading, found this very helpful, to my surprise I have the same loader ;)
I have been watching you for a while but for some reason I didn't realize I wasn't subscribed. Fixed that. Enjoy your vids. Thanks for what you do.
Yo Matt you're the man, respect bro
thanks for the shoutout!! really digging your videos! Every time I think of making new RUclips videos I think, "Why bother, Matts got this covered" haha
That loader seems to expose quite a lot of film on the end you tape to the spool.
Have you experienced that your last frame gets ruined because of this?
I wonder the same thing, maybe it's best to load as much as you can and just know that if you're on the last few exposures, they might be lost.
Thanks for sharing this video. Was looking into buying in bulk to save costs. Cutting/shaping the film lead part is most helpful!
Thanks for the tutorial. Have you ever loaded Kodak 35mm cinema film
Thanks! I've been looking into it and this made me pull the plug. Starting it soon. Thanks for the tutorial, it was very helpful!
Thanks for this entertaining video! I didn't know how this would work at all. Btw. I noticed that you probably cannot open the top part while the gate is open, there is a notch in the big round thingy that prevents you from doing that.
At 6:15, another alternative is to pull the knob opposite the winding crank, so you can get the cassette out from the loader. That makes it easier to cut the film with the scissors.
Hi Matt, Thanks for the video, this video help me out for starting to load film. One thing, I notice that I lost the last frame because is in the part exposed when loading the film, so the distance it is not enough when the camera stops because of the end of the film, so the last photo I took is is in the part burned, now I stop one frame before but I lost a couple of photos because of that. On the other hand I realized that when I load the film from the canister to the real it makes very hard when loading the last part of the roll ( it didn't happen to me with the original ones from the shop). I have got black strips along the film on the first two shoots, the ones that are in the center of the real when loaded, I suppose the film strip it is too long for the real and it gets bended. This happened in a real that it is not a Paterson, but it as hard to load in the Paterson as well and I get black parts on the film holes. Does it happen to you? Thanks
Another great video, Matt. :) Just a suggestion/tip, at 6:20 you mention that cutting the leader is a pain to do. I've found it's easier to either 1) remove the canister before cutting; or 2) pull a little bit film out of the canister for a bit of slack, which makes it easier to cut (this part of the film is likely to be exposed anyway when loading the camera).
Guys. When loading and opening the canister, doesn't 5-10cm of film get exposed? It looks like you lose a lot of film?
Hi Henric,
Yes, you will lose a small amount of film, but most of what you lose ends up being the leader, or film that would be exposed when loading the camera anyway.
Thank you.. I have been thinking about bulk rolling , however I had no idea what was involved.
I used these loaders back in middle school. The trick to getting an accurate count on the counter is to start before zero. If a commercial roll of film says 36 exposures on the box, it likely has 39 frames on it.
Definitely something to look into, thanks again Matt!
Thanks for the video Matt, never seen this done before so this answered a lot of questions I had. Thanks again.
Thanks for this Video Matt..been shooting more and more film over the last year,mostly medium format but have gotten into 35 mm as well and have been toying with the idea of loading my own film..would you recommend having 2 loaders so you can have different films in each one and be able to switch between the two?
Thank you so helpful. I just started teaching BW photo and have to load the film for my students.
Got to get one of those bulk loaders....whats the best place to purchase?
I just developed my first rolls of film today, tips from your videos probably saved my a lot of anguish. So, thank you!
How much did you invest and how much are you saving by bulk loading?
Loader- around $100. Canisters- about $2 a piece but reusable. 100' roll of HP5- ~$78 on Amazon.
Oh. And if not counting the upfront costs (I'll assume you're shooting a lot of film for this to make sense), he's ending up paying about $2.50 per roll of film.
About 16 years ago I use to work on a cruise ship as a photographer and we only had bulk loading film canisters. Imagine loading around 200 of them canisters each night with a shit loader on which the counter never worked, constantly messing up the frame count and the must fun of all was dropping them on the floor and the canister popped open 90% of the time.
How long did it take them to fire you?
Those must have been color film. Bulk rolls of color film. Sadly they don't sell those anymore. You can only get bulk rolls in B&W these days.
Yes they do. Just use cinema film and then develop it after removing the remjet. Turns out much cheaper too.
How many rolls you can get from this big roll? Do you really save money 💰 doing this way? Great video
Love the videos you're producing. I have a question, though. Where do you purchase your film? I've been dealing with B&H and was wondering if there was a cheaper place that might be better. Thanks.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the info - great stuff as usual. I was just wondering how you store your bulk film for the long haul or essentially how to store it for the long haul if you buy your film fresh. As I live in Canada I try to buy a lot when the exchange rate is lower. I have 6 100' rolls of Ilford various B&W in the refrigerator. Should I move it to the freezer. The oldest was purchased about 6 months. ago. Any info from yourself or other subscribers would be much appreciated. Another reason is the fear of a price spike (oh surely not!) for film as this adds crazy taxes and duties + the exchange rate too.
Thanks
It's also easy to make 10 frames films or any frames you want to test a camera or just to take a few pictures without obliged to wait till the end of the 36+ frames.
Based on my usage, it divides film cost par 2.5.
The only problem with reusable canister is with DX only cameras such as Pentax P30, but it's easy to fix with tin foil and strong paper.
Fantastic! Clear and concise. Thank you 😊
I gave up bulk loading many years ago but recently came back to it but I am having the same problems with it. After shooting and developing the film I find that the Sprocket Holes at the edge of the film itself gets imprinted on to the actual negative. I can crop some of the images but not all, this is very, very frustrating as I have several cans of 100' film in my fridge. What do you think the problem and more importantly the solution is ?
Regards, Mamiyapress.
I might have to try this. The biggest reason is I always feel 36 frames is about 16 too many. 20 frame rolls is much easier to deal with.
+Paul Frederiksen My Pentax Spotmatic has a film reminder dial on it that lets you choose between 20 and 36 frames per roll - I should clearly be spooling 20 per roll too! I'm off to order a bulk loader… :-)
Awesome video. Can this be done with 120 you just need a bigger loader? Or is it just for 35mm?
Great video, Matt!
Ok Question... Is it cheaper than just buying regular... Ik it probably is but is it a little better or is it like half the price
Thanks, that was a great tutorial and really helpful!!
Great video, I didn't know about this, and I am really happy that I bumped into your channel.
I am just wondering, since you go to 39, how many films do you get out of 100 feet. Here in Slovenia, HP5+ is about 6,20€ = almost 7 dollars, and I just want to do the math if it is worth it (shipment costs,etc....)
And also what kind of a film loader you have for rolling the film... do you recommend any specific film loader...
I look forward to your answer, and keep up the good work with the videos.
Great video. Thank you for explaining this.
Approximately how many 36 exposure rolls can you load with 100 feet of bulk film?
Thanks for this, ive just been given a bulk loader and have been unsure how it loads into the loader since its done in the dark, im not sure what way the spool goes in.
Hey Matt, any idea how you’d go about starting out with a 400ft roll of film? Any smart way to go about splitting it up so it fits into the loader? Thanks for this video btw
Amazing and pretty clear. Thanks for the video.
Can I ask which cans are you using so they can open and close this easily?
Hi Matt thx for the Education. Was wondering what you think of the Ultrafine Xtreme 400 B & W 35mm x 100 Ft.. Have you tried it,I am going to give it a try
Very nice, Matt...
Great video. I just started (attempting to) load my own film but for some reason the film just keeps skipping over the sprockets inside the loader so the counter is negated. I have a Watson loader. Any suggestions? I looked at the manual but it seemed as though I'm doing everything correctly.
***** Thanks! I may just have to pick a new one up.
What bulk loader is this? the only one i can seem to find is the "Legacy Pro Lloyd 35mm Daylight Bulk Film Loader"
Ah got it: Watson 100 Bulk Film Loader
How many rolls do you get out of this? Does it save a lot of money this way?
I have had static build up and arc leaving light marks on the film, this has a tendency to happen in the winter because of lower humidity levels.
What what's inside the HP5+ box? . Is there another plastic container in the white box or is the large roll straight there so that if you open the cardboard box in daylight you're instantly stuffed! :) I've just purchased my first loader and bulk roll and am hesitant to get started.
With Ilford film the bulk roll is packed inside a black plastic bag, this bag is not sealed or taped closed, but it is folded with the open end in the bottom of the outer box so no light can get in if you take the lid off the box. This makes it reasonably safe from accidental light exposure, but also makes it quite easy to open the box, remove the film and place it in the bulk loader without having to fiddle about with scissors, knives etc. in the dark.
Matt, Sorry for asking this stupid question. I only have 5 reusable canisters. So after loading these 5 rolls. Do I remove the bulk of film from the loader. Put it back into the box and into the fridge? thx
You can leave the film in the loader, it will be safe. But keep it in a cool place. Of course, taking the film roll out and storing it in the fridge works as well.
If you don't need to bulk load a different film, you can leave it in the loader. The loader with the film in it can be stored in the fridge. I have the same model and have done that.
Hey matt, thanks heaps for sharing this. Im just getting started with film photography and this seems like a great way to save on film. Where do you normally shop for your film?
Cheers!
***** Cool! They offer nice shipping price to Australia. I'll give it ago! Also when I was looking for the film, I found that Adorama EBAY store has the HP5 for 54bucks, but with the shipping it gets too expensive to get it in australia.
Maybe its a good deal for you guys in the US.
Cheers. Looking forward for more videos.
Is that the Watson model 66B?
Thank you so much!
Absolutely fantastic
Thank you! Super helpful and easy to follow!
Great episode Matt
Thanks
Nice explanation..! How many effective 36 exposures roll you would get out the 30m bulk film...?
I have seen people say 18
Hi , where you buy the rolling tank?
Hey Matt, where did you get your bulk loader and reloadable film canisters? Thanks! Great vid.
Alan Lin Thanks, Alan! I got all of my canisters from Freestyle Photo and I got the bulk loader from Etsy.
what is the name of the bulk film loader u have @matt day
hey man - could you please recommend a film loader for me to purchase
Hi Matt, thanks for the video! Just wanted to know if you use plastic or metal canisters? Also, how often do you need to replace them? Also, how many rolls do you get out from a 30m roll?
+Gabor Halasz It looks like a plastic canister in the video to me. I've not tried this myself yet, but it seems as though people get between 17 and 19 rolls of around 35 exposures from a 100ft (30m) roll. See www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-63949.html.
Thanks Graham Ashton !
Sweet vid Matt. Question; what do you do about loading that roll into a camera that reads ASA? Do they make refillable canisters that are readable?
A few years ago there were reusable cassettes that were DX coded for either 100 or 400 speed film, but they haven't been available new for some time now. Try ebay; you might find them there.
Thanks Guys!! I'll be looking for coded cassettes for sure now
Great episode, thanks! Would this be doable with medium format film?
Theoretically, yes. But good luck finding bulk rolls of 120, a loader, light-tight paper backing, and then guessing at the correct length for each spool (no sprockets).
So bulk loading is like refilling 36 frames on the canister?
Is color film also sold in bulk or is it just Ilford B&W?
It's not all Ilford... But that's certainly the most useful thing that's available. There are a couple other BW stocks that can be had in bulk as well as a few E6 color films but I seriously discourage you from bothering with E6 film. Getting that developed is both prohibitively expensive, hard to find, and really intended for extensive work in post.
is bulk film only sold for b&w?
is there any point in bulkloading if I don't develop myself? I mean, could I send a bulkloaded film canister to my favorite lab with no issues?
+cwolff The benefit is that the film is around half price if you buy it in 100' rolls. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't see why they would have any problems with your canisters. With the others they just open them and throw them all away, but I'm sure you could ask if they'd just give them back to you.
Thanks for the video, thinking to try bulk film, one question: as we know film has two sides, and we only expose the shiny side of the film when taking pictures, for these bulk film which side is the shiny one? thanks
Actually, the emulsion side - the one presented to the light source when in camera - is the dull side. On the bulk roll it is the side facing inwards and in the loading compartment it is the side facing downwards.
Thanks, Karl, that solved my puzzle.
The dull side is where the picture layer is. When you load the bulk film into this model of loader, the dull side should be facing towards the inside of the loader's chamber.
Remember the mantra... Shiny Side Up.
Oohhhh, is this possible to do with Kodak's colour negative film?
Otherwise does Iflord offer bulk loading for 120 film? I don't shoot 35mm very often
I don't believe that anyone does bulk colour rolls,
And 120 is not available in bulk rolls either
What brand is the film loader ?
So just to reiterate, if you turn the film counter knob to 39 you're really on getting about 35 exposures? I'm just a little confused because you said something about getting your money's worth haha
You have to take into account the leader portion that is exposed when you open the top to cut the film. When you load the film you pull a few more frames out of the cannister to reach the take-up spool. So he was saying that if you want 36 frames to click it to 39. Personally I click my Watson loader (same one as him) 40 times.
About how many rolls can you get out of 100 ft?
Hey Matt, how many rolls of 36 exposures you can get with the whole bulk film (100ft)? Thanks for the video!
Roughly 20-25 rolls, depending on the size of the film leader and what not. Thanks!
***** I am using the Watson Model 100 Loader, I think it is like the same as you have.
bout tree fiddy
Exactly what I needed, thank you!
Where do you get the canisters?
Very useful but I always had this question. What happens if you load more than 40 frames? I mean, there's space inside the cannister and I've bought films which came up with 42 effective frames.
***** Oh yeah, didn't think of that. Thanks!
***** ***** Thanks guys!
This was so helpful! Thank you so much!
Thanks Matt!!
Hey Matt, where can I find that bulk loader? Can't seem to find one
Looks like a Watson Model 100 - eBay is the best bet, I don't think they've been made for ages.
do you know any color iso 400 films that are available in bulk?
You can get cinema color bulk film here: filmphotographyproject.com/store/film/bulk-film-rolls or alternatively you can get this: www.ultrafineonline.com/ko35x100ftpr.html Other than these two sites you can't easily find bulk color film. If you manage to find any other bulk color film give me a shout.
You're the best!! Thanks!!
thanks for great videos!