Traveling with Bulk Film
Did you ever wonder how those famous 35mm photographers back in the 1930s through the late 1950s such as Cartier-Bresson were able to travel and shoot world-wide for many months, while carrying all the film they needed in no more space than the corner of a suitcase and a small camera bag? The way they did it was to use reloadable Leitz FILCA cassettes for their SM cameras, and later on the IXMOO model designed for both SM and M cameras identified by its chrome plated knob at the top, shown in photo 2. At the end of the day those famous photographers took their exposed cassettes into a totally dark space - Cartier-Bresson is reported to have sometimes done this under the covers of a bed - wound the used film strips into an empty bulk film can, and reloaded those cassettes from a fresh bulk roll. In this way all the film, fresh and exposed, could be transported conveniently, and would last a long time. Some photographers developed a sample of a day's shoot to make sure the cameras were working right, but normally all the exposed film would go back for processing in the bulk film cans.
Figure #1 shows a considerable film load of four bulk film cans, three of them holding 60 rolls of fresh film, plus one empty can, and 20 cassettes for the camera bag. Imagine how big a box would have to be carried everywhere holding 80 rolls in manufacturers cassettes! And all those 80 cassettes would also have to be carried back for processing at the end of the trip. The unloading and reloading saved a lot of space.
The system shown, typical of one used by the author, consisted of 10 IXMOOs, but also supplemented by 10 reloadable Kodak cassettes (with the usual felt light traps) for use in Leicaflex and Leica R and other cameras - but all using Leitz center spools, available from Leica as replacements, with those handy one-way locking slots which do not require the use of tape. I never had a b&w assignment that required reloading on the road, so that was done in the home darkroom. The number of IXMOOs, up to 22 by recent count, were used in M6 and Ille cameras as late as 2012.
We can thank Oscar Barnack for designing the SPUCA center spool used for all 35mm films since the beginning. There was an 8mm long end that had serrations around the outside to make it easier to hand-roll, and lugs placed inside the short end to engage the Leica's rewind shaft. Zeiss's Contax of 1932 copied this same 36 exposure spool, and every camera and film manufacturer since has used it. The only changes Leitz made were one in 1937 (Leica Collectors Guide, Laney) providing the one-way locking slot in the middle of the spool, eliminating any need for tape. And then much more recently both Leitz and everybody else added lugs inside the longer end for use in cameras which had a bottom rewind - thus making a Leitz center spool inside a Kodak cassette usable in the bottom-rewind Leica MS! All gray Leitz spools have bottom rewind lugs. Most black ones do not, although there were some. Check any spools you might want to use for a bottom rewind camera.
PROCEDURE IN THE DARK Each 100 ft bulk roll was enough for 20 rolls of 60 inches each. Kodak's bulk rolls have frame numbers from 1 to 44 so the same number will not appear twice even on a slightly long roll.
Working in total darkness, the only equipment required was a small pair of child's scissors. No bulk film loader with its exposed strips of film at both ends of the processed film. No laborious measuring of film length in the dark. And no tape.
After any exposed cassettes were unloaded and consigned either to an empty can, or directly to processing, a bulk can of fresh film was opened. A "V" was then cut on the end of the new roll with the scissors, and the end inserted into the spool's one-way slot with emulsion side down (figure #3). Then, for rolling the fresh film onto the spool, the procedure was for the left hand to turn the spool clockwise, as seen from the short end, while the fingers of the right hand lightly kept the film tight on the spool during winding. With a b&w film of normal thickness, such as Plus-X or Tri-X, the rolling would be stopped just before the rolled film came level with the flange of the spool, and cut off at that point. This method eliminated any need for measuring the length, and also kept each roll just short of 36 exposures in order for each roll to fit onto a single contact sheet with no more than six strips of six frames. Finally, the loaded spool was inserted into the inner shell of the Leitz cassette, which was then inserted into the outer shell, twisted closed and locked, while making sure to leave a short bit of leader coming out. Th e Kodak cassettes only needed to be capped at the open end after the spool of film was inserted. Once all the cassettes were loaded, and the bulk film can sealed shut, the lights could come on and the leaders of all cassettes trimmed for loading into their intended cameras.
Back in the day, anyone who used SM cameras appreciated the Leitz FILCA cassettes which could be used time and time again without any scratches or bits of lint from a light trap appearing on the negatives - but also to avoid the appearance of sprocket holes on the negative's bottom edge. In 1952 Cartier-Bresson did some shorter trips to Ireland and elsewhere without using his Leitz cassettes, and had some trouble with sprocket holes showing on the bottoms of some of the pictures. Due to his requirement that the total frame's composition be shown in reproduction, some pictures from this period have appeared in books with sprocket holes showing - examples from that trip seen on page 88 in "H.C.B. the Man, the Image, & the World, a Retrospective", Thames & Hudson, 2003. Leica fixed the problem in that same year of 1952 with the introduction of the red dial II If camera which had a spike sticking up from the baseplate to keep the film up in its correct channel when using commercial cassettes. Th is modification was continued through the production of the lllg. Th e M cameras from 1953 onwards did not have this problem, but required the later model IXMOO cassette with a slightly shorter total height. The IXMOO was usable in both SM and M cameras, but the earlier FILCA in SM cameras only.
From the 1970's on, although the IXMOO cassettes were still highly valued for black and white work, more and more color transparency films were becoming a primary requirement for publication. And the IXMOOs were to become difficult for air travel because of their unusual appearance to the airport inspectors. Of course the reloadable Kodak cassettes could still be used for b&w bulk film during air travel, along with those Leitz center spools, but the felt light traps began to wear and scratch after about five reloads each. And, finally, the declining use of the Leitz cassette was shown when the M6 camera's baseplate rotating device for opening them was phased out in about 1996, and the IXMOO could not even be inserted into the following M6TTL of 1998. So ended the reign of the Leitz film cassette - but not Barnak's center spool design which keeps going today. My latest roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 has the long end of its plastic center spool measuring that same 8mm exactly!
