This was exactly the way my father taught me to bulk load. He was a true hardcore photographer since the late 70s, some of the techniques he had were bizarre, like develop without developing tanks, improvise with chemicals, darkroom retouching, and how to do handheld long exposures up to two seconds.
@dirkpieters
3 жыл бұрын
That would be an awesome subject for a video actually, is he still alive?
@zihansong8182
3 жыл бұрын
@@dirkpieters Yes of course
@dirkpieters
3 жыл бұрын
@@zihansong8182 cool.
@lloydgarland4667
3 жыл бұрын
I have a lot of empty cassettes and have managed to pop the caps off some of them (mostly Fujifilm). I was trying to work out how the heck I was going to get the end cap back on in the dark, it's hard enough in the light when you can actually see it sitting at an angle or something. Now I never even considered leaving the cap off all together, so you've just saved me money on those little plastic cassettes and solved my problem of getting the ends on straight. Genius!
@dirkpieters
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks Lloyd, do you think one could leave the cassette out completely. Let me know what you think.
@lloydgarland4667
3 жыл бұрын
@@dirkpieters You may get away with it but I suspect you may get a lot of light leaks, and you wouldn't be able to re-load your camera if you run out of film without a darkroom or changing bag - but then I'm sure you've already thought of this
@alfredanheier4779
2 жыл бұрын
Back in the day when I bulkloaded film, I didn't bother with the precision measurement, I just took the end of the supply roll, taped it to the take up roll and wound it tight until it felt full, then cut. Or a lesser amount if that's what I needed. I'd be afraid to scratch the film if I handled it more. But I did have my share of problems with light leaks from the reusable cassettes because after a few uses the tops were wearing out. Nowadays you have to shoot A LOT to make it worthwhile to bulk load, for most films the savings are only about 30-35% compared to buying premade.
@yea6645
2 жыл бұрын
There’s no felt/velvet light trap on these bulk loaders so no real risk of scratching, only the AP style loaders use a felt light trap so are probably best avoided unless they are kept well maintained
@DustinBKerensky97
2 жыл бұрын
2:40 3:43 You don't want the felt of the pads of the bulk loader scratching the film, meanwhile...
@BboyGraphicx
Жыл бұрын
Thank you, this was extremely helpful
@spongebobdriftpants
8 ай бұрын
thats loads of work. i load them in less than a minute. just pull three lengths of film elbows width apart, align the end onto the spool and tape around the front of the film and spool also taping the backside of the film (so it cant come apart at the end of the roll) then assemble like shown, however you need reloadable cassettes for a better life, seattle film works rolls are easy to get and work great.
@shibuyasoul
3 жыл бұрын
Awesome. I might actually consider picking one up! Subscribed.
@ufukkiblat
3 жыл бұрын
You did that in daylight and it’s complicated already, now you have to do all this in complete darkness. Seems easier just to use bulk loader, I never scratch my negatives.
@randallstewart175
2 жыл бұрын
I have bulk loaded 35mm film for more than 60 years, so I take a moment to point out the errors in this video. It's starting assumption that doing so will result in scratches running the length of you film is almost total nonsense, at least from a bulk loader. With one exception I know of, no bulk loader uses a felt light trap, so that premise is false. Where you get such scratches is from over using reload cartridges, which pick up dirt from the camera and too much handling. If you over use your cartridges, you get that result whether you use a loader or hand roll as shown in the video. Open in the dark loading as shown here presents other problems. The first is getting the bulk roll and/or the cartridge load exposed to light. Also, picking up dust or dirt while laying the film out on the table to measure and cut it. Or, the cut film roll curling and scratching itself as you handle it. Or.... This presentation is total nonsense.
@joncaradies3155
2 жыл бұрын
I totally agree . To think that this method is better than using a bulk loader is just dumb as rocks .....
@dirkpieters
Жыл бұрын
This quite surprising, normally people that have been around for more than 60 years are polite and kind. That's my experience anyway but you know, I might be wrong not all my experiences are the same as others.
@kellerborges5068
2 жыл бұрын
I have a bulk of Fomapan on my fridge for a whole year because it is quite hard to find an acceptable bulk loader to sell where I live. Now I believe it would be easier if I build a "loading station" like this on my room
@SilntObsvr
2 жыл бұрын
Oddly, the loader you held up doesn't even *have* a velvet light trap (though of course the cassettes do). I've got *six* Watson type loaders like that, of varying ages (three were bought new from Freestyle Photo, one appears to date back to the 1960s), and the only time I've found scratches I could attribute to the loader was the first time I loaded film with one and forgot to open the gate after seating the cassette -- pulled a whole 135-36 though the closed gate, no wonder it scratched. Sliding your film emulsion down on that tile or counter top, on the other hand, seems very prone to scratching unless the work surface is absolutely clean and smooth as window glass. What I haven't done is reuse commercial cassettes that weren't snap-cap type. When I started loading my own, in the early 2000s, Kodak had just recently quit selling film in cassettes that could be opened and then reclosed, but when I first learned 35 mm photography (in 1969) my photo instructor loaded Tri-X into whatever cassettes were around -- bang the cassette on the long end of the spool, other end pops off, load the film onto the spool, reinsert, and snap the cap back on, just like the Kalt metal cassettes I have in my darkroom drawer. I didn't bulk load my own immediately because it was far easier to bum $2 off my parents for a cassette of film ($1.29 for Tri-X 36, IIRC, $1.79 for Kodacolor II) than to find a way to collect $14 for a bulk roll and another $8 for the loader, and another $3 for half a dozen cassettes.
@johanvanhuyssteen9217
2 жыл бұрын
Dankie Dirk. Great vid!
@xedalpha1
2 жыл бұрын
I just leave the end of the film attached to the used canister. Tape the bulk to it, wind in as much as you need. Cut it. Profit. Just takes practice guesstimating how much you wind in.
@randallstewart175
2 жыл бұрын
A lot of folks do this. The only issue is that those cartridges are not designed for reuse, so the felt light trap is minimal and will not take much reuse before leaking light. Cartridges designed for reloading are usually easy to manage and have heavier felt traps to stand up to reuse. But, if it works okay for you, go for it, but toss the cartridge after a few uses. Another issue with re using normal cartridges: nearly all are DX coded for the speed of the original film load. If you reuse the cartridge on a camera requiring a DX code, you either use the same speed of film as the DX code, or you have to modify the DX code to whatever speed you want to set on the camera. (Can be done, but is the topic for another - and much more interesting - video than this one.
@willbaren
3 жыл бұрын
I liked what you were doing but when you stretch the film out on the bench what’s the risk of scratching, or empirically, do you see any scratches on the emulsion?
@willbaren
3 жыл бұрын
@DirkDiy thanks
@dirkpieters
3 жыл бұрын
Sorry Will, I think my reply disappeared. I haven't had any scratches from doing it this way. It seem as though the film is quite tough when dry, Especially the emulsion side.
@willbaren
3 жыл бұрын
@@dirkpieters no worries, my reply also disappeared. Cheers.
@randallstewart175
2 жыл бұрын
@@dirkpieters If that were true, then why would it get scratched loading from a bulk load or rolling in and out of a cartridge while being shot? It's just as dry at those times.
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