It sounds like with your super supple lady fingers you think you can load a reel in a darkroom or changing bag the first time with success; I hope you can. If I were betting, I'd bet against you. As far as cost of a wasted roll of film, I didn't even think of that. Back in the dark ages, any film I used, when available, I bought 100 foot rolls & loaded reusable cartridges. Hey, life is good. I just ran down stairs and looked in my old camera collection and I have a couple rolls of reloaded TMX-100. If you want, I'll part with one roll to help you out. If you'll send me a mailing address, I'll drop one the mail for you. The stuff is probably 15 or 20 yrs old. But it'll be free & plenty good enough to practice with. Hope this help you.

Nightski, use a film retriever. They are only $5 for the stainless version. Ask for more hints once you get it. If you use a can opener, the film can completely curl up and it can be a real pain. With the retriever you just pull out a foot and roll, then another foot etc, till your done, then cut the canister off.
I've used both types of reels extensively. The steel is easier. More goes wrong with the plastic and it's hard to tell in the dark what's wrong while rolling in the dark! Lots of moving parts in the plastic reels but I've never heard of one breaking. Both will get the job done.
Personally, I've only used the traditional chemicals but the developer is pretty temp sensitive. You HAVE to use a thermometer. Around here the water is usually too warm. Put ice cubes in a thin plastic bag and dip then around till the temp is correct. It won't dilute your solution. Don't forget to count pour time as part of the time as the film is still wet.
Buy a pack of negative cleaning cloths. They won't scratch your negatives. You just fog with your breath then clean. Just like cleaning a lens. Well, at least that's how I clean my lenses!! Nightski, good luck, it's really easy!
Afterall, everybody here has managed to do it, how hard can it be!!! :lol: :lol:
Take a b&w class and use their stuff!!!!! Usually everything is provided, including the instruction and chemicals, tanks, practice film and darkroom!
I had my negatives all ready and rented 10 hours of darkroom space for $35. I got 10 finished prints done in that time including all my test strips and filter test!!
Good luck. ;-)
SS

Oh boy! It's going to be hard to waste a new film. :-( It goes against every fiber in my body. How about if I take a bunch of silly shots and then try it? :-) Somebody might be sending me a bunch of their old film if they can find it, so if that happens, I will shoot those up playing with light and form .. nothing I couldn't do over again and then use those my first few times? Hey Lynn .. maybe my lady fingers will be more agile than your man fingers. ;-) Hopefully .... :shock:

Hey ... maybe I could get some old film on amazon for cheap.

Lens changing is not a problem, the film area is behind the shutter and light proof unless the camera has a faulty seal...

It is a good question and needs to be asked, but the whole idea of interchangeble lens cameras/SLRs and so on would never have worked if the film would be compromised by changing a lens....

It is really interesting how much "knowledge" we consider to be obvious, until we start learning from a different place or point in time that doesn't require certain pieces of information. Or talking with people that have not been on the same journeys....

It really helps support the concept that there really are very few dumb questions, but plenty of stupid answers....

I think you are going to have so much fun with this project...

Yes, like relying on my live view to see where my exposure is at. I really struggled with the proper exposure before I got my 6D. I had a Rebel XTI digital and it didn't have live view. I didn't understand that having my meter at 0 was not necessarily the correct exposure. I also didn't understand that sometimes I would have to make choices about which part of the picture I was exposing for. Now I do understand that, but proper exposure will again become an issue for me. I did pretty well with that first roll of color film, but I didn't have any really challenging exposure situations. This is going to be interesting for sure.

I know .. if it is sunny and you have your aperture at f/16, then your ISO and shutter should be the same .. right? And then you go from there. But it depends on what you want to expose for .. what if I am willing to let the highlights blow a little .. or let the shadows go black .. where is that spot on this camera? It will be a whole new learning experience. It was helpful to know that it's less dangerous to ETTR with film.