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I'm very impressed with this guy's loading ability and it works too!


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I have an M6 but I don't know which Leica film M's have this same loading scheme but I stumbled on this guys loading video and was very impressed at the ease and speed with which he loaded a roll.

 

I just got my M6 back from Sherry and decided to try it exactly the way he shows here and to my surprise, it worked flawlessly!

 

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RP , you pull the film leader, just the length it takes up to receiver coil

by placing the roll in the hole of the emitter coil and pulling leader enough to enter the receiver coil
You can also verify , if you want ,that the teeth (2)  that guide the film close to the receiver coil fit into the (2) holes of the film :)
When you have closed , try to check,if your first shot went well, in seeing if the crank - emitting coil (used to rewind also rotates in the opposite direction clockwise.
Not too much worry but with experience everything will be alright.

 

Best

Henry

Edited by Doc Henry
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I think I'm trying too hard to ensure the sprockets are going through the holes on the film. Looks like I don't need to do that?

Pete

I don't know.

 

I do know this; I have spent a LOT of time futzing around making sure this and that were lined up..making sure that the take up spool had enough film leader on it, whatever. I've seen video after video of folks putting a kink in their leader and some not kinking it, and mostly spending a lot more time than this guy does at it.

 

When I did exactly what was in the videos...it just works. It just does.

 

I'm not going to question it, I'm just going to do it :)

Edited by rpavich
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Just like it's shown in the schematic on the bottom of the camera.

Yeah...but that's only part of it. I've also done it numerous other ways, while putting the film in exactly as shown on the little diagram, I've held it different ways, done different things with the door, whatever...and I've had slip-ups. I'm not sure if it's just the way he holds it or what but the sequence of what he does and how he does it makes it fool proof (to me; others may disagree or your mileage may vary and that's cool) I'm just saying that for me specifically, it's the only fool proof method that I've found (and fastest)

Edited by rpavich
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I'm amazed film loading even requires a video tutorial, what did people do before video, did they show 'How to Load a Leica' as the B feature to 'Ben Hur' at the cinema?

 

Steve

 

I think there is a Pathe newsreel piece about it - but the projectionist needed a tutorial on how to load it and it was never shown! Instead Leica hired a mime act to tour the theatres and do a Leica loading demo. 

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Leica hired a mime act to tour the theatres and do a Leica loading demo. 

 

 

Why mime, were they not allowed to speak? :D

 

Incidentally, these videos must be a symptom of some kind of societal malaise. If you visualise the famous "ascent of man" illustration showing modern humans developing 'upward' from apes I think we must have peaked (probably back in the 1970s) and are now firmly on the downward trajectory back to Dryopithecus.

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Like some others, I over-thought the loading of my first Leica, an M2, so I bumbled when it was not necessary. All has been good now for a very long time.

 

To add a tip for those with, for example, an M7 - do not forget to remove the lens cap or put it on Manual first.

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That's how I've always done it. I never knew there was another way. Like others said, follow the diagram.

 

 

I make on shot with the baseplate open to make sure, that the Film leader doesn't slip out out the spool and then take the baseplate on.

 

This can actually cause it to fail more than not - there is not enough pressure on the pressure plate holding the film down, and without the take up 'prongs' in their baseplate holder, they can flex causing the film to skip. At least that's been my observation.

 

Cheers,

Michael

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I make on shot with the baseplate open to make sure, that the Film leader doesn't slip out out the spool and then take the baseplate on.

That's how i do it too.

 

I press lightly with my left thumb on the wheel with the tooth. If i feel the tooth/sprockets that means the films is positioned well. Then i advance the film with right thumb while keeping/feeling the left thumb on the wheel. Close the baseplate and advance again and look of the rewind knob turns.

 

It is just a matter of holding/handling the camera more than extra steps/time when you load this way.

Edited by RvN
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and mime is easy for most people to understand! 

 

These days I find people have a hard time plugging the USB cable into their computers without calling tech support  :huh:

 

 

... And yet it's so simply explained at the bottom.

 

 

But the bottom of my M240 doesn't have a  diagram, how do I load the film?

What do you mean it doesn't need film.

 

Current state of hipsters  :lol:

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I often load in dark.

Drop film in, having pulled a piece of film, first across to end "tulips" of take-up spool.

Base plate on and advance film. Rewind gently .

Shoot 1st exposure and check rewind knob turns.

It really is that easy..

39 exposures on a 36.

26 exposures on a 24.

The old take out spool system, is actually more sure!

I do that in dark, also.

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