Leica LTM re manufacturing a film template

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Dralowid

Dralowid

Michael
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200734616...AX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2527wt_983

£95.00 for an Ablon...are they crazy?

I've been talking to an engineer friend and we reckon we can make a production run of film cutting templates. At a guess we reckon that a batch of 200 could give us a selling price of around £20.00 excluding shipping etc. Probably in stainless steel. All this is over a cup of coffee.

Questions:

1 What is the demand? Has everyone who wants one got one?
2 Do Leicaphiles insist on the real deal?
3 Is the price right?
4 Is this madness?

Tell me to forget it...maybe.

Michael
 
I would take one for 20 GBP plus shipping.
And I firmly do believe if the quality is right that you could sell 200 pieces in EU in a couple of days.
Just have a look at the number of finished auctions for LTM cameras at various European ebays..
 
I've been keeping an eye open for something like this for a while so I'm definitely interested in one. I plan to use my IIIa a little more this year since acquiring the Heliar 50mm f3.5 lens recently.

I always find it a bit fiddly to cut the film and sometimes scissor errors cause me to abandon a ruined section and start again.

£20 is reasonable, and I certainly don't need the authenticity of the Ablon.

I have thought about cutting some strong card or plastic for this but have never quite got round to it, so I'm plum in your target market.

Edit: Actually, can I put in a pre-order for one?
 
I suspect a lot of the value is the Leica name. Do the people who have these actually use them? I've always found it much easier, and a neater job, to do it with scissors by eye.
 
Using scissors is dangerous : if you make two intersecting cuts, you have highest chance that the film breaks inside the camera (hope you understand, I apologize for my horridous Shakespearian). Better use a small penknife
 
Well, I would like to have one but my $10 curved nail scissors are so easy to use in one cut that I really don't need one.

A nice stainless steel one would be nice to have in the bag, though.:)
 
I have no need for these and wonder why others do. Simply eyeball and cut the tongue with scissors, the cut does not need to be so precise as to require a template.
 
The scissors on my Swiss army knife have worked perfectly well, but I'd take one for 20 quid, if only to try out the template method.
 
To do that, I usually make a small cut between holes 20 & 21 first. I've found that Ilford films are very unforgiving to how they are cut; when you start the curve towards the sprocket holes it's very easy to tear the film. Kodak Tri-X a lot less so, Fuji Superia is absolutely trouble free (so far, for me).

Maybe die-hard Ilford fans could benefit from a template? :)

Derk
 
i've been using a iiif as my main camera for about 5 yrs now and always used scissors. actually it was only recently that i read online between which holes i should cut. always just estimated and there was never a problem.

there's a lot of talk on the net about how difficult screwmount leicas are to load and it's nonsense imo. once you have loaded 20-30 rolls this way it won't take that much longer than with any other camera.

now, if you'd manufacture a rewind lever for the iiif, count me in for 20€ - rewinding (not loading) film is the only real pain in the ass with these wonderful cameras :)
 
I have to agree that the device is a solution in search of a problem. I just trim from the side to the (short) leader with a pair of 1,50 Eur nail scissors. The only thing to remember is to put the scissors in the checked luggage and not leave them in the camera bag, if flying.
 
Cutting leaders with small scissors is workable but slow for me; at 20GBP I'd be interested in one.
Rob
 
I would probably buy one for £20 to support the project but, to be honest, I've never had a problem cutting leader with scissors or a scalpel.
 
It's the other end I find most useful, the one that cuts the end that goes into the cassette spool. As others have said, I have always found that small scissors (Swiss Army again) suffice for the end you can see.

Cheers,

R.
 
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