Bulk loading film to save money
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- My first video on the subject of bulk loading film and the potential cost savings offered. I discuss the requirements, the options between black & white vs colour film, the savings breakdowns, and, I show the process.
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Video Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - How it works
01:49 - Black & white savings
03:49 - Extra considerations
04:14 - Colour film options
06:03 - Colour fIlm savings
07:48 - Aquiring canisters
09:13 - Other requirements
09:32 - How to load
13:04 - Is it worth it?
13:38 - Conclusion
#bulkloading #bulkloadfilm #filmphotography - Zábava
I'd love to see a video on removing remjet. Thanks for such a great informative video. Had no idea the price difference was so good on bulk-loaded cine film.
Thank you! Yes, I think I should make a video on that soon 🙂
@@pushingfilm please do!! looking forward to it
Same we are ready for this remjet video 🤩
@@pushingfilm Maybe I am just not getting it but if I develop myself, while I am in the darkbag, how do I get the exposed film out of my canister without ruining it AND leaving enough leader for the bulk loading process?
There's a great advantage to bulk load B&W films over standard 24 or 36 exposure rolls and that's to be able to pre-load rolls of 8~10 exposures in each roll so that you can expose and choose different developing techniques for each roll depending on the lighting conditions to get the maximum dynamic range, sharpness, grain characteristic etc. That's a great learning tool for film photographers who want to learn correct developing and metering techniques. Specially if you want to learn and practice the Zone System.
Definitely! Thanks for sharing that strategy
I would imagine with this technique that you would also need to sacrifice some film each time for the leader? But it does seem nice.
I personally experimented with dev techniques by shooting an entire roll of the same scene on a tripod with release cable carefully metered, and then cut the roll evenly in my changing tent by how many tests I wanted to do.
It helped me refine my process as I could control one variable at a time to come up with the best in terms of developer choice, agitation, drying methods etc.
@@peterfarr9591 Yes, you're right. You'd have to sacrifice some frames to achieve that. Unfortunately that's the down side with this method for 35mm. I personally haven't tried your approach. That sounds a great approach. How do you make sure that when you're cutting a roll in the changing tent, you won't cut in middle of a frame? Do you leave any empty frames in between?
I normally take 6~8 frames in each scene (sometimes bracket shots as well) and write down all the details about lighting, dynamic range, filters, lens, exposure settings etc. and my initial thought on the developing method (time, temp, developer etc. ) and then put the roll with my notes in a zip bag until I'm developing the roll. At the time of development, I first review my notes and make sure all my thoughts at the time was right and then develop the film accordingly and archive the negatives along with my photography notes and darkroom notes in the same folder. This is a method that I came up with based on what I have read and heard from other photographers - specially Large format photographers. I don't know how good or bad it is but it helped me with fine tuning and improving my negatives. I guess it is a learning process and I'm learning as I take photos and very interested to learn about your techniques :)
You're the hero we all need. Thanks
Great info & perfect timing!
Oh, perfect timing! I’ve been considering switching to bulk loading Double-X & Vision 3 😍 Thanks, Hashem!
Is it true that Double X has no Remjet layer? That would make it ideal for this right? I love the Cinestill BW XX look and this sounds too good to be true for me :D
@@TheFinnGamer That's correct, no remjet on Kodak 5222/Double-X
thanks for sharing! I really keen for color bulk load but mentally not ready yet...
A point of order. If it costs $8 to bulk load a roll of 36 exp. B&W film and costs $11 to buy a ready made one. you'll be saving $3 per roll. that's a saving of about 25%. If you've bought all your bulk loading equipment new I reckon you'll need to bulk load about 30, 36exp. rolls of film to recoup the cost of the equipment, before you make any savings. Depending on how much film you shoot negociating a discount for buying rolls of film in bulk from your supplier may be a more cost effective option.
Unfortunately that seems to be the case these days, at least here in Australia. It used to be that I could easily get a bulk roll of HP5 for 50-100 AUD (depending on expired/new, sales, etc), whereas now it's double. And the price of individual rolls hasn't risen as proportionally, so I just buy ready-to-go Kentmere 400 or HP5, since the saving isn't worth the hassle. However, it still works out well with colour (cinema) film, or, if you find a good deal on black and white bulk rolls.
Yeah, i've found none of this is worth it as it uses up your time and you need all the equipment. Doing your own bulk loading and development only saves money if you are perhaps shooting over 1000 film photos every year. I find that kentmere 400 is a perfectly good £5.50 BW film, and on auction sites you can buy 10x 500t film thats pre- loaded for you for on average about £6.50 per roll for colour, which is a saving on the cheapest kodak film. That seems to be the sweet spot at the moment in terms of cost. Either way, whether you shoot B&W, use kodak c41 film OR get cheaper 500T film that uses ECN-2 process, the differences in development costs all average out so that regardless of what film you shoot, it's roughly 50p a photo on film right now
Very Informative video, thanks.
I’d love to see the remjet removal too mate! As a matter of facts, the whole processing vision on c41
And we got the same setup on bw with the LPL, still enjoying bulk loading
Like two years ago I was surprised the price difference wasn't huge. Anyways I decided to bulk load since I think it reduces the footprint since film packaging hasn't been updated since the 20th Century. Thank you for the useful video, as always great content on your channel!
Hi there. Prices of bulk B&W film vary of course, but at least in Europe, the savings on f.i. Fomapan 400 and Rollei Infrared are 40-50% compared to buying separate rolls. Ilford and Kodak are hardly worth it, but it pays to look around.
I need that neon sign, it is mint!
wow very insightful. thanks for this now i have another thing to buy lmao.
Useful info and demo, capably presented w/o distracting hype. Cost comparison figures and tips in overlay text, a plus. Tip: when recycling used canisters from a lab, check their overall condition for defects that might cause light leaks (like matted or torn felt).
What was the purpose of the black tape on the top of your bulk loader? (😁). Cheers!
Thank you, and yes always a good idea! (as well as not reusing them too many times) haha, I kinda just didn't trust the worn out look at the seams in that area on mine when I bought it used, so taped it for peace of mind.
Hi thanks.
Great timing as just yesterday I was given a bulk-loader with a full load of Ilford film in it and a few old film cases 🙂
It's old film but all free 👍
Free film is always nice!
@@pushingfilm Yes, but I just don't know it's age and if any good?
I can so a test run of 12 frames of film coming soon.
Hey Hashem, f inbally caught up!! Excellent video and great information.. Thanks
Thanks for checking it out 🙂
Just invested in my first bulk rolls b/w and 250d
A good loader. I still have and use nikon an1 film cassettes on my f2. No felt.
HP5 is more around the $8 USD mark in the states. Lucky it's that cheap over there!
Right! I believe that's what I said?
@@pushingfilm ahh! Might have missed hearing that then. Great video all around!
Hey fam thanks your contributions on this platform. Do you shoot 500T during daylight with a filter or do you color correct it in post?
No filter, i just balance it during scanning in NLP 🙂
Yes! Please do a video on removing remjet!
Coming soon!
@@pushingfilm fantastic! Thank you!
Thanks for the video Hashem!
- Mikey
I’ve tried to bulk load 500t and got very mixed results. I found it really hard to make sure the remjet was totally gone and often left white splotches on my scans then having to go back and wash and dry the film for a second time to completely remove it.
I’ve also gotten very mixed results with the colours, out of the 5 rolls I loaded one roll from the same strip came out great but then every other time I’ve just had very murky looking colours with a ton of grain. I found over exposing it by a stop or two resolves the grain issue but still struggling with getting consistently nice colour. Certainly nothing like the examples you showed!
Great video. I'm in Australia as well and on costs mine goes something like this - for colour I buy 400ft rolls for Vision 3 250D from the UK. Shipped last purchase (last year) was 215 pounds. That gives 4 x 100ft rolls to bulk load so 72 36 exp rolls. added to that 4 Cinestill 2 bath simplified c41 kits and 2 MFS (Melbourne film supply) remjet remover = $8.80 per roll inclusive of home dev. Its not to everyone's tastes, but I really like 250D processed in C41 and don't let anyone say remjet removal is onerous or difficult, its easy as. As an aside my experience included getting a film picker which I found to work most but not all times. Watched a YT video about using a old length of negative and wetting the end - works 100% of the time, if I could go back I'd not buy a film picker. If you like Fomapan it can be had for $98 for 100ft in Australia, but I shoot Hp5+ and Fp4+. Bulk rolling makes so much sense after you've tried a heap of emulsions and determine which ones are your stock. Doesn't mean you wont buy commercial rolls though sadly haha (i completed a stock take on my film fridge today and realised I've got 200 rolls of 135 and 100 rolls of 120 in other emulsions - its an addiction for us all) cheers.
@Poniatowski That's interesting, so many similarities to my film stock. I have a 400' Vision 3 250D and 100' rolls each of HP5+ and FP4+ (my favourite B&W stocks). I haven't picked up the C41 kits yet though but I will soon, as I plan to start the bulk rolling process. In my fridge I currently have 110 rolls in 135 and 190 rolls in 120 of various film stocks (similarly addicted)...Cheers...😀
Loved this comment. I've been bulk loading for about a year, and I've finally nabbed a 400' roll. Any tips on converting this into 4 X 100' rolls? I'm sure I'll figure it out in my darkened bathroom, but certainly help would be appreciated. Peace =)
@@LieutenantLights sorry for the late reply. I actually made myself a rolling rig. basically a piece of plywood with a couple of spindles to sit the 400ft and 100ft roll on and you rotate the 100ft roll. (I'll take a picture for you) prior to that I just in my darkroom unwound 25 arm lengths of film from the 400ft spool and then hand wound that onto the bulk loader spool (that gave me about 75ft of film in the bulk loader)
@@poniatowski3547 I'm planning to rest the 400' roll in a glass bowl, and freehand spool it into smaller rolls until it's the thickness of a paper guide I've previously cut to fit easily into my bulk loader. Crafting something out of plywood is not out of the question tho! I'd definitely enjoy seeing your set up :)
Awesome timing. As you know I also just bought a bulk loader and two packs of Kentmere Pan 400 for about $70 usd each. It just makes too much sense giving how much I shoot.
Also I'm very interested in the remjet removal process as you were saying. Cheers man.
If you are willing to put a bit more work, you can get “short-ends”, which are much cheaper than pre-rolled cine film from UltraFine or FPP. You do need to keep in mind that there is a risk that the film could have been exposed, but production crews are very experienced with film, and the people that have gotten them usually develop a small bit of the film as soon as they get it to test for fog.
That's a good idea! I've watched a few go on ebay in the past, but never pulled the trigger.
Yah. Only issue is, you gotta roll it diwn to 100 feet to put it in a loader. But, again, it is ultra cheap. And I don’t mean slightly less than UltraFine, I mean, 18 cents a foot from the supplier I am in contact with. Haven’t actually bought any, but I’m going to be making a bit of money rolling down some E100, so I could probably get 3 years worth of film for less than $100.
where did you find the manual for the bulk loader I cant seem to find it online
Wish I could bulk load Portra.
Wished hp5 still easily bought in Indonesia like it used to......
I'm 6 months late, but thinking of doing some bulk loading now that film prices are so high. Just one question, Do you keep your loader, with film in it, in the fridge or freezer?
I probably should, but I haven't been!
I'm bulk loading hp5 now since colour film is geting expensive
I use to buy T-Max 400 100' for 28 dollars. Its crazy high now. Edit: I just checked the cost for T-Max 400 and its $169.95 at B&H
That is crazy indeed!
@@pushingfilm In Central Europe the prices are even higher. Around $240 for a TriX 100'.
Sweet! Is it okay to have 500T developed at a regular film lab?
No they won't be able to unfortunately, because it has a remjet layer on it
@@pushingfilm ohh I thought the remjet removal was before loading the film haha
I have a question, would it not be possible to just pull out a bit of film from the bulk reel and wind it into a cassette in the dark.
I understand it would probaply be quite a bit harder and not as accurate but I still wonder if it can be done.
Definitely possible! Might just be quite hard, as you said (taping it on straight is probably the trickiest bit while "blind)
@@pushingfilm I might have to try at some point, if it fails I can always buy a bulk loader as long as I put the reel back in its can the only thing that may be ruined if it doesn't work is the piece of alredy cut off film I test with.
I did try this with a short strip of negatives with my eyes closed and I think it might work.
@@alfepalfe Good luck! Practice makes perfect 👍
Do you use a warming filter if you are shooting the 500t in daylight?
Nope 🙂
The blue tint is very easy to remove in post process editing software. One click
what happens to the first strip of film loaded onto the reel? Because surely that's now exposed to light and can't be used
Yeah you often lose one frame at the end of the roll. Sometimes the camera wont advance all the way to end though, so you lose nothing or just a partial frame.