Good to bookmark, film loading

[lmans]

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From time to time we all forget or run into a newbie or a person comes on that have issues loading film. Below is an excellent , but boring website on film loading on 

https://leica.nemeng.com/000b.shtml

[Jimmyp82]

Had a thought on this point  - 

1. Gently rotate the LHS rewind crank until you feel tension

I now tend to tighten the film in the canister before i even begin loading, you then load as normal and immediately get the 'rewind crank turning' feedback

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Jimmyp82

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[nitroplait]

On 1/2/2023 at 4:03 PM, lmans said:

... but boring website on film loading...

One could also try the entertaining route and search YouTube for "how to load a Leica". Amazing how many people makes it very hard (or plain wrong).

[Huss]

3 hours ago, Jimmyp82 said:

..

I now tend to tighten the film in the canister before i even begin loading, you then load as normal and immediately get the 'rewind crank turning' feedback

 

 

Yup, I do that too.  I take up the slack in the film canister before I load it, that way I have immediate verification that everything is loaded correctly.  

[lmans]

I will try that tightening up in canister first. Makes sense. Do you get an extra frame?
 

I think the main point of the article link was to show people that you can trust the load mechanism. Load it…. And don’t open up back to adjust film. Just know you are good to go. 

[Huss]

1 hour ago, lmans said:

I will try that tightening up in canister first. Makes sense. Do you get an extra frame?
 

 

I always get 38 exposures per 36 exp roll loading as Leica intends.  I shoot pic #0. Taking up the slack in the film canister does not make any difference, it just lets you know immediately that the film is correctly loaded.

[pixie]

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Unless outside,  I load all my M's in dark! The easiest camera to LOAD! The only M, the M7 gave me a problem. Was not mine and film I think was old.

Last time when I kept a record was more than10,000?  rolls~ 7,000 contact sheets!

[Fotoklaus]

I think coming from other brands, people don´t trust to put the film just between the "tulip" and closing the bottom plate without any other manipulation.

But it works just fine.

I do check the film tension by rewinding the knob/ crank a little bit, but it was never really necessary if I followed Leicas´ instructions.

38 frames without problems doing so.

[Pyrogallol]

2 hours ago, pixie said:

Unless outside,  I load all my M's in dark! The easiest camera to LOAD! The only M, the M7 gave me a problem. Was not mine and film I think was old.

Last time when I kept a record was more than10,000?  rolls~ 7,000 contact sheets!

You got 3000 rolls that weren’t worth contact printing?

[Huss]

3 hours ago, Fotoklaus said:

I think coming from other brands, people don´t trust to put the film just between the "tulip" and closing the bottom plate without any other manipulation.

But it works just fine.

 

Yeah, I think it's just ingrained in us - pretty much every other film camera I have that is not an M is loaded by threading the film, then advancing once with the back open to make sure everything is ok.  So 'we' are convinced that is what is done with an M, even though Leica's instructions in the owner's manual specifically says not to!

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Huss

[lmans]

Exactly… thus perhaps reasons people have loading issues… just follow the dang instructions. Works every time. 

[williamj]

Sticking my nose over the parapet you don’t need to wind on a shot with the back open of a Nikon camera to make sure it’s loaded properly. If you’ve pulled the full width of the film completely across the shutter so that it reaches the sprockets on the other side, then all you have to do is insert the leader into the take up spool, tighten it with the ‘take up spool tightening wheel’ and close the back. You pull one blank shot, use the rewind crank to take up any slack in the reel, pull a second blank shot which confirms that the film is feeding and then you’re shooting from exposure 0. FWIW with a Nikon F you don’t have to tension the film the rewind crank will turn even with loose film but you do have to with the prosumer FM2n. 

Leica is definitely faster I will grant you that. 

[Vlad Soare]

On 1/3/2023 at 4:50 PM, Jimmyp82 said:

I now tend to tighten the film in the canister before i even begin loading, you then load as normal and immediately get the 'rewind crank turning' feedback

That's what I do, too. Works like a charm.
 

On 1/5/2023 at 6:16 PM, Huss said:

Yeah, I think it's just ingrained in us - pretty much every other film camera I have that is not an M is loaded by threading the film, then advancing once with the back open to make sure everything is ok.  So 'we' are convinced that is what is done with an M, even though Leica's instructions in the owner's manual specifically says not to!

Even in the case of some non-M cameras, that method may be overkill. But better safe than sorry. I always did that with non-M cameras.
There is an upside to doing this extra pull, namely that your frames will be perfectly numbered (i.e. your first shot will be no. 1 on film, etc.). With the M-A, using the Leica method, my frames always start at no. 0, which triggers my OCD when the time comes to cut the film and to file it. 
Starting at no. 0 has another undesired effect, which is that I get one frame too many. I know that getting 37 frames instead of 36 is supposed to be a good thing, but when I cut the film into 6-frame strips, having an odd 1-frame leftover piece tends to get on my nerves. So much so that lately I've got into the habit of rewinding the film when the frame counter reaches 37, without shooting that last frame.

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Vlad Soare

[logan2z]

5 hours ago, Vlad Soare said:

I know that getting 37 frames instead of 36 is supposed to be a good thing, but when I cut the film into 6-frame strips, having an odd 1-frame leftover piece tends to get on my nerves. 

What I usually do in those instances is to split the last 7 frames into a 4-frame and 3-frame strip.  That makes it easier to load the strips into a negative carrier for printing while still having a bit of overhang to adjust the alignment of the strip in the carrier.  Having to deal with one tiny frame in the carrier would be a nuisance.

[Huss]

8 hours ago, Vlad Soare said:

That's what I do, too. Works like a charm.
 

Even in the case of some non-M cameras, that method may be overkill. But better safe than sorry. I always did that with non-M cameras.
There is an upside to doing this extra pull, namely that your frames will be perfectly numbered (i.e. your first shot will be no. 1 on film, etc.). With the M-A, using the Leica method, my frames always start at no. 0, which triggers my OCD when the time comes to cut the film and to file it. 
Starting at no. 0 has another undesired effect, which is that I get one frame too many. I know that getting 37 frames instead of 36 is supposed to be a good thing, but when I cut the film into 6-frame strips, having an odd 1-frame leftover piece tends to get on my nerves. So much so that lately I've got into the habit of rewinding the film when the frame counter reaches 37, without shooting that last frame.

 

I'm assuming you do not appreciate a baker's dozen.

[Vlad Soare]

10 hours ago, Huss said:

I'm assuming you do not appreciate a baker's dozen.

I always appreciate a little bonus, provided that it doesn't get in my way or trigger my OCD. 😊

[lmans]

If I hv a roll of 37-38…. (Bonus), I do love to cut in strips of 6 do do hv that issue of extra frames. But, One can usually find 1-2 frames that are useless n frankly I just toss to make room. Isn’t too hard. 

[Huss]

kamerastore.com has a youtube video showing how to load an M6.

They put the film in, close the back - YES THEY WILL SHOW THE CORRECT WAY!!!! - then wind the film on twice, then attach the base plate.

So close.  But another FAIL.  How is it that no-one reads the very simple instructions that Leica provides?

[madNbad]

Try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u0iIF4Wrio

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Huss]

15 minutes ago, madNbad said:

Try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u0iIF4Wrio

I wonder what the ratio is of correct vs incorrect tutorials are out there?