Film leader puller-outer thing ...

[dmr]

This is kind of a quickie report on the Promaster #6583 Film Leader Retriever. I know the topic of how to get the leader back out has come up here a couple times.

Well, I did it again. 🙁 Last Thursday I accidentally wound the leader of a new roll of film back into the cartridge. 🙁

This time it was Kodachrome, so I definitely wanted to get it back out to load it.

Friday over lunch I went to our area's only remaining real camera store and asked if they had what I described. They had 2 types. The first looked like a plastic strip with some ridges on it and the other was the Promaster with 2 sliders and 3 strips of thin but strong plastic. I asked him which was better and he said that the Promaster was gentler on the film and that was what the guys in the back use.

So anyway, I got it and tried it just a while ago.

There are 3 plastic strips on this thing, 2 of them attached to slider levers and 1 fixed. To pull out the film, you first wind the film so it's not too loose, then insert the ends of all 3 strips into the slot.

Next, push the A slider to drive the one strip all the way into the cartridge, then carefully turn the film right to the point where you hear it click against the end of the strip. Then push the B slider to drive the second strip all the way in.

Then, carefully pull the whole thing out, and >>PRESTO<< the leader comes out with it! 🙂

Anyway, as you might figure I did, I wound it back in and retrieved it back out a couple times just for the heck of it. 🙂

This is going to be a very handy item to keep in the camera bag just in case.

 

[richard_l]

Thanx for the review. I'm gonna get me one too.

 

[GeneW]

Thanks for the review. I've been thinking of getting one of those and this is great information!

Gene

 

[back alley]

can i ask how much you paid for it?
i was looking at one today (don't know what brand) and it was 24. cdn. which was too much, i thought.

joe

 

[James Burton]

can i ask how much you paid for it?
i was looking at one today (don't know what brand) and it was 24. cdn. which was too much, i thought.

joe

Mine was $50 in Australian dollars (say $40 in US), not cheap but it works fine.
Easier than taking the cannisters apart in the dark bag. Incidentally this
is some sort of Japanese thing branded "Film Picker 4". Has the 3 strips
as described above.


James

 

[ChrisPlatt]

For retrieving accidentally wound leaders, these gizmos are great.
One of these in your camera bag can often save the day.

Retrievers are often sold with 35mm film home development kits,
but don't be tempted to remove the exposed film from the cartridge
with one of these - use a bottle opener to break it open instead.

Each pass of the film through the felt light baffle material on the
cartridge increases the chance of scratches on the negatives.
Committed bulk loaders in denial claim this never happens,
but I speak from experience when I tell you that it does...

Excelsior, you fathead!
-Chris-

 

[eric]

I used to just get a piece of spent old film, wet it a little bit, stick it into the cartridge, wind it back until the film in the cassettes starts "pulling" the damp film", then pull it out. The 2 damp pieces of film tend to stick to each other.

 

[Solinar]

I've been using a cheapo version made by Kalt for a number of years.

Ritz has it listed for $7.95 US, which is $3.00 more than my local camera shop sells them for.

If you are still using a bottle cap opener to load your developing reels. Get one of these instead. It's much easier and no I don't have scratches on my film after developing.

 

[Solinar]

Even less expensivehere.

I must say that the ProMaster version looks sweeter.

 

[dmr]

Mine was $50 in Australian dollars (say $40 in US), not cheap but it works fine.
Easier than taking the cannisters apart in the dark bag. Incidentally this
is some sort of Japanese thing branded "Film Picker 4". Has the 3 strips
as described above.

OUCH! No, definitely not $40!

It was $12 and change.

 

[dkapp]

I've had one of these for a few months, and I couldn't imagine working w/o it. I switch between different types of B&W and color on a normal outing and use this to pull the leader back out. It gets lots of use and has held up well.

Dave

 

[jan normandale]

Isn't it always this way. Last week I made a rewind on a fresh spool and was so annoyed I fired it into a subway garbage can. If only I had known..

 

[Little Prince]

I've been using a Hama retriever for a while now. It was fairly cheap (<$10 if I remember right). It's got metal strips so you can imagine it's not all that gentle with the film. But the scratches have always remained on the leader portion and never intruded into the frames.
Using these things is somewhat annoying as it may take a few tries to get it to work. Still, I'm glad there is such a thing as you're bound to need it sooner or later.

 

[Dean]

I made one of these:

http://spyderman.ekodapo.sk/?s=t&p=11

Tested it a few times and it works! Thinner plastic seems to work the best.


Dean