OMG my brain literally exploded when you showed how to reuse factory spools 🤯💥 This is a killer way of changing speeds in our auto point and shoots now!! Thank you, David!!
@@DavidHancock So much knowledge and insight shared over a decade on this channel, the community can't thank you enough David. Thank you. Wishing you & yours all the very best. 💪🎞📸
I've been using my bulk loader this week. An Alden 74, not unsimilar to yours. I haven't touched it for about a year. After rolling out 100' of black and white, with trapadation, I loaded 100' of ectachrome that I'd split up from a 400' roll. My 4, 100' rolls have been in the freezer since a year ago when I split them up, right before moving. Back in the saddle.
@@DavidHancock before doing it, I watched your video where you talked about the painful process 😆 the resulting dread made it go super smooth actually. With developing e6 at home as well, $ per snap isn't daunting at all and I hope to evolve my colour film photography. Thanks for making the videos you do on all of these intricacies of film photography. For me, this is a big part of the magic
You can stick the tape to the emulsion side of the metal casette first, leaving a bit of tape on both sides (left and right) , align it with the bulk film and warp the loose ends around. It saves a bit of trouble and also makes the alignment easier.
Thank you for the learning process. I’m just getting into film photography and geeking out over everything. If I ever get to the stage of bull loading, where do you purchase your bulk rolls of film? Along with the loader and cassettes?
Thank you! I buy most of my film from Freestyle in California, and some others from B&H. Both sell 100-foot spools. For loaders, Freestyle sells the Lloyds style loaders brand new. eBay will have used loaders galore. Cassettes I haven't had to buy in about 15 years, so I'm not 100% certain what's available now, but eBay and Freestyle will likely be good resources.
I had a Watson and accidentally did exactly what you said .. I opened the loading area while the gate was still open. The Watson went in the trash and I’ve used Lloyds ever since.
You missed the biggest benefit of the Watson for me - it works with Leica FILCA and IXMOO metal cassettes. Boom!!!!!!! They can open and close the cassette door like a Leica bottom plate.
I have put the cassette into the loader the wrong way round soooo many times, even as I have been bulk loading since the mid 1970's. Every time I think wtf, after all this time I still have to think about it. It drives me insane when I stop laughing at myself. I am glad it's not just me. I have both the Watson and AP film loaders.
Thank you so much! I have had one of these for several years and didn't know how to use it. I guess I will now get some cartridges and try it out. That will be the easy part. There is a piece of tape on it that says ASA 125. I have no idea how old the film is or even what it is. Any suggestions?
Nice! The film is probably ancient. I wouldn't expect it to return any results, but you can definitely try and use it to practice spooling. It's likely some old Kodak Plus-X.
I have one of these branded as Soligor. The frame counter is nice. Way better than the arbitrary “number of turns” in a Lloyd system. And no felt scratches from the light trap. I do wish there was a cheaper solution for 1000ft pancakes other than the Rezivot.
LOL, that Rezivot is USD $1,340. I had to go look it up. I'd never heard of it before. That's meant for people who are respooling Kodak into their own label.
@@DavidHancock Yes, looking for something to spool down rolls for a local darkroom project. SO-331 can only be found in big ole pancakes usually. Noogapan is a good example of this type of project I believe, where they distributed an uncommon film type in canisters. Need a lot of friends for it to work though lol
I have unasked these for years….the loader you have is missing a piece…a washer type thing on the crank side that keeps the cassette in place. Otherwise it doesn’t connect with the counter.
Not easily. What I would do for that was sit in the dark and hand-roll the 400-footers (and the one time I bought a 2,000-footer) into 100-foot lengths (which is fiddly because the film is always curling on itself) and then store them in 100-foot spools until needed. There is a larger, custom-made film spooler (I can't find it online right now and it's like USD $1,500 or something like that) that can take 400-foot spools. There's also this 3-D printed ideal (if you have a 3-D printer) that looks like a template for respooling 400-to-100-foot spools: www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/nnqkqp/version_20_400ft_to_100ft_bulk_film_respooler/
Hi I’ve just received the Watson 66b, your tutorial is really helpful but I’m still not 100% clear on one part, is it essential to keep it in the locked mode whenever you open the cassette loading compartment ? For example when you pull out some film to attach to a cassette when it’s in lock position it is quite tight and scrapes the film, This may not be a problem as this section of film is exposed anyway, but if you turn to unlock it to free up the movement with the compartment open is their a danger of light leaking into the main body of the loader?
Yes, you do want to keep it locked then. Light will erase any photos you could potentially take on the film before you take it. So if you don't keep it locked, then the film you want to use will be damaged or ruined before it goes into your camera. Scratching the film to start the cassette loading is fine because that short segment of film is going to be ruined in the loading and taping process, so the scratches are no issue. Just be sure to unlock the light baffle before cranking the film to load it into the cassette or you will scratch good film.
@@DavidHancock That’s great David thanks a lot for clarifying that part of the process, now I feel confident to order some film and give it a go, all the best Ben.
OMG my brain literally exploded when you showed how to reuse factory spools 🤯💥 This is a killer way of changing speeds in our auto point and shoots now!! Thank you, David!!
Dangit. That's an idea I hadn't even thought of. Thank you and good idea!
@@DavidHancock So much knowledge and insight shared over a decade on this channel, the community can't thank you enough David. Thank you. Wishing you & yours all the very best. 💪🎞📸
I've been using my bulk loader this week. An Alden 74, not unsimilar to yours. I haven't touched it for about a year. After rolling out 100' of black and white, with trapadation, I loaded 100' of ectachrome that I'd split up from a 400' roll. My 4, 100' rolls have been in the freezer since a year ago when I split them up, right before moving. Back in the saddle.
Nice! I do love how much cheaper film can be from 400-foot rolls. I've done that same thing and while it's a pain it's definitely worth the savings.
@@DavidHancock before doing it, I watched your video where you talked about the painful process 😆 the resulting dread made it go super smooth actually. With developing e6 at home as well, $ per snap isn't daunting at all and I hope to evolve my colour film photography. Thanks for making the videos you do on all of these intricacies of film photography. For me, this is a big part of the magic
You can stick the tape to the emulsion side of the metal casette first, leaving a bit of tape on both sides (left and right) , align it with the bulk film and warp the loose ends around. It saves a bit of trouble and also makes the alignment easier.
Thank you!
Thank you for the learning process. I’m just getting into film photography and geeking out over everything. If I ever get to the stage of bull loading, where do you purchase your bulk rolls of film? Along with the loader and cassettes?
Thank you! I buy most of my film from Freestyle in California, and some others from B&H. Both sell 100-foot spools. For loaders, Freestyle sells the Lloyds style loaders brand new. eBay will have used loaders galore. Cassettes I haven't had to buy in about 15 years, so I'm not 100% certain what's available now, but eBay and Freestyle will likely be good resources.
@@DavidHancock thank you!!!
I had a Watson and accidentally did exactly what you said .. I opened the loading area while the gate was still open. The Watson went in the trash and I’ve used Lloyds ever since.
Yeah, I much prefer the Lloyd's, too. :D
You missed the biggest benefit of the Watson for me - it works with Leica FILCA and IXMOO metal cassettes. Boom!!!!!!! They can open and close the cassette door like a Leica bottom plate.
Thank you! I honestly didn't know that.
I have put the cassette into the loader the wrong way round soooo many times, even as I have been bulk loading since the mid 1970's. Every time I think wtf, after all this time I still have to think about it. It drives me insane when I stop laughing at myself. I am glad it's not just me. I have both the Watson and AP film loaders.
Definitely not. :D I think everyone who uses these does that.
Thank you so much! I have had one of these for several years and didn't know how to use it. I guess I will now get some cartridges and try it out. That will be the easy part. There is a piece of tape on it that says ASA 125. I have no idea how old the film is or even what it is. Any suggestions?
Nice! The film is probably ancient. I wouldn't expect it to return any results, but you can definitely try and use it to practice spooling. It's likely some old Kodak Plus-X.
I have one of these branded as Soligor. The frame counter is nice. Way better than the arbitrary “number of turns” in a Lloyd system. And no felt scratches from the light trap.
I do wish there was a cheaper solution for 1000ft pancakes other than the Rezivot.
LOL, that Rezivot is USD $1,340. I had to go look it up. I'd never heard of it before. That's meant for people who are respooling Kodak into their own label.
@@DavidHancock Yes, looking for something to spool down rolls for a local darkroom project. SO-331 can only be found in big ole pancakes usually. Noogapan is a good example of this type of project I believe, where they distributed an uncommon film type in canisters. Need a lot of friends for it to work though lol
My loader is over 50 years old. I also have old packs of D76 nikor Dev. tank
Nice!
I have unasked these for years….the loader you have is missing a piece…a washer type thing on the crank side that keeps the cassette in place. Otherwise it doesn’t connect with the counter.
Thank you
what does the washer look like? can something like a spacer work?
How do I load the 400' into the 100' loader? Is it there any solution for that?
Not easily. What I would do for that was sit in the dark and hand-roll the 400-footers (and the one time I bought a 2,000-footer) into 100-foot lengths (which is fiddly because the film is always curling on itself) and then store them in 100-foot spools until needed. There is a larger, custom-made film spooler (I can't find it online right now and it's like USD $1,500 or something like that) that can take 400-foot spools. There's also this 3-D printed ideal (if you have a 3-D printer) that looks like a template for respooling 400-to-100-foot spools: www.reddit.com/r/AnalogCommunity/comments/nnqkqp/version_20_400ft_to_100ft_bulk_film_respooler/
Hi I’ve just received the Watson 66b, your tutorial is really helpful but I’m still not 100% clear on one part, is it essential to keep it in the locked mode whenever you open the cassette loading compartment ? For example when you pull out some film to attach to a cassette when it’s in lock position it is quite tight and scrapes the film, This may not be a problem as this section of film is exposed anyway, but if you turn to unlock it to free up the movement with the compartment open is their a danger of light leaking into the main body of the loader?
Yes, you do want to keep it locked then. Light will erase any photos you could potentially take on the film before you take it. So if you don't keep it locked, then the film you want to use will be damaged or ruined before it goes into your camera. Scratching the film to start the cassette loading is fine because that short segment of film is going to be ruined in the loading and taping process, so the scratches are no issue. Just be sure to unlock the light baffle before cranking the film to load it into the cassette or you will scratch good film.
@@DavidHancock That’s great David thanks a lot for clarifying that part of the process, now I feel confident to order some film and give it a go, all the best Ben.
The reason it’s not clicking is because you’re missing the plastic washer
Thank you