Camera Magazine - Loading

Loading

Because of the length of motion picture film, the film usually is wound around a core, with no other exposure protection aside from its packaging or the magazine itself when loaded. Therefore, the loading of motion picture film must be done in a dark room or light-tight changing bag by the clapper loader. As the loader cannot see what (s)he is doing, the loader must already be familiar with the magazine prior to loading a "hot" (in usage) roll and able to go through with the loading operations only on touch. When learning, usually a loader will start by practicing with unusably fogged rolls ("junk" or "gash" rolls) in light and then try with junk rolls in a changing bag after feeling competent enough.

The advantage of using a two chambered roll become most apparent when loading. Since each chamber is light-tight, a loader only needs to load the feed side in darkness - once that chamber is secured, the remainder of the loading can take place in light. The small amount of film which is exposed on the take-up side would not be used for exposure under any design, and thus is not considered a significant loss of stock. Most two chambered axial magazines have fixed loop sizes, which adds some extra time to the loading procedure, but allows for magazines to be attached to the camera with minimal or no threading required. This can be a great advantage when filming requires reloading that takes only seconds.

Virtually all magazines are designed for the feed side to contain film stock wound with the emulsion facing inwards, which is the standard manufacturing wind. However, different magazines will takeup the film either with the emulsion facing out or facing in. Most magazines are emulsion in; Panavision magazines are a notable exception. Emulsion in and emulsion out are sometimes called "9P" and "99" respectively, referring to the relative appearance of a thread of film emerging from one side of core or the other.