Bulk film how many exposures

Option one: modify the canister to show the correct DX code. I wont go into that here but over at 35mmc Hamish has put together a great post that will walk you through this subject and can be found here.

Option 3: Make your own DX code labels that stick over the current one. It really is very simple once you are familiar with your brand of bulk loader. Oh, and please make sure you read the instructions on your chosen loader first!

Thank you Neil! We hope this inspires more of our community to experiment with the wonderful world of Bulk Film. Neil can be found on Twitter , and Instagram , and hosting the podcast Soot and Whitewash. Why bulk-roll 35mm film? What will you need? How do you get this massive spool of film into the loader? Getting the film into a cartridge Take your empty 35mm cartridge with its little leader and place it in the chamber on the bottom of the loader as shown.

But what about the DX coding? And there you go It really is very simple once you are familiar with your brand of bulk loader. Film Reviews. Washi Z Film Review In this blog read all about one of the most 'normal' films from the Film Washi brand, Washi Z, a near infrared film that promises good contrast and great tonal separation. Read More. Read on to find out more about this high speed, flexible film and the best tips and tricks for shooting it!

Subscribe to our newsletter Signup for our newsletter to stay up to date on sales and events. And even if you are buying into the economical advantages, you would have to answer the question whether those advantages outweigh a potential failure such as major light leaks, scratches or film pulling off film spool for you.

A major advantage I love is that I can customize how many exposures I want per roll. I personally prefer 24 exposures or less much over For those types of experiments, those 10 exposure bulk loaded film rolls were ideal. Bulk loading is fun!

And it also helped me to learn more about film, including how to handle it. The same is true for developing film which I do as well.

So to me it is part of a full end-to-end control and understanding of the process. As mentioned above, I started out my bulk loading venture with a foot roll of Ultrafine Xtreme , a Lloyd bulk loader and velvet-lip reloadable cassettes, all from Photo Warehouse aka UltraFineOnLine , a US company located in Oxnard, California.

I recommend checking out his other film related videos. All the things you need for bulk film loading. This process has to be done in complete darkness. In theory, this is relatively simple, but I recommend to watch some youtube videos on how to load the loader, and practice with a disposable film strip. Each one of those loaders are different, so you will have to review the instructions from each manufacturer and I suggest to practice this technique in day light before either going in the dark room or using the dark bag.

I use Kodak Snap Cap cassettes and simple Scotch Tape to attach the leader of the bulk film to the roll; I try to minimize the amount of exposure of the leader to reduce the amount of ruined final shots. After attaching the film to the spool, I then push the cassette over the spool and make sure the end cap snaps on tight, while again trying to avoid to pull out too much film out to minimize light exposure of the film.

Then the leader is pushed back into the loader, the loader latch is closed, and in the case of Lloyds, the crank attached. The Lloyd loader does not have a counter, but the number of crank turns are indicated on the loader. I turn the crank the desired number of times, then remove the crank and open the latch, and pull the film out about 3 inches or so and cut it as shown here.

Then I label the film cassette with masking tape and also label film canister and put the film roll into the canister and into either a drawer or my camera bag or it goes directly in one of my cameras. And voila, the film is ready. Here a quick pictorial sequence of the film cassette loading process with a Lloyd bulk film loader.

Film canister inserted into bulk loader, before closing latch. Latch closed, crank re-inserted, ready to roll! Film canister latch opened after loading film cassette with 24 exposures, crank removed. Loaded 35mm cassette, leader cut, ready to go! Loaded and labeled 35mm film cassette with labeled film canister.

As mentioned above, there is no single right answer for this. For me personally, thus far, it has been well worth it and the benefits have outweighed the potential shortcomings thus far.

I love the process of bulk film loading as a learning experience. The ability of rolling custom film lengths is a huge benefit in my opinion by the way: I have not looked at economics of 24 exp film in bulk loading, but suspect that it coudl be even more pronounced.

Custom film lengths makes experimenting with different developers, development methods, or other 35mm film camera experiments so much easier. Yes, if you shoot enough to amortize the expenses of the bulk loader equipment and use film that is significantly discounted in bulk. Economics can be intriguing once you factor in amortization of your bulk loading gear. It is worthwhile to do your own analysis for your favorite film as there are significant differences with regards to potential savings between different film stock as shown in the Table above.

Yes, if you are aware and mindful of the shortcomings, and take precautions. I do think that economical advantages have to be very carefully weighted against the potential shortcomings. Having said that, I am aware of many photographers who used this technique for years successfully without any issues. Many of those potential shortcomings can be addressed by using high quality reloadable film cassettes, careful film and cassette handling before, during and after the loading process, including the use of film canisters.

What are your experiences with bulk loading? Please share them in comments below, also curious to hear any of your tips and tricks! You can see more of my work on Instagram as well as on my website. For more articles on 35mmc about the subject matter discussed here, please click one of the following tag links:.

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Are people trying to shoot it like digital these days? Because, as a hobbyist, I was still only getting through two, maybe three rolls a month. And In that way, a thousand shots a year was going some. I remember listening to Guy Webster, who passed away in February, being interviewed and panicking about getting his archive in order. His photography career must have spanned 50 years, made him a multi-millionaire and produced an archive of…. An average of say 2.

I was in good company. I agree, some people are definitely getting overly arsey about the price of film, and should probably get a bit of perspective. Aside from the perhaps small saving in cost, I find the biggest benefit to be the ability to make short rolls. As you know, it can take a long time to shoot a roll of 24 or 36 exposures. When I roll my own cassettes, I generally load exposures, which for me is enough to take on a weekend bike ride or a short photo walk.

I enjoy bulk loading. I shot a lot of pictures in those days, ten frames at a time. Unlike the felt light trap on the Lloyd bulk film loader, a nesting plastic drum cuts down on one source of scratched film. Unless you forget to turn the inside drum, which makes loading very difficult. Ektachrome solor slide film in bulk was another interesting branch to follow, from Ektachrome-X to High Speed Ektachrome in bulk.

I have been bulk loading 35mm black and white film off and on for over 40 years, and I like the flexibility it gives me.

It used to be more economical than it now is, but it still permits you to save some money. Whatever tape you use, it is really important to make sure that it is long enough to attach to one side of the film, wrap around the spool and attach as well to the other side of the film; 2 End of the roll — unless you take steps to load the individual cassettes in the dark, with bulk film it is important to not expose the film right to the end of the roll.

That requires more attention to the frame counter; 3 Easy to store — If you tend to like to have film in inventory, the foot rolls take very little space in a fridge or freezer — much less than individual rolls; 4 Systems — I usually have at least two types of film in bulk form — formerly Plus X and T-Max but now it is transitioning to T-Max and T-Max — and it really helps to have consistent systems for labeling the different types.

Colour films get labelled with their ISO. Have fun — I do. Love the shots of the parking ramp and fence in St Paul. Great write up; bulk is not for me as I use so many different types of film. But I am impressed by your results with Ultrafine. Thanks for your comments. Hi Daniel — this is great information and I completely agree with your assessment. Picky and persnickety thin films like Rollei Superpan which I absolutely love is ideally suited to bulk loading.

I had nothing but problems with the factory loaded Superpan 36 frame cassettes. Literally every time I would try to load it for development it jams-kinks-wrankles-creases-scratches uncontrollably. Now I wonder if this might be an issue with Rollei films. Have you shot Rollei Retro 80S and experienced similar reel loading issues?

That is an excellent composition. S issue film. Their film base reminds me of microfiche from the library before there were computers or the old school X-rays. My solution to this problem was to only make exposure rolls and really really really take my time loading onto the Paterson reel.

Having said that I would definitely buy a bulk roll of it again. Load part of it onto an empty cassette in a changing bag and get a exp roll. Thanks for the comment on the photos, and also your further insights on the Rollei films!

The Lloyd loader has the same possibility of film scratches as the felt lip cassettes, but worse, because if there is any debris between the felt gate, there is the possibility of scratching the whole ft roll of film. But the same caution applies, check the felt lips for anything that can cause scratches.

A foot roll of 35MM film is , 24x36mm frames. The rolls or sq inches , per gallon, should be available on the literature for the chemistry. Aprox 18 , 36 exposure rolls of film, off of a ft bulk roll. I've never seen a Kodak Gallon E-6 kit, but they do sell a 5-liter kit. A quarter liter of solution will process two exposure rolls, so if your shooting schedule allows you to always fill your tanks with reels you should be able to get 40 rolls out of the full kit, or two ' rolls.

Best yield will come from rotary tube processors, where the ml actually is the right amount of solution for a two-reel tank. Inversion-agitated tanks will take twice as much solution in the tank, so you'd have to figure out how to recover the right amount so that the next two rolls still get enough processing. I did feet of dupes one summer and it's a lot of work, even with help mounting the slides.

I was able to do rolls in a pint kit 2 at a time and then had to mix a freshpint kit. I think the ONLY justification for buying a foor roll of color film is if you are duping slides. It depends a little bit on which style bulk-loader you use. I usually get 19 exp rolls, and a 20th short load. So I usually spool off twenty exposure rolls.