Comments on: Bulk loading your own film FAQ

By: Cleveland Stallworth

Cleveland Stallworth — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:30:31 +0000

I’m trying to locate a supplier that has the 70mm double perf color bulk film by Kodak. I like the Portra series in both the 160 and 400 speed versions.

Please help if you know a supplier.

Regards

By: James

James — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:55:45 +0000

Also: I’m not affiliated with them, I’m just pointing out a source in case anyone’s looking: Freestyle Photo in Los Angeles (they have a big mail order business) sells bulk supplies. You can get loaders, cartridges, etc, and film. New loaders appear to be running about $30 or $40 US new, but you can get them on eBay cheaper used. I use the Watson type (the cheapest one from Freestyle–it’s teardrop shaped) and I’m happy with them.

Film costs vary depending on what you want. But if you look for outdated (but still perfectly good) film, you can save a bundle there too. Outdated color film may color shift, but outdated B&W has a great shelf life, especially if you keep it in the freezer.

By: James

James — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:12:10 +0000

I hadn’t thought of it, but maybe I’ll do that on my site as well. As consumer demand for film keeps dropping, I’ll bet bulk-loading becomes more viable among those of us who still use film. Seems to me the manufacturers would be able to sell film in bulk long after it becomes too expensive for them to sell it by the magazine (based on demand).

I probably have more film than food in my kitchen freezer right now. At least it seems that way.

By: nate

nate — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:18:06 +0000

p.s. the bit about dx coding is blatantly wrong. you can buy (or reuse) dx coded canisters. b&h has dx coded cassettes in 100, 400, and 800 ISO (for about a buck a piece tops). obviously you have to match the cassette with the film, unless you are doing push/pull processing, at which point it becomes awkward to have your film done at a lab (unless you set your camera to x and have the film developed at the dx label, eg. camera set at 800, dx code at 400, but even then, iffy)

By: nate

nate — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:21:50 +0000

check ebay. i bought a few darkroom lots for next to nothing and ended up with 3 bulk loaders, a gigantic array of tanks, trays, tongs, bottles, enlargers, negative carriers, you name it. you could set up a complete darkroom right now through ebay for (no exaggeration) about 150 bucks if you keep your eye on the darkroom lots.

as to the topic, i used one of the bulk loaders to quote borat with “great success!” as the faq notes, bulk film is about 30 bucks a roll, other supplies are cheap (if you don’t find them in bulk ebay lots) film canisters, cartridges etc. and they are a one time cost. but now that i have a digital, i haven’t so much as stepped into my darkroom in months, which is why, i’d imagine, the stuff is so cheap on ebay

By: wolever

wolever — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 03:22:44 +0000

Only $15 for a bulk loader?! I tried to find one in Toronto (Canada) and the best I could do was $80! I guess I didn’t do a very good job of looking, though… Because the ones I use at school are only $20: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=61874&is=REG&addedTroughType=search (and, yes, they are quite good. I have probably rolled 500 feet worth of film from this kind with out any problems).