film trimmers

[jja]

Thanks George! That doesn't look too difficult.

 

[summar]

I never trimmed the leader on film for my IIIf and never had any trouble. Then I read a post by LTM expert Roger Hicks saying that this may work many times but something is bound to go wrong sometime, with dire results. So now I use the genuine ABLON template I'm lucky to have in my kit.

 

[Godfrey]

I used Leica IIc, IIf, and IIIf for 15 years and never once did anything special with trimming the film leader. Never had any problems. Just have to load them carefully ...

G

 

[Robert Lai]

Imitation ABLONs

Imitation ABLONs

I have two of those ABLON imitations. One was made in Korea. It came with some darkroom gear I found at an estate sale. I think it was basically free. At the time I had no idea what it was for, but I kept it. When I finally got a Barnack, the light bulb went off as to how fortunate I was to have it. I had been using scissors before, but it's a pain with the film's desire to curl. At least the pseudo-ABLON keeps it flat. The second one is a "Prinz" one, just like the ebay auction that DEZ pointed out. I think that one cost a "prinzly" $10 last year on RFF. The Prinz is still in its original unopened packaging.

The only downside of the Korean imitation ABLONs is that they are made of Aluminum. The metal on the curve gets eroded by the knife passes if you use it a lot. I'm not sure what the original ABLON was made of, but judging by its current price you'd think it was made out of stainless steel coated with platinum and diamonds.

Sure, you may get away without ever trimming the leader until one day your camera jams up due to a film chip getting into something. DAG tells me that he cleans out a lot of film chips in these cameras when they come in for service.

 

[ChrisLivsey]

I find it rather satisfying to use the ABLON template but freehand works just as well. A piece of surgical tape is my answer for FILCA and IXMOO beats fishing out that bit of film ever time.

 

[doolittle]

"They can take the lens off, put their shutter on 'Bulb' or 'Time' and poke their finger in the hole where that shutter belongs."

Yup, this is what I do. Works like a charm. But, to each his own.

+1. Nice and simple, no special equipment needed. Technique recommended to me by a person who repairs cameras (I know that doesn't count as a qualification and maybe he was just drumming up business 🙂 ). Works like a charm for me too.

 

[David Hughes]

The important part is not to cut through a perforation.

There seem to be several not-made-by-Leitz out there (and one or two not-made-by-Zeiss for the Contax) and they all work.

Regards, David

 

[NeeZee]

The important part is not to cut through a perforation.

This. I've been shooting a few hundred films with my iiif over the last 6 years or so. Always using scissors to cut the film. After a few times I even stopped counting holes, just roughly estimating. The only time I had a problem was on my second roll of film - I cut through a perforation and a piece of film got stuck between the shutter curtains. So that's really all you have to take care of...

 

[Luddite Frank]

I have been using a pair of Revlon cuticle scissors since getting my first Barnack, about 7 years back. I pull about four fingers-worth (measured at the middle-knuckle) of film from the cassette, and cut the scallop free-hand, from the cassette towards the free end.

I have an ABLON knock-off that came with a Watson-66 bulk loader - I tried it once and decided it was more trouble than it was worth. It is buried somewhere deep in the camera closet.

I have also tried loading modern film as-is... with dodgy results. 🙁

I pre-trim a half-dozen rolls at a time, and always have the cuticle scissors in my screw-mount kit.

I have also had the film split, with one-half getting wound-into the shutter curtain on a very nice black III... 😱 :bang:

It seems that every one has a pet method... I prefer Leica's recommendation, and it has never given me trouble.

LF

 

[screwthread]

I use an ABLON to trim the film, I used to shoot a lot with the Leica II ,I got to the stage where I could load the camera fine whilst walking down the street, but not run!

 

[Spicy]

I pull the film out and count to 13 sprout holes on the short end (I heard that was 20 on the long side). Pull one out just for good measure (making 14 total on the short end) and then carefully trim between the 13th and 14th holes. Never had an issue with film tears or anything... Well not anything that was the cameras fault lol.

 

[revdoug]

I have a trimmer, never use it. Count back 20 sprocket holes and start my cut between 21 and 20. Cut a nice curve with no tears and you are in business.

If you reload the IXMOO, just cut V-point in one end. It really doesn't need to be perfect, just good enough to snag in the spool notch. Takes longer for me to wind on the film.

EDIT - If you screw up, cut a bit off and start over. Or start your curve back between sprocket hole 24 and 23. It really is not the end of the world. In fact, you can screw up several times and loose very little film.

If your 2nd 10,000 photos are not to your liking, just re-do the 1st 10,000.