Re-loadable Cassettes

[Roy in Silver]

Originally Posted by Roy in Silver

I have just got back into film photography after a lapse of decades so am on a voyage of rediscovery. Back in the Sixties I had no problems at all re-using Ilford FP4 cassettes for bulk loading. However, having none of them available now, I have been using some empty Kodak "reloadable" cassettes that I bought off Ebay. They don't seem to be as sturdy and I am not confident they will survive many "cycles" of reloading.

As a second related point:
By accident I recently managed to inadvertently wind the leader of a new cassette of Fujicolor back into the cassette, meaning I couldn't use the film! I tried, in the dark, to open the cassette. No joy at all! I knocked hell out of the bugger but the end cap refused to come off. So....I am very surprised that some of the chaps here are very successful in using non-reloadable cassettes for bulk loading.

Finally:
I have used Scotch tape for fixing the film to the spool of the cassette: it seemed to work perfectly.

I would appreciate any advice to help me get my bulk-loading skills more refined..

Since my last post I have loaded, in total, three cassettes. They are ostensibly "reloadable" and made by Kodak. Frankly, even while recognising my inexperience, I find the whole exercise nerve-racking. It's impossible to tell with certainty in the dark whether the end cap has been reseated correctly. this morning I found when I had left my "dark" bathroom that the end cap was slightly cocked over at an angle. I speedily when back to darkness and pushed really hard (again!) against the little so-and-so and eventually got it to reseat correctly.
Do people find the plastic cassettes more reliable and easy to use? I believe they have screw on end caps, which sounds good. But I also have read that the flocking material around the slit aperture is usually of very poor quality and prone to separation.

[Mike O'Pray]

Roy, I have some Jessops( a former U.K. photographic retailer) plastic cassetttes with screw-on end caps which work quite well.

I should probably read this thread from the beginning to be able to know what system you are using to load the film into the cassettes but if you are using a bulk loader and not doing the whole loading in the open then don't most loaders allow you to tape the film to the spool then place the spool into the cassette body and screw-on the end cap in daylight then wind on the number of frames?

That way you can tell if the cap is attached properly before beginning to wind on the film

The alternative if you live anywhere near to a film processing mini-lab is to ask for used factory-made cassettes which it throws away

If your camera allows you to set the film speed independently of the cassette then the cassettes do not need to be of the same speed as the bulk film

There is usually about a half inch of the film sticking out of the used cassette onto which the bulk film can be taped

These cassettes will only have been used once so the felt light-trap should be fine. Even a small mini-lab will have enough used cassettes to allow you to use each used cassette only once so waer and tear on the felt or grit lodging in the felt should not occur

I find that with re-usable plastic cassettes my auto rewind motor sometimes struggles to rewind the film but never with a used factory one. If you have manual rewind this of course won't be a problem

Mike

[alexmuir]

I was also wondering why you are struggling in the dark. Using a bulk loader should allow you to attach the film and assemble the cassette in daylight before you start winding in the film. I have used the plastic cassettes designed for bulk loading for several years without any real problem. The end cap screws on with about half a turn. I have only once had one open unexpectedly, and I'm sure it was my own fault. I've never had any significant scratching problem, even though the cassettes have all been used several times. I tend to make them up as I need them, and store the empty cassettes in a sealed plastic bag. If you minimise the situations in which they can become affected by dust, you can reload them as often as you like. They come from the bag, into the loader and either straight into the camera, or one of the plastic pots new film comes in. Once emptied for processing, they go straight back in the bag. I can't recall the brand of the main type I use, but they are the most basic design, and work better than some of the more sophisticated types which have gripping mechanisms to secure the film without tape. I've never tried re-loading a metal cassette with the push fit end cap, but I can see scope for problems if the unit has been distorted by the force used to remove the end. Taping to a tail of film in a cassette that hasn't been forced open sounds like a better bet if you don't want to use the plastic reloadable type.
Alex.

[Roy in Silver]

Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray

Roy, I have some Jessops( a former U.K. photographic retailer) plastic cassetttes with screw-on end caps which work quite well.

I should probably read this thread from the beginning to be able to know what system you are using to load the film into the cassettes but if you are using a bulk loader and not doing the whole loading in the open then don't most loaders allow you to tape the film to the spool then place the spool into the cassette body and screw-on the end cap in daylight then wind on the number of frames?

That way you can tell if the cap is attached properly before beginning to wind on the film

The alternative if you live anywhere near to a film processing mini-lab is to ask for used factory-made cassettes which it throws away

If your camera allows you to set the film speed independently of the cassette then the cassettes do not need to be of the same speed as the bulk film

There is usually about a half inch of the film sticking out of the used cassette onto which the bulk film can be taped

These cassettes will only have been used once so the felt light-trap should be fine. Even a small mini-lab will have enough used cassettes to allow you to use each used cassette only once so waer and tear on the felt or grit lodging in the felt should not occur

I find that with re-usable plastic cassettes my auto rewind motor sometimes struggles to rewind the film but never with a used factory one. If you have manual rewind this of course won't be a problem

Mike

Thanks very much for your reply.

The fact is, I am not using a loader. I am using the simple "arms-width" technique that I, and others, have used successfully in the past. This is good enough for me and is reasonably consistent in length of film loaded, within a frame or two. However, this method will explain why I cannot see whether the cassette end cap is properly reattached until I leave the darkness. In former time, when I used Ilford FP4 cassettes, repeatedly, I had no problems. But it seems to me that the modern cassettes are less robust.

[Roy in Silver]

Originally Posted by alexmuir

I was also wondering why you are struggling in the dark. Using a bulk loader should allow you to attach the film and assemble the cassette in daylight before you start winding in the film. I have used the plastic cassettes designed for bulk loading for several years without any real problem. The end cap screws on with about half a turn. I have only once had one open unexpectedly, and I'm sure it was my own fault. I've never had any significant scratching problem, even though the cassettes have all been used several times. I tend to make them up as I need them, and store the empty cassettes in a sealed plastic bag. If you minimise the situations in which they can become affected by dust, you can reload them as often as you like. They come from the bag, into the loader and either straight into the camera, or one of the plastic pots new film comes in. Once emptied for processing, they go straight back in the bag. I can't recall the brand of the main type I use, but they are the most basic design, and work better than some of the more sophisticated types which have gripping mechanisms to secure the film without tape. I've never tried re-loading a metal cassette with the push fit end cap, but I can see scope for problems if the unit has been distorted by the force used to remove the end. Taping to a tail of film in a cassette that hasn't been forced open sounds like a better bet if you don't want to use the plastic reloadable type.
Alex.

Thanks very much for your reply, Alex.
Based upon you comments I might give the plastic cassettes a try. Then if I still encounter any difficulties I might invest in a loader.

[alexmuir]

A loader is a sound investment if you are using bulk film regularly. I use the AP one which I can recommend. It has a frame counter. They have become quite expensive to buy new, but there are loads on eBay, so it should be possible to get one at a reasonable price.
Alex.

[John King]

Having a home dark room I have never used a film loader (when I did use bulk film) I had two lengths of white melamine board with a nail at each end, one was 60" apart which equates to a 36 exp film. The other had the two nails 42" apart which equates to a 20 exp length.

I'd hook the film onto one of the nails then measure the film to the next nail and you have the film length of choice. I cannot ever remember any problem with dust. (Using melamine reduces the risk of dust). But I did have quite a few with scratches caused by the felt light trap on re-used metal cassettes.

[EdmundH]

I sometimes load reusable cassettes in the dark so I don't get that annoying fogged frame at the end of the film. I have also been known to put the loaded cassette into the camera in the dark, so I don't have to waste any frames at the beginning!