Loading/unloading 100ft daylight spools in original Canon Scoopic 16 — changing bag necessary?

[u/No_Culture3111]

I’m new to 16mm and I’m getting conflicting answers about this, so I’d really appreciate hearing from people who actually shoot 100ft daylight spools, especially with a Canon Scoopic.

Camera: original Canon Scoopic 16 (not the M/MS)

Film: Pro8mm Pro16/03 50D color negative, 100ft single-perf daylight spool. I also have Pro16 500T on a 100ft daylight spool.

My main questions:

1. When loading a fresh 100ft daylight spool into the Scoopic, do you actually use a changing bag/darkroom, or do you load it in subdued room light/shade where you can see what you’re doing?

2. If subdued light is okay, what does that mean in practice? For example, would a bedroom with the blinds closed and only enough ambient light to clearly see the threading path be fine?

3. How much of the outer film/leader is expected to be sacrificed during normal daylight-spool loading? I’ve seen conflicting explanations about whether the outer few feet are specifically there to protect the usable film.

4. After shooting the entire 100ft roll and running it completely onto the take-up daylight spool, can I open the camera and remove that spool in subdued light and put it directly into the film box/can, or should unloading also be done in a changing bag?

5. Is a changing bag mainly necessary when removing a partially shot roll, dealing with a jam/loose film, or otherwise handling film that isn’t fully wound onto a daylight spool?

I’m practicing the loading procedure with dummy film first, but I need to be able to see what I’m doing when I load the real roll. I don’t want to unnecessarily fog an expensive roll, but I also don’t want to make the process much harder than it needs to be if these 100ft daylight spools are specifically designed for loading/unloading in subdued light.

If you shoot Scoopics or routinely use Kodak/Pro8mm 100ft daylight spools, I’d especially appreciate hearing exactly how you handle them in the real world.

[u/Piddler4]

With any camera running 100ft spools, you generally embrace losing a few seconds top and tail on the roll to light leaks, but you load them in whatever darkest conditions are available to you. Sometimes that’s just the shadow of your body pointed away from the sun. That’s what I do with a Scoopic, Bolex, Arri 16S.

[u/achickensplinter]

It’s totally fine to load daylight spools even in direct sunlight, you’ll just lose more frames at the top end. I will sometimes unload in a changing bag just to save the last few seconds I shot if I know they’re good.

[u/pa167k]

i have a Scoopic. You can load and unload out in daylight. I usually do it indoors. No need for a changing bag

[u/Few_Edge_1237]

There’s videos online.

Daylights don’t need to be loaded in a changing bag. Once your done. Go in a darkroom, remove it and place it back in the box you bought it in with the plastic trey it comes with.