Leica LTM Getting really stressed out doing this!

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
jan normandale said:
Best film loading system ever designed for a 35 mm camera. I don't understand why that one didn't take off. Probably it "cost too much" ...
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My FTbN has the QL system as well. You're probably right about the expense, but I would have thought that it would have made a great selling point even if it did add a dollar a camera.
 
Keith said:
Get rid of it ... get something you're more comfortable with and stop trying to convince yourself that you need this camera!

:D
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Actually - thats what I did. As much fun as it was to shoot it - loading was always a pain for me - so I sold it and never looked back using a swing back cameras. fthis is the typeof camera yo like - I'd get a Nicca with a back door like M3 has ina barnack designed camera - why Leica never did this - no idea. :confused:
 
Thanks Frank, for your thoughtful advise.
I am not selling this baby, even if I cannot take any pics with it. It is just too damn cute.
Luddite Frank said:
Cut the leader according to the diagram on the inside of the bottom plate, and prep a few extra rolls to have in your pocket or kit-bag. I use a pair of curved cuticle scissors ( Revlon, from the drugstore ) like you'd find in a manicure set. These stay in my kit bag too.

I don't like pulling the lens to load film; I've tried it, it works, but none of the Leica literature describe/recommend it, and the Barnack is fiddly enough as-is for loading w/o taking the lens off too...

This is another plug for the Leica ever-ready case around your neck ( I use the bottom half of a IIIg case with a modern wide-strap): it holds the camera body upside down while you're manipulating the spool and cassette for re-loading.

The biggest issue I had with loading my first Barnack was with the take-up spool: the spring tab was so tight, I could not slide the leader under it: the film would just buckle-up. I swapped it with the spool from another Barnack, which loads much more easily.

One caution when trimming the leader: do NOT cut through sprocket-holes (cut in bewteen), and avoid sharp angles in your tab - make a gentle curve. Right-angles / notches / splits can catch on the edge of the film-gate and split the film as you wind it on, causing one part to wind onto the take-up spool, and the other part to get wound into the shutter curtain.
( Had this happen to a black III. )

Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight-forward; not necesarily "easy", but easily learnable. Pick a quiet place to practice , away from people & pets... reloading "on your feet" is more challenging, save that for once you've got some comfort with the process.

My desire to use Barnack cameras overcame the loading challenge a long time ago.

Good luck !

Luddite Frank
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My loading method:

1.Load film in, put on baseplate.

2. Give film advance knob a PARTIAL turn.

3. Pull up rewind knob and wind film back till it stops--this takes slack out of film and sets the sprocket teeth in the film holes.

4. Complete winding on the film advance. Watch the rewind knob a you are doing so--if it turns contra to the arrow, film is loaded properly. Go to Frame 1 and shoot away.

3. If rewind knob DOESN'T turn when you complete the wind-on. film is not properly loaded. Wind film back--leaving leader out--and repeat the process. Usually get it right on the second try.

First itme I used a IIIf, I blissfully shot image after image--all on Frame #1....
 
Two things to add:

1. I am using film with the4-inch leader cut (I use an ABLON template--bought when you could get them relatively cheap). I cut all the film I think I'm going to need before setting out.

2. Step 5 (mislabled 3 again) . Of course, set the A-R lever to "R" before rewinding the film and repeating the process.....
 
One more thought - after dropping in and seating the spool and cassette, I usually wind the slack up on the Rewind knob until I see the film tighten against the sprocket, then I switch the lever to "A", and turn the advance knob slightly to make sure the film is seated properly on the sprocket; if all looks well, I install the baseplate, wind-on two frames, set the exposure counter and go shooting.

I've shot over 150 rolls in my user III in the last couple years w/o any tragic loading accidents.

The one really bad experience was with a black III, when the film split and one half got rolled into the shutter curtain... this resulted in my first experience taking a Barnack apart...:eek:

Don't care to repeat that one...:rolleyes:

Luddite Frank
 
It must've been 3 years since I've last fudged up loading one of my Barnacks. There's that "DOH" moment when the film counter has gone beyond 40 exposures.

I do like Frank now, where I take up the slack in the film by rewinding after loading. I also make sure that the rewind knob turns when I advance the film.
 
I find that I have to load my Barnak Leicas a surprising amount while on board planes. I learned to just take the film leader between my teeth and rip it like I was opening a bag of potato chips. After doing this on about 75 rolls of film I get it perfect every time with the leader trimmed a perfect 21 holes from the end. Easy.
 
All while walking on water


Pastor Chris said:
I find that I have to load my Barnak Leicas a surprising amount while on board planes. I learned to just take the film leader between my teeth and rip it like I was opening a bag of potato chips. After doing this on about 75 rolls of film I get it perfect every time with the leader trimmed a perfect 21 holes from the end. Easy.
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I never trim the leaders for my screw mounts. Not hard to load with a little practice. I used to shoot a lot of XP-2 (back when you could get film processed without traveling 60 miles). If I trimmed the film, I'd always get a call from the lab telling me there was something wrong with my film and they couldn't process it! Determined to solve that problem, I got a practice roll of film, turned out all the lights, then practiced until I could load it in the dark. Solved that problem!
 
Luddite Frank said:
Cut the leader according to the diagram on the inside of the bottom plate, and prep a few extra rolls to have in your pocket or kit-bag. I use a pair of curved cuticle scissors ( Revlon, from the drugstore ) like you'd find in a manicure set. These stay in my kit bag too.

I don't like pulling the lens to load film; I've tried it, it works, but none of the Leica literature describe/recommend it, and the Barnack is fiddly enough as-is for loading w/o taking the lens off too...

This is another plug for the Leica ever-ready case around your neck ( I use the bottom half of a IIIg case with a modern wide-strap): it holds the camera body upside down while you're manipulating the spool and cassette for re-loading.

The biggest issue I had with loading my first Barnack was with the take-up spool: the spring tab was so tight, I could not slide the leader under it: the film would just buckle-up. I swapped it with the spool from another Barnack, which loads much more easily.

One caution when trimming the leader: do NOT cut through sprocket-holes (cut in bewteen), and avoid sharp angles in your tab - make a gentle curve. Right-angles / notches / splits can catch on the edge of the film-gate and split the film as you wind it on, causing one part to wind onto the take-up spool, and the other part to get wound into the shutter curtain.
( Had this happen to a black III. )

Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight-forward; not necesarily "easy", but easily learnable. Pick a quiet place to practice , away from people & pets... reloading "on your feet" is more challenging, save that for once you've got some comfort with the process.

My desire to use Barnack cameras overcame the loading challenge a long time ago.

Good luck !

Luddite Frank
Click to expand...

TERRORIST! Are you a commie Muslim too?

In a decade or more of using screw-mount Leicas, I had fewer problems loading than with 'normal' cameras: I never recall having a 'non-attached' leader.

Trim leader. Load. Replace baseplate. Check that rewind rotates. Never mind T or anything else.

Cheers,

R.
 
"TERRORIST! Are you a commie Muslim too? "

Yes! My evil plan is to drag the entire world back into the analog age ! :mad:

"Death to ones and zeroes!

Ruin to the infidels Gates and Jobs; long live Edison, Eastman, and Ford !!! "

(cue: evil laughter and ominous orchestral music ! ;) )


:cool:
 
I tried the trimming method and VIOLA the thing loaded like a peace of cake. I made the mistake of using the method advocated by our esteemed Stephen at Cameraquest, which in retrospect, is not the best way to do this.
It is actually very easy, no more taking the lens off or using the T.. or sticking thumbs in the film gate..
thanks everyone
 
Roger Hicks said:
TERRORIST!

In a decade or more of using screw-mount Leicas, I had fewer problems loading than with 'normal' cameras: I never recall having a 'non-attached' leader.

Trim leader. Load. Replace baseplate. Check that rewind rotates. Never mind T or anything else.

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

I am with Roger on this. Nothing easier than loading the way Leitz designed it. Lest I be accused of being some sort of religious zealot again by some bearded 'freethinker' in flowing robes... Or a bottom loader Terrorrist :)

And the last time I checked, the original method (trimmed leader, taking out nothing but the baseplate and spool) is twice as easy, significantly faster, and requires dramatically fewer steps than the stand-by, unofficial methods.

As for the witches' logic behind bottom loading, Barnack and his bosses at Leitz were so concerned about maintaining the precise lens positioning relative to the film plane down to a hundredth or two of a millimeter. They earnestly believed that the only way to do this was to seal the entire mechanism in a non-violable chassis. Thus loading had to be done by slipping the film in through the bottom.

They considered for years that a back which can be removed or was not an integral part of the body can lose its hold on the pressure plate's exact position relative to the lens. Even Zeiss may have thought so, since they numbered the Contax backs too, to make sure that it is the back which conformed to the measurement during the factory calibration process.

Leitz may retained the principle with the M, where only part of the 'back' opens. Even the M8 and M9 load from the bottom....but that's another story.
 
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