The wrong way to load film

[Anbaric]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

That awkward moment when an influencer explains the process better than an established expert. Apparently it's not just about having far too much fun with blindfolds.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Anbaric

[250swb]

4 hours ago, Anbaric said:

That awkward moment when an influencer explains the process better than an established expert. Apparently it's not just about having far too much fun with blindfolds.

 

 Is there any chance of putting fellow Leica users out of their misery with a precis instead of being dooming them to watch another 'expert' for over six minutes? 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Anbaric]

21 minutes ago, 250swb said:

 Is there any chance of putting fellow Leica users out of their misery with a precis instead of being dooming them to watch another 'expert' for over six minutes? 

I'm not sure it has ever been clearer than in the original M6 manual.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Which is also pretty much what the presenter of the 10 second video in post #16 does.

[250swb]

8 hours ago, Anbaric said:

I'm not sure it has ever been clearer than in the original M6 manual.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Which is also pretty much what the presenter of the 10 second video in post #16 does.

I think Mr Tamarkin was following the tip "Don't be too fussy", and being as fussy as possible is what this entire thread is about. I've never seen so much finger pointing and superior attitudes on show.

Edited June 5, 2023 by 250swb

[Anbaric]

1 hour ago, 250swb said:

I've never seen so much finger pointing and superior attitudes on show.

You must be new here.

[Huss]

1 hour ago, 250swb said:

I think Mr Tamarkin was following the tip "Don't be too fussy", and being as fussy as possible is what this entire thread is about. I've never seen so much finger pointing and superior attitudes on show.

Nope, he was doing it wrong. His way is how you get film jams half way through the roll. I don’t see what is fussy about following Leica’s very simple instructions.  In comparison T was being extremely fussy as well as incorrect.

Is this being superior? Or just following the instructions laid out by the mfg?

[250swb]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

6 hours ago, Huss said:

 His way is how you get film jams half way through the roll.

How do you get film jams halfway through the roll? 

[Huss]

4 hours ago, 250swb said:

How do you get film jams halfway through the roll? 

By loading it the way Tamarkin describes

[Huss]

In all seriousness, when I started out with my first quickloading M - an M4-2 - it did not come w an owner's manual.  I looked up online how to load the film, and literally followed Tamarkin's recommendations.  Sometimes it worked, most times it worked, but occasionally half way through I could not longer advance the film.  I had to rewind - making note of how many pics I took, and started over.

Then one day I decided to find a copy of the owner's manual.  Lo and behold, could the film loading really be that simple and quick? Yes, yes it could.  And from that day on, I've never had a film loading issue.

[250swb]

2 hours ago, Huss said:

By loading it the way Tamarkin describes

No, you haven't got an answer have you. If he's put the film all the way through the take-up spool and got both gear teeth in the sprocket holes everything is lined up, nothing can slip and you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Irrespective of 'just read the manual' his way will work. So have another think, how does his way cause the film to jam halfway through, or any way through?

[Anbaric]

I think we're missing that the first person to say not to do it this way is ... Dan Tamarkin!: 'It's important to note that this video is to show how the loading process works and how the camera functions - you do not need to spool this much of the leader film onto the take-up spool. Use as little film as possible to reach the take-up spool, and you'll get more shots out of the roll. Thanks!'. Two frames of commercially developed colour film = £1.40-£2.00 wasted per roll. Don't do this with Ektachrome.

[Huss]

22 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

I think we're missing that the first person to say not to do it this way is ... Dan Tamarkin!: 'It's important to note that this video is to show how the loading process works and how the camera functions - you do not need to spool this much of the leader film onto the take-up spool. Use as little film as possible to reach the take-up spool, and you'll get more shots out of the roll. Thanks!'. Two frames of commercially developed colour film = £1.40-£2.00 wasted per roll. Don't do this with Ektachrome.

Actually what we are seeing here is you have paid zero attention to the video, where the first thing he says is 'Dan Tamarkin from Tamarkin camera here to show you how to load the Leica M6 camera..' and then he goes through the whole incorrect process!

It is there - in the video - for anyone to see.  It is cute how you are trying to interpret this as how he is showing the workings of loading the camera.  He is not.  His very own words   - how to load the Leica M6.  And it is wrong.

The best thing Tamarkin can do is remove that video .  Seriously.  Even better would be to replace it with one that follows Leica's instructions.

[madNbad]

Ten minutes ago I loaded my M4-2. Rewound the roll, removed the baseplate and held it between the ring and little fingers of my left hand. Popped open the plastic canister of a roll of Tri-X, put the cassette in the camera, pulled enough leader to fit into the tulip. Pushed in the cassette to make sure it was seated and connected to the rewind. Put the baseplate back on, wound twice then snugged up the rewind. Hardest part was getting the film out of the box.

[Anbaric]

55 minutes ago, Huss said:

Actually what we are seeing here is you have paid zero attention to the video, where the first thing he says is 'Dan Tamarkin from Tamarkin camera here to show you how to load the Leica M6 camera..' and then he goes through the whole incorrect process!

It is there - in the video - for anyone to see.  It is cute how you are trying to interpret this as how he is showing the workings of loading the camera.  He is not.  His very own words   - how to load the Leica M6.  And it is wrong.

The best thing Tamarkin can do is remove that video .  Seriously.  Even better would be to replace it with one that follows Leica's instructions.

I'm not interpreting anything, silly. I'm quoting his words, pinned right under the video on the YouTube page, for anyone to see.

I wouldn't like to speculate whether your early loading failures were anything to do with following the video (it's a little hard to see how a properly engaged film would jam halfway through - how do you suppose that works?) but I wouldn't do it this way anyway because it's wasteful and unnecessary, and the M6 manual I read long before the video was made advised me not to be fussy (though there were no warnings that fussiness would cost me anything other than time).

Edited June 5, 2023 by Anbaric

[CSG123]

No wonder people drift off from this place.  Sheesh, what a thread!

[Anbaric]

10 minutes ago, CSGreene said:

No wonder people drift off from this place.  Sheesh, what a thread!

Just wait till we get back to film scratching.

[erl]

On 6/3/2023 at 7:33 AM, Anbaric said:

The M6 should only be loaded as part of a sexy game with a hot friend.

 

Greatest load of crap and waste of time. Very poor presentation style, not worthy of the elaborate setup, achieving nothing.

[250swb]

8 hours ago, Anbaric said:

I think we're missing that the first person to say not to do it this way is ... Dan Tamarkin!: 'It's important to note that this video is to show how the loading process works and how the camera functions - you do not need to spool this much of the leader film onto the take-up spool. Use as little film as possible to reach the take-up spool, and you'll get more shots out of the roll. Thanks!'. Two frames of commercially developed colour film = £1.40-£2.00 wasted per roll. Don't do this with Ektachrome.

I explained in my earlier post that Mr Tamarkin is using a professionals way to load the camera, which may not be according to the manual but is faster at the expense of a couple of frames of wasted film. I think the people who are saying he is wrong just because he doesn't follow the manual miss the entire point, the way he does it he can see 100% the film will advance and is fully loaded, and not rely on something happening in the dark inside the camera with the accompanying tensioning of the film and checking the rewind knob is rotating etc. It's something I was taught to do to load films quickly and especially with earlier M's where there wasn't a 'fast load' system to make the process somewhat quicker. The manuals way is to save film (and everybody should be taught it and understand it), but if anybody thinks it is the only way then they are wrong.

[250swb]

11 hours ago, Huss said:

In all seriousness, when I started out with my first quickloading M - an M4-2 - it did not come w an owner's manual.  I looked up online how to load the film, and literally followed Tamarkin's recommendations.  Sometimes it worked, most times it worked, but occasionally half way through I could not longer advance the film.  I had to rewind - making note of how many pics I took, and started over.

.

And of course beginners never blame themselves? I think it should be very hard to make sweeping and definitive statements about film jamming based on a beginners experience because nobody knows what else may have been going on, and least of all the beginner. A high proportion of faults reported by beginners are mistakes by beginners.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Pyrogallol]

The chances are that if you have been successfully taking pictures and then find that you cannot wind on any more - you have come to the end of the film, maybe it was shorter than you thought it was or the frame counter was showing the wrong number. With a screw Leica you have to reset it to zero when you load up. On the other hand I have a CL film camera that jumps forward two frame numbers when you wind on. I found that out when I thought I had come to the end of the film but had blank frames left after I had developed it.