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Leica FILCA cassette question


Jon Pop

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Picked up a FILCA cassette to load some film into and have fun with for my iiig (1959) and iiif (1954).  At least I'm pretty sure it's a FILCA (button on top is black) and not an IXMOO. It drops into my iiif just fine; my iiig however, when put into my iiig I can't get the base plate to close. The base plates on both these cameras is identical, inside and out.  Did the iiig require the IXMOO? Reason I ask is of course because the takeup spool on the iiig is the M model.  Thoughts?

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Never mind....did some more fiddling and got it to work!  But if anyone has any particular advice about loading these, links, etc., pass them along. I find it so interesting that they don't scratch the film, but that's what everyone says.....?

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I use the Alden and equivalent Watson loaders. They do have a knob that closes the FILCA shell - when you remember to do it. I have a Watson I've used since 1967. It also works with the Nikon, Contax, Canon (original and V version for the later LTM and Canonflex) and early Asahiflex and Pentax cassettes, and even Leotax (basically like Canon). 

The Leica cassettes are finicky about the prong on the camera baseplate that moves the spring interlock out. My IIIg also had trouble with some of my FILCAs and I found slightly bending the spring end on the cassettes made it more reliable, but it is also easy to ruin the spring so it doesn't latch. (Leitz made a repair jig to replace the springs.)

The other makes of cassettes use different locking mechanisms, based on the Contax, so don't work in Leica. Nicca cameras did faithfully copy Leica, so the FILCA works in them also. I have yet to find a Nicca branded cassette.

The workmanship on all these cassettes is a reminder of another age.

The Pentax cassette is the one that doesn't use a key on the baseplate - since the always were back-loading. It has a felt light trap, but also opens the trap during loading to avoid scratches.

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Thanks - There's a video on Youtube of loading the cassette but it's been corrupted by rap music or something. There's a lot of things out there that show the cassettes disassembled...and talk all about them...and the proceed to describe a series of steps which are much better to understand were it that they were in pictures. But I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow. I've been fiddling with it with an old scrap of film...the attraction for me is not to have a quiver of old metal cassettes, but there are times when I want to just shoot 12 exposures of one emulsion, or doing exposure tests etc...(as long as these metal things don't scratch my film along their length or something as the film is coming out....?) 

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