Topic: Bulk loaders and economics

[chris667]

Hello

I promise I will stop asking questions soon. I'm very keen to improve!

I am looking for the best price on film. I see that bulk loaders are still available, and was thinking about a purchase. But I can't find a clear answer to these questions anywhere.

First, how many rolls do you get from 30m?

Second, can you still get DX coding stickers? Both of my working cameras can't film speeds manually, although I guess I could ignore the meter altogether.

Thanks in advance.

[02Pilot]

No idea about the DX stickers. Figure on between 18-20 ~36 exposure rolls, depending on how long you like your leader.

[chris667]

It's a bit of a saving, but not a fortune.

I may have to get some practice in with new films and see what I like before I commit. I used to almost exclusively use Ilford FP4 and HP5 for black and white stuff. There are lots of names I don't remember.

[Faintandfuzzy]

I's a pretty big savings.  From the Film Photography Podcast store, 100' of Ilford HP5 is $61.  I get 19 rolls of 36 from that....so it works out to $3.21 a roll instead of $4.99

In other words, I get the same film for only 2/3 as much. 

[jharr]

If you don't have your heart set on fresh film you can get expired spools for much less. My best buy was 400' of expired Kodak Recordak Dacomatic for $12. Those are some cheap rolls of film. On the other hand there is no savings on rolling your own Tri-x.

[chris667]

Whereabouts do you find things like that?

I have been looking for expired film on eBay. I haven't seen anything near that sort of price!

[jharr]

Whereabouts do you find things like that?

I have been looking for expired film on eBay. I haven't seen anything near that sort of price!

Admittedly, that was a really good deal because the film turned out to be really good. I could have easily bought 400' of fogged plastic.

I recently bought this and it looks good based on a short test.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-ROLL-GAF-ANSCO-SUPER-HYPAN-TYPE-II-CLASS-N-35MMX-100FT-ISO-320-EXPIRED-UNKNOWN-/172482981622?hash=item2828c96ef6:g:vk0AAOSw9NdXwDhe

I usually look for film selling for under $0.30/ft. You can get short ends and recans of movie film for under $0.20/ft. Those require a little more time/energy investment to remove the remjet, but it's not that bad. If you reuse old 35mm cartridges, this brings your price per roll around $1.50 for 36exp. I only roll 24exp for myself since I don't have the patience to shoot or scan 36.

Happy hunting!

[imagesfrugales]

Hi Chris, there's another possibility to save some money.

I frequently develop partially exposed films. You can rewind the film with leader out and measure the exposed film by exposure count and 38 mm per exposure + 20 cm for the leader and cut it off, depending on the camera or your loading habits of course. Or I open the camera mid roll and pull the exposed film from the take up spool and cut it off, but doesn't work with all cameras. Since I don't use a changing bag but a dark room (not necessarily a darkroom but a dark room) it's quite conveniant. So I can get 2 or 3 short rolls from a single 135-36 film.

With an empty canister with a small piece of remaining film looking out you can also devide a single roll into 2. Use one with the desired DX code.

And because I develop all films myself and like to play with the settings I mostly use cameras with manual speed setting or override. And cameras with motorized transport must have a leader out option for rewinding, e.g. Dynax/Maxxum 5. I don't buy fully automatic cameras without the desired features anymore.

[Francois]

Or you could get one of those Kodak film leader retrieval tools. They work like magic!

A few years ago I bought a bulk loader with some mystery film in it at a garage sale. And this put me on the slippery slope of bulk film.
I discovered that sometimes odd or house brand film can be pretty darn good. Mom got me a roll of Arista.edu Ultra 400 from freestyle. The price is pretty good compared to some fresh Kodak. When you search a bit, it turns out that this is simply some Fomapan 400 that's been relabeled. Some will say it's an ugly film due to its fairly high contrast but when you expose it at 250 is becomes very nice.

I now have 2 bulk loaders and am definitely expecting to one day get more bulk emulsion.

[Jack Johnson]

My last few spools of FP4+ I picked up on Amazon for $52 USD, but I just checked and both FP4+ and HP5+ are running about $80 USD. Adorama has them both for about $60 USD (plus shipping).

I should place an order before the rest of you.

[Jack Johnson]

I should place an order before the rest of you.

Done! New Years' resolution #3 en route.

I should have checked B&H first, but it looks like their prices are about the same as Adorama's. But, I think I have something on my wish list from B&H (replacement strap for a battered Domke bag), and could have saved on shipping.

[Francois]

Last night I got a bit weak in the knee but managed to resist. There was a 150 feet spool of Kodak linograph shellburst film from 1971 in the original can with the original tape for 10 bucks US plus shipping.....

[jharr]

I met up With Satish last night and while chatting over a beer, I won this for $23.25 incl s/h. I think Indofunk might bring good luck with him! This was on the auction site and I put a watch on it just to see what it would go for. It was listed as "buy it now" for I think $40 + $12 s/h. Not a single bid. So it got relisted as an auction starting at $0.99. That is a pattern I watch for. If something seems reasonably priced yet goes unsold, I watch for the relist and then bid. For some reason the market under-valued this and I was able to get a deal.

[KevinAllan]

I have a bulk loader but have never got round to buying any bulk film to put in it, for four reasons:

a) Greater potential for scratches when re-using cassettes
b) I prefer medium format
c) I don't shoot film in order to save money, I shoot film because I like the look.
d) If I had more film I would just waste more, ie more images exposed but not any more "keepers"

I prefer to buy good quality films from the major manufacturers - Ilford, Kodak, and Fuji- but snap up the best deals I see on those films.

[jharr]

I have a bulk loader but have never got round to buying any bulk film to put in it, for four reasons:

a) Greater potential for scratches when re-using cassettes

Maybe greater potential, but still not 'great' risk. Even with very thin emulsions I don't see scratches along the length of the film, even when I think I've botched it somehow.

b) I prefer medium format

Buy 70mm bulk rolls and slit it down to 120. Easy-peasy.

c) I don't shoot film in order to save money, I shoot film because I like the look.

I can't argue with this if you don't mind spending more money rather than less on your hobby. I'm always looking to save a penny.

d) If I had more film I would just waste more, ie more images exposed but not any more "keepers"

I never calculate the 'per frame' cost. I always just think "this is costing me something" every time I actuate a shutter. That keeps the frame count down for sure., especially with MF and LF.

I prefer to buy good quality films from the major manufacturers - Ilford, Kodak, and Fuji- but snap up the best deals I see on those films.

Ah HA! So you do like to save money! I'm just giving you the business Kevin. Most people don't find bulk loading worth their time/effort. I just consider it an additional facet of the hobby. There are emulsions out there that don't save any money to bulk load, but for the films I like to shoot, it ends up being a big savings and/or they just aren't sold as individual rolls anymore. If bulk loading isn't your thing then the money savings won't matter. It's the same with home developing or printing. It all just comes down to where you want to focus your efforts. Judging by your photos, you are focusing on all the right things!

Send me your bulk loader and I'll put it to good use!!

[Francois]

Just imagine all the odd film stocks you're missing out on
Personally what I like about bulk film is that you have a feeling that your stock costs just pennies so you don't feel the wallet pinch as much every time you press the button.

[astrobeck]

I bulk load all the time.
Saving money is part of it, but it's probably more habit than anything since I used to use bulk loaded film in a former lifetime at a newspaper office.

I also like being abke to load a short roll if I'm testing a camera.
Delta 100 and hp5 are current favs.

[Francois]

Another thing I discovered that's great are rolls of 30 frames.
If you use Printfile sheets, 24 exposures can't be divided by 5.
And 36 is more than a sheet can handle. But 30 fills a sheet perfectly.

[Bryan]

Another thing I discovered that's great are rolls of 30 frames.
If you use Printfile sheets, 24 exposures can't be divided by 5.
And 36 is more than a sheet can handle. But 30 fills a sheet perfectly.

That's the best reason yet.  The extra frame drives me nuts when I'm putting it in the sheets but when I'm shooting I get excited if I get an extra frame or two.  I haven't used a bulk loader since high school photography class but I do have a few bulk rolls of 127 film. 

[Francois]

It used to drive me nuts too. And it's especially bad if you manage to put 25 exposures on a roll of 24 that you send out only to get it back in those 4 image sleeves with a lone image on the last row.

[Indofunk]

I solve that by stacking a whole roll's worth of negs and shoving them all into a single sleeve

[Bryan]

I usually shove the extra few shots in with another one, I just worry about scratching them. 

[Mab]

I like buying film in bulk rolls. It saves me a bit of money, something like €1 for a roll after taking everything into account. My rule of thumb is to use 17 as a divider. For example a €50 fresh dated bulk roll costs me 50/17 (~€3) per one 36 frame roll.

I don't shoot 200 rolls per year like I used to do but my current ~50-70 rolls is still well earned money in my books. I've done self loading for many years but almost never saw any scratches. Naturally, I need to buy new reusable plastic cassettes (€1 a pop) here and there but I can use a typical plastic cassette ten times over.

The main thing to remember is to tape the cassette core to both sides of the film carefully. I use normal Scotch Magic tape + dispenser and make sure I cut enough tape. 6-7cm is good enough. Don't use masking tape. It's slightly sticky on the edges and will eventually destroy the cassette chamois. 

[jharr]

I like buying film in bulk rolls. It saves me a bit of money, something like €1 for a roll after taking everything into account. My rule of thumb is to use 17 as a divider. For example a €50 fresh dated bulk roll costs me 50/17 (~€3) per one 36 frame roll.

I don't shoot 200 rolls per year like I used to do but my current ~50-70 rolls is still well earned money in my books. I've done self loading for many years but almost never saw any scratches. Naturally, I need to buy new reusable plastic cassettes (€1 a pop) here and there but I can use a typical plastic cassette ten times over.

The main thing to remember is to tape the cassette core to both sides of the film carefully. I use normal Scotch Magic tape + dispenser and make sure I cut enough tape. 6-7cm is good enough. Don't use masking tape. It's slightly sticky on the edges and will eventually destroy the cassette chamois.

Great tips. Thanks Mab.