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Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 197
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 10:17 am: | 
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Is it really necessary to trim the leader "tongue" of 35mm film in order to use it in an old Leica? Why did Leica make their camera that way anyhow? |
Jeffk
Tinkerer
Username: Jeffk
Post Number: 70
Registered: 10-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 12:27 pm: |
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I just wind the leader all the way onto the takeup spool before sliding it and the film spool into place, and I've had no problems. I don't understand the point of trimming the film either. |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 298
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 20, 2012 - 07:18 am: |
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I find it helps to trim the leader a little so that the tongue that goes into the take-up spool is a bit narrower than what you get nowadays. It allows you a little more latitude in feeding the film into the space without dislodging it, and insures that you get it as deep in the spool as allowable. You don't need the long thin leader that is commonly shown, though. |
Msiegel
Tinkerer
Username: Msiegel
Post Number: 303
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 20, 2012 - 08:33 am: |
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They made it that way because the only 35mm film available was movie film that you had to load into cassettes. 135mm cartridges are younger than Leica cameras. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 1042
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 20, 2012 - 08:55 am: |
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Leitz knew exactly what they were doing when they introduced the trimmed leader - as anybody would realise if they tried to load leaderless 35mm film stock produced to the original 1920's specification. That old film stock had none of the strength and flexibility of your modern day stock, just looking at the stuff would cause the perforations to tear out.
One can force a Yale lock with a strip of modern 35mm film, try doing that with a piece freshly made to the old 1920 formulation.
Obviously these days one trims just enough to get a secure fix on the take up spool - any slight snagging of the modern film stock does not leave you with a camera full of film chips, as would loading a camera in the late 1920's with what was available then. |
Nick_merritt
Tinkerer
Username: Nick_merritt
Post Number: 34
Registered: 06-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 19, 2012 - 06:36 am: |
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You can also use the business card trick -- remove the lens, set the shutter to T, wind and fire it so the shutter stays open. Insert a business card down into the film plane, on the side where the sprockets are. Slide the film down between the business card and the shutter gate, and look through the lens mount to make sure the film is evenly seated. Remove the card when you're done. No need to trim the leader! |
Germancameraguy
Tinkerer
Username: Germancameraguy
Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2013
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - 07:00 pm: |
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This film loading issue is a concern with only the early model "thread mount" type Leica cameras. The designers at Leica needed the leader of the film to clear the film transport mechanism before the teeth engaged with the sprocket holes. This required a longer and narrower film leader. I have some old unused 35mm film from the 50's and they are all cut that way. The Japanese camera makers clobbered Leica in the late 1950's and early 1960's with revolutionary SLR camera models. The film manufacturers like Kodak and Agfa soon changed the film leader design to work with the newer and more abundant transport designs. Leica used to sell a film cutting template so that you could trim the modern film. There are numerous tricks to loading today's film in these older beauties. I would suggest looking for a trimming template if you feel uneasy about holding the shutter open and putting your fingers inside through the lens opening. The later Leica M rangefinders did not have this issue. |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 294
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2013 - 04:55 pm: |
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Back in the 60's and 70's when I was regularly shooting my Leica IIIb, Kodak film still came with the long leader, and when bulk loading for it, I found it quite easy to estimate the cutting by eye. I rarely had problems loading mine. I think the official length is 20 perfs. That's a little less than triple the length of a current leader, and shouldn't be too hard to duplicate. My recollection is that as long as it was about 1/2 the width of the film it was good enough, and did not have to be extra precise in width. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 1048
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2013 - 04:16 pm: |
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Seems we have a parrot joining us - Unfortunately it is not as bright and amusing as the ones my father had when I was a boy, mores the bloody pity! |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 453
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2013 - 08:23 pm: |
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Taking care of it, Glenn.
PF |
