loading your leica m

[StS]

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The sprocket should align with the film perforation for proper transport.

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[StS]

Finally, I find it useful to turn the rewind button in the arrow direction to have tension on the film. The red dot should then indicate immediately proper movement of the film for every transport action.

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[gwelland]

I've never had problems loading my M7.

 

However, I've had horrible problems getting the damned stuff back out again sometimes! Pre-optical film speed sensor version. I eventually mastered the technique but it took time and it's still temperamental.

[rubenkok]

Hi,

Easy Peasy, never had any problems.

Found some nice videos at:

 

YouTube - How to load a Leica M4 camera - Part 1

 

YouTube - How to load a Leica M4 camera - Part 2

 

All the best,

Ruben

[doubledan]

When it comes to loading film, the fastest, most foolproof M camera is, to my mind . . . the M5. Yes, my friends: I too shunned this odd camera for many years, for all the usual reasons. But I have found my recently acquired example a delight to use, not least because of its fast, unfiddly film-takeup system, which unfortunately didn't find its way into other models.

 

(I would also mention that the ttl meter is ingenious and accurate, that the shutter is the quietest of any M camera I've owned; and considering the bulk of many modern slrs, the 5 doesn't look nearly so big and ugly as it used to. But I don't want to start any arguments here.)

[StS]

On 11/16/2008 at 9:48 PM, StS said:

Finally, I find it useful to turn the rewind button in the arrow direction to have tension on the film. The red dot should then indicate immediately proper movement of the film for every transport action.

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...adding one more remark more than one and a half decade later - "tensioning" should only take out slack. If the film gets too much pressure it can show marks which resemble a light leak.

Stefan

[Doug A]

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The easiest to load of my current 35mm cameras is the Nikon F6. The most fiddly is the Nikon F. My Barnacks and the M2 I used for quite a quite are/was somewhere in the middle. A friend has a couple of two-cassette plastic film cans that let him carry a loaded FILCA cassette already attached to a spare FSU take-up spool. I have looked for something like that for myself with no success. 

[Tom R]

FWIW, I have used M2, M3, and various incarnations of M4’s since the mid 1980’s. The M2 and M3 were, in some ways, easier to load than the “rapid load” bodies until

1. I learned to extend the leader into the tulip (Leica’s warning about not extending the leading edge of the leader too deeply into the tulip I was told only applied to sub 0-degree (C) loading);
2. After replacing the base plate, I slowly advance the film twice.
3. Then I gently tension the film by following the arrows on the rewind. I pay attention to sounds and tactile sensations. If I hear grinding or feel the film sliding off of the tulip during this phase, I place the camera in a changing bag and attempt to deduce what’s going on. This has happened very rarely—usually because I didn’t advance the leading edge of the leader into the center (and maybe slightly past) in step 1.

If all goes well, I usually see the take-up spool advancing when cocking the shutter—after the first exposure.

I keep a couple of good quality film retrievers in my lab (and carrying cases) in the event that I need to extract a leader in the field—rarely happens, but it has. 

Edited December 28, 2024 by Tom R
Needed a closing parenthesis.

[250swb]

12 hours ago, Tom R said:

FWIW, I have used M2, M3, and various incarnations of M4’s since the mid 1980’s. The M2 and M3 were, in some ways, easier to load than the “rapid load” bodies until

1. I learned to extend the leader into the tulip (Leica’s warning about not extending the leading edge of the leader too deeply into the tulip I was told only applied to sub 0-degree (C) loading);
2. After replacing the base plate, I slowly advance the film twice.
3. Then I gently tension the film by following the arrows on the rewind. I pay attention to sounds and tactile sensations. If I hear grinding or feel the film sliding off of the tulip during this phase, I place the camera in a changing bag and attempt to deduce what’s going on. This has happened very rarely—usually because I didn’t advance the leading edge of the leader into the center (and maybe slightly past) in step 1.

If all goes well, I usually see the take-up spool advancing when cocking the shutter—after the first exposure.

I keep a couple of good quality film retrievers in my lab (and carrying cases) in the event that I need to extract a leader in the field—rarely happens, but it has. 

Good point about the leader in very cold weather, I never get obsessed if the leader goes through the tulip and out the other side and it makes no difference under normal circumstances, but in cold weather you can imagine the end may snap off if the film is at the ambient temperature.