John Lawrence
Well-known
If I remember correctly, a few years back Ffordes Photographic in Scotland were selling exact replicas of the ABLON. No idea about price, or if they still have any though.
John
John
Alternatives to ABLON
- Thread starter Steve George
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David Hughes
David Hughes
And I think R G Lewis made one, they did a lot of bits and pieces for Leicas.
Regards, David
Regards, David
Dralowid
Michael
Erik,
That may be a Cooke and Perkins item. I have the remains of one somewhere, if I can find it I will post a pic. It has aperture control and also comes apart to accept filter glasses.
C&P also made a very good Contax to Leica adaptor. Haven't seen one for years.
Michael
Classique
Well-known
I believe it's actually a custom hood manufactured by a repair shop in korea.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Do you have some more information about this? A website?
Thank you very much if you do and share it with us.
Erik.
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
I have had perfectly good results cutting by hand with small scissors. Never felt the need for an ABLON.
Rico
Well-known
Never felt the need for an ABLON, either, but I bought it anyway. GAS is like that!
Tadeyev
Member
No Ablon needed
No Ablon needed
There is no need at all for an Ablon, although it is fun to own I suppose.
Cock the shutter, put it on 'Zeit' and open the shutter.
Unscrew the lens.
Just cut the slightly rounded end of the film off square, insert it into the clip of the roll as usual, and place the film gently inside, making sure the film roll and take-up roll descend into the camera at the same rate.
Look inside. If necessary, gently use a finger to make sure the film has engaged the leader teeth correctly. If OK, put the lens back on and advance the film as usual. Voila !
I got this from a guy in YouTube and it works for me every time without fail.
Easy and fast also. Has saved me a lot of headaches.
Ciao,
Theo
No Ablon needed
There is no need at all for an Ablon, although it is fun to own I suppose.
Cock the shutter, put it on 'Zeit' and open the shutter.
Unscrew the lens.
Just cut the slightly rounded end of the film off square, insert it into the clip of the roll as usual, and place the film gently inside, making sure the film roll and take-up roll descend into the camera at the same rate.
Look inside. If necessary, gently use a finger to make sure the film has engaged the leader teeth correctly. If OK, put the lens back on and advance the film as usual. Voila !
I got this from a guy in YouTube and it works for me every time without fail.
Easy and fast also. Has saved me a lot of headaches.
Ciao,
Theo
Filzkoeter
stray animal
Tadeyev: sounds complicated... I for my part precut my rolls with a scissor. 20 perforations, slightly rounded at the end.
That's it. No futzing around with open shutters, putting your fingers inside the camera or cards.
That's it. No futzing around with open shutters, putting your fingers inside the camera or cards.
Livesteamer
Well-known
I was lucky to get an ablon cheaply long ago and it is nice but the scissors on my Swiss Army knife work just as well. Joe
literiter
Well-known
I bought one of those "PRINZ" film trimmers on Ebay for $10.00 plus shipping a few years ago. Now, I think the same seller is trying to sell them for as much as $100.00.
I use it by preparing a few rolls before I take the camera out, but have had just as much luck just fiddling the film into the camera without trimming it.
I use it by preparing a few rolls before I take the camera out, but have had just as much luck just fiddling the film into the camera without trimming it.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Roger Hicks
Veteran
This works until it doesn't; until a film chip breaks off and lodges in the bowels of the camera.
Cheers,
R.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
The only time I use the ABLON device is to cut the V shaped end of a roll to feed into the IXMOO cassette. The leader I just trim with a pair of scissors - being careful not to cut through a sprocket as that tends to jam the advance - or pull off a chip that will keep wandering around in the camera. For large volume IXMOO loading I made a brass plate with a couple of pins to register the film, a V shaped end and a small bar across to hold the film in place. It is much quicker than the rather fiddly ABLON. For LTM cameras I just double the leader lengths - and trim it. At home I use the scissors - in the field a quick "bite" with the teeth and tearing it off seems to work well too.
Tadeyev
Member
I assume you are implying that it is too much effort?
It might sound like a lot of work, but it only takes less than one minute 😀
That being said, I suppose if you are shooting a lot of film and can prepare in advance with an Ablon, or trimmed leaders, then you might shave it down to half that time.
My only point was that an Ablon (or cutting the leader for that matter) is not an absolute necessity - which is what I always thought until i tried this out.
Cheer,
Theo
Steve George
Established
Thanks all for the tips, tricks and advice. Many of which I've been trying with varying success.
In the end I've got a Prinz one coming from the USA for significantly cheaper than people seem to be buying them for here in the UK. If it could bring some California sunshine over with it that'd be much appreciated too.
Got my FILCAs, got my trimmer, am good to go 🙂
In the end I've got a Prinz one coming from the USA for significantly cheaper than people seem to be buying them for here in the UK. If it could bring some California sunshine over with it that'd be much appreciated too.
Got my FILCAs, got my trimmer, am good to go 🙂
Bill58
Native Texan
Mark Hama, the repair tech in Georgia, USA, used to sell Taiwan-made ones for $10. They work good w/ a safety razor blade.
literiter
Well-known
Do it carefully. The only chips I had, fell away from film I trimmed by hand then with that PRINZ film template.
If I could get my hands on a real ABLON template I'd be much happier. I just can't seem to get my head around paying the $80+ dollars it seems to be going for.
literiter
Well-known
I'm gonna try this!
rbiemer
Unabashed Amateur
For the bottom loaders I've had, I used small scissors and trimmed a few rolls ahead of time.
What I also did at the beginning was to draw the trim line with a sharpie marker and cut along that. After a bit of practice, I didn't need to draw the line. It helped me quite a bit to get consistent results.
Rob
What I also did at the beginning was to draw the trim line with a sharpie marker and cut along that. After a bit of practice, I didn't need to draw the line. It helped me quite a bit to get consistent results.
Rob
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