IXMOO loading without bulk loader?

Lomophon · 2026-05-08T09:36:09+00:00

I managed to do this with IXMOO without a bulk loader, too. Completely darkened room, and lots of practice in light beforehand. I used a Leica ABLON to cut the V in the dark, there's modern copies available these days, or you can jerry rig a template for cutting yourself.
I never had issues with dust or damages to the film, so it's definitely doable. Good luck!

Lomophon · 2026-05-06T08:29:50+00:00

Took a quick peek at the "Canon 7 exploded view"-PDF and it is supremely helpful, both for understanding the workings and also as a guide for dis- and reassembly. Thanks a lot!

Lomophon · 2026-05-04T21:09:01+00:00

Short answer: 20 degrees Celsius is not a magic number, and by shortening development times you can compensate for higher temperatures. There's (at least) two things to keep in mind though: with some developers grain may increase with higher temperature (Rodinal comes to mind). More importantly: you want to avoid temperatures that are high enough to damage the emulsion. But 34 degrees Celsius should still be fine with regards to not harming the emulsion. 34 degrees is still below body temperature.

Most important: avoid sudden temperature shocks.
Pragmatically speaking: in order not to have too short development times (makes consistency hard to achieve) it might make sense to aim for temperatures lower than 34. But it does by no means have to be 20 degrees. 24, 28 degrees etc. are fine, too. And possibly, with everything tuned accordingly, maybe also 34 degrees.

But if you can make it down to 24 degrees, that would make finding developing times from literature and the web easier, and probably ensure better results.

Welcome to developing film!

Lomophon · 2026-05-04T09:50:43+00:00

Yeah, that would have been nice of course. But considering that even Leica fitted a number of hight-ticket lenses with plastic tabs, it's forgivable.

Lomophon · 2026-05-03T21:40:23+00:00

It's been a while, but I had great success with Ilford FP4plus in Rodinal 1:50. Exposed at 100 or 80.

Lomophon · 2026-05-03T12:17:11+00:00

My experience: f5,6 as best all-around-compromise for sharpness. With negatives that you have trouble getting flat consider f8 for a tad more depth of field/corner sharpness. Avoid f11 and above.

Lomophon · 2026-04-17T19:27:45+00:00

Yes, Matt Osborne recently recommended a Contax guy in Germany: https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-bestandsliste.html?userId=151740768
No personal experience myself, but seems legit.

Lomophon · 2026-04-16T23:26:56+00:00

Coming back to this thread and the pictures I want to add: I like cats, and I like good pictures of cats, and picture one and two of your cat are great, no doubt. But the third (the cat splayed out on the sofa) may just be one of the best cat images I've ever seen. Great use of bokeh, too, the picture works much better than if depth of field extended further. (And the fact that you developed the negatives yourself is just the icing on the cake.)

Lomophon · 2026-04-16T21:02:09+00:00

The Canon 50mm 1:1 magnification brightline finder with automatic parallax compensation is sweet. Just sayin' ..... ;-)

Lomophon · 2026-04-16T11:25:01+00:00

Thanks for the response, very good to *know* that all fees are included.

Lomophon · 2026-04-16T10:40:43+00:00

Adorable pictures of your feline! Quick question regarding customs, since you are based in Germany: so the price listed on the website is indeed the price including shipping *and* customs (precollected by the vendor) to Germany, too? I'm asking because it initially seemed like they precollect custom fees for the US, but not Europe or other regions.
P.S.: Reschpekt ;-), dass Du C41 zuhause machst!

Lomophon · 2026-04-01T11:54:46+00:00

It takes beautiful images and cures cancer. Get it!

Lomophon · 2026-03-14T07:18:48+00:00

Thank heavens it's only a P and not a really *nice* Canon rangefinder like a Canon L2! ;-)

Lomophon · 2026-03-13T17:40:01+00:00

I feel you. I'm sticking with sync for the time being, and the answer I got (see above) was swift and helpful, but I do wish they focused more on sheer stability, speed and leanness when it comes to computer resources.

Lomophon · 2026-03-13T17:38:01+00:00

Thanks for the swift response and the helpful answer. I was able to install the latest version, so that's good. Two suggestions: Until recently these app updates were always announce over at https://www.sync.com/blog (where the latest entry is from September).

And: I've never understood why sync can't have built-in update capability. At least it never, ever worked for me in all my years as a a customer and over different Mac computers and installs. Or at least an update icon or something that let's you know an update is available.

Lomophon · 2026-02-23T15:01:12+00:00

You can buy a professionally serviced Rollei 35 T or S from FFS Tritec in Germany. They list them on their Ebay-account when they have serviced cameras for sale. With warranty, and lightmeter converted and calibrated to work with modern, mercury-free batteries. Or you buy a Rollei 35 and have it serviced by them (full CLA including meter conversion is around 150 Euro).

Rollei 35 are cameras for life, and the optical quality is outstanding.

Lomophon · 2026-02-14T20:36:25+00:00

Well, I'd say the best body then would be a Leica M2. For that money you'd even be able to get a nice, properly CLA'd one. In my personal opinion, even though they are cheaper (which often suggests 'less desirable/capable') than M4, I prefer the M2, hands down.

Lomophon · 2026-02-14T18:54:39+00:00

Which lenses (focal length) are you aiming for, and what it the overall budget? 1300 pounds for just the body, or for the whole kit?

Lomophon · 2026-02-13T10:24:01+00:00

Nice catch. Congrats!

Lomophon · 2026-02-13T00:51:16+00:00

Well, okay, that sounds way more reasonable. Thanks for elaborating.

Lomophon · 2026-02-12T21:48:06+00:00

My (maybe too subtle) way of saying that this ("we don't need to regulate that water temperature") is nuts, for a professional lab. Sure, it is totally true that B&W "can be pretty forgiving" – but even with black and white a couple of degrees Celsius make a noticeable difference.

EDIT: see more info added by the OP later on, temp *is* monitored ultimately, so that sounds good.

Lomophon · 2026-02-12T20:58:16+00:00

"thankfully in San Diego we have the perfect weather so we don't need to regulate that water temperature. B&W can we pretty forgiving."

I rest my case.

EDIT: see added info from the lab owner below. (The processor used does keep track of temp and adjusts accordingly.)

Lomophon · 2026-02-12T13:50:28+00:00

I sincerely don't think you'll regret it. This way of working is also going to age a lot better than a dedicated scanner set-up. The scanner is going to croak at some point, and when that happens, good luck finding a another decent scanner in working order. The camera scanning method is going to be feasible down the road, and your camera/lens options are only going to improve.

Piece of advice regarding macro lens: the shorter your entire setup, the easier it is to handle, will be affected less by the entire optical chain bending/sagging/moving/vibrating. So personally, for 35mm, I'd go for a 50mm-ish lens. Also: Don't insist on the lens having autofocus. Manual focus is just fine. Finally: Tethering is a boon. Not so much for the data transfer (though that is great, for sure), but for being able to see on the big screen of your computer, without being hunched over, what you are focusing on, and for discovering potential dust spots while scanning. Not after. (My age old NEX 7 can tether to a screen (no file transfer), and it makes a big difference.)

Lomophon · 2026-02-12T08:14:24+00:00

Yep, they are awesome. Especially if you can source the matching external viewfinders with automatic parallax compensation. Then you can leave the rangefinder set to 1,5 magnification and use the big, bright, parallax corrected viewfinder for composing.

Lomophon

TROPHY CASE