Trimming leaders for Leica's
Steve Moorey
should trim the film leader using the official Leica template tool.
With modern films - is this still necessary? only I have heard that many of
the older screw type Leica shutters have become jammed with broken pieces of
film because they had not been trimmed!
- -
Pentax LX's, Contax G2 & a Leica 111f
Noah Spam
>should trim the film leader using the official Leica template tool.
>
>With modern films - is this still necessary? only I have heard that many
of
>the older screw type Leica shutters have become jammed with broken pieces
of
>film because they had not been trimmed!
It's MORE necessary with modern films! Until about the late 1960s,
factory-packed films came pre-trimmed with the long "tongue" needed to load
easily into the IIIf and other baseplate-loading Leicas. (The tongue makes
it easier to slide the film up past the pressure plate as you push the
removable takeup spool into the camera.) Eventually, though, film
manufacturers noticed that relatively few people used bottom-loading Leicas
(or Canons) anymore, and realized that the long tongue was wasting them
money -- sure, only tiny fractions of a cent per roll, but over millions of
rolls it adds up! So they started cutting the tongue shorter, which causes
no problems at all with back-loading cameras but makes it harder to get the
film into bottom-loaders.
So, if you want to use modern factory-packed films in your IIIf, it'll be
easier if you retrim the tongue to match the old dimensions (which
unfortunately escape me at the moment.) You can do it with a pair of
scissors, but the template (whether an "official" Leica version or someone
else's) makes it a bit quicker and more consistent.
You won't have to worry about broken pieces of film jamming your shutter as
long as you're careful to trim smoothly, and leave plenty of film around
the sprocket holes, which is where little pieces are likely to break off.
And if a film doesn't want to slide into your IIIf, don't force it!! Use it
in another camera instead.
jjs
Steve Moorey <xh...@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:8oh10f$jv7$1...@lure.pipex.net...
> I have just acquired a Leica 111f and the instruction book says that I
> should trim the film leader using the official Leica template tool.
That is 100% correct. If you use a short leader you will have one devil of
a time loading it. I used Leica M's for years, no problem, then had the
opportunity to load my wife's old Leica. I damn near had a fit.
You really don't need the 'official' template tool, but it certainly makes
it easier. Unfortunately, it's likely to have become a collector's item. I'm
sure you can find the outline of the template and use that as a guide to cut
with scissors. (If I hadn't packed away my mate's Leica book, I'd post a
copy of the template.
So, can anyone help this gentleman find a template?
Steve Moorey
"jjs" <jo...@stafford.net> wrote in message
news:8ohlb8$ji2$1...@Urvile.MSUS.EDU...
Thanks everybody but I do have a Leica template and have used it on the
first reel I shot with the Leica 111f.
From now on I will follow the Leica doctrine and...
*Be a (Leica) believer and trim that leader*
- -
Steve
EDGY01
release depressed as you load it, viewing the film through the focal plane. It
won't hang up as much.
Dan Lindsay
Steve Moorey
news:20000830024530...@ng-da1.aol.com...
Thanks for your tip Dan but just how many hands do *you* have ?
- -
Steve
jjs
All these years and I never thought of that. Excellent! You make my day,
Edgy.
EDGY01
Something sprouted after many years of living next to the Diablo Canyon Nuclear
Power plant. I think it's coincidental, but it does come in handy loading an
old Leica...
Dan
--Diogenes
<xh...@dial.pipex.com> wrote:
>I have just acquired a Leica 111f and the instruction book says that I
>should trim the film leader using the official Leica template tool.
>
>With modern films - is this still necessary? only I have heard that many of
>the older screw type Leica shutters have become jammed with broken pieces of
>film because they had not been trimmed!
>
You can trim if you want to, but all I ever do is bend the perforated
edge of the film slightly back (toward the rear of the camera) before
dropping it into place. Works fine with my IIIC, even when I'm in
a hurry.
--John
Mark Bergman
camera. Just use a pair of scissors and trim it about 5" back.
Steve how do you bend it back and just drop it in??? Do you have the M4
loading system installed on your IIIC?
"--Diogenes" <ji...@psu.edu> wrote in message
news:39aff812....@news.psu.edu...
Noah Spam
>camera. Just use a pair of scissors and trim it about 5" back.
>
>Steve how do you bend it back and just drop it in??? Do you have the M4
>loading system installed on your IIIC?
Removing that @#$% pressure plate helps a lot... ; )
Colyn
"Mark Bergman" <mb5...@navix.net> with trembling fingers pecked out
these words:
>You can't remove the pressure plate on a IIIC Leica. The leader has to be
>trimmed, attached to the take up spool and dropped in from the bottom of the
>camera.
>
The reason for trimmimg the leader is so the sprocket holes on the
film don't snag on the sprockets of the film sprocket shaft..
Colyn
Leica Cameras/Lens Information
Heinz Richter
>film don't snag on the sprockets of the film sprocket shaft..
That, and to prevent that the film will be caught behind the pressure plate.
The natural curl of the film makes it almost impossible to insert the film and
to slide it in front of the pressure plate without a sufficiently long leader.
The pressure plates in the screw mount camera are tapered at the and to allow
easy passing of the film, once it is loaded properly.
Heinz
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