Leica M loading just plain rocks!

[Ruhayat]

Can I just say, after 3 years of owning and using the Leica M, coming across some articles or forum posts that complain about the "bothersome" bottom loading, and then having owned and used several back-loading cameras (rangefinders and SLRs), that in my not so humble opinion the bottom loading mechanism is still the best and the most reliable? Back loaders are just fiddly and sometimes they drive me nuts because the film wouldn't take and you still need two hands to get it to feed properly, like the one on the Pentax MX, for example.

I just wanted to say that. For the record.

Thank you.😀

EDIT: Well, I'd just read a professional review of the M7 vs the Ikon where the reviewer commented how the Ikon's backloading system was an improvement over the M's. I beg to differ. Hence, I started this thread.

 

[david.elliott]

I prefer the old loading system on my m3 ds to the quicker loading system on my mp.

Leicaflex sl2 and leica r8 load very easily as well though.

 

[Ruhayat]

I have to say, the Leica R-E I had for a while was also quite easy to load. But nothing gives me the sense of security when loading film like I get with an M.

 

[Ruhayat]

I should have called this thread "An appreciation of the Leica M's much maligned film bottom loading mechanism", really.

 

[Speedfreak]

Really? I had more problems with bottom loading Ms than with back loading cameras.

Canon had some fool-proof system even back in the sixties on their Canon FT QL (Quick Loading). Impossible to mess up.

 

[thegman]

I don't mind the M3 loading system, but I much preferred the standard back loading of the Zeiss Ikon, especially on the move.

 

[Sparrow]

... and they're not as slow as they say either

 

[loquax ludens]

I don't find my M's hard to load. It does take a bit longer than an open back camera, about double the time, but I don't find it to be a problem in practice.

 

[kokoshawnuff]

All I can says that I've gotten used to the loading of an M from M3-M7, and that it is definitely better than modern electronic cameras that suck in the film automatically costing you 2-3 frames you always get with the Ms and other mechanical cameras.

 

[sepiareverb]

I much prefer the bottom loading M, and certainly prefer the current version as in the MP. I don't find it slow at all. Loading a CL or a Rollei 35 is the worst of all I think.

 

[Pete B]

I prefer the old loading system on my m3 ds to the quicker loading system on my mp.

Leicaflex sl2 and leica r8 load very easily as well though.

+1


Pete

10 Characters

 

[philipus]

I got along with the M3's loading but really really like the M6TTL which is so much faster and easier.

I had no problems with the many EOS cameras I used for many years but I never liked the way they ate frames to ensure the film was properly loaded.

 

[Asim]

Yeah, I totally agree. I've had several cameras with back door loading. Besides my Pentax LX and Olympus XA, my other cameras: Pentax MZ-S and MZ5n have plastic backs. This made me concerned that something might break because the whole flapping door is hinged by a couple of screws.

It's just as easy to load a Leica M4-MP while standing than it is a backdoor loader.
1. unlatch the bottom plate and place it between two fingers in the same hand that is holding the body. Some people may choose to hang it from their lips using the film roller that's just on the inside part of the bottom plate.

2. With the other hand, drop the canister in the body and pull the film across and insert the end into the tulip.

3. Latch the bottom back up and wind, making sure that the crank/knob is revolving.

Here's a link to a youtube video where the guy loads in less than 20 seconds. He's not standing but 20 seconds is much faster than I can do a backdoor load. And the interesting thing is that he doesn't even seem to try to go fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jNhaOFiXBQ

 

[muser53]

Maybe because I had the privilege to learn on a 111f I never found the bottom loading thing an issue. But for God's sake loading most any camera is child's play and agonizing over the differences imho (and I don't mean to offend anyone) is hardly worth the keystrokes.

 

[KoNickon]

I dunno, guys, I think there is some rationalization at work here. Yes, loading an M is quicker and easier than a Barnack-type camera, but it's way slower than almost any other 35mm camera, particularly something like the humble Canonet QL, where you just lay the film leader on the takeup spool.

I should time the process with a Hexar RF, but my guess is that you'll be ready to take a picture less than 10 seconds from when you first open the back.

 

[Ruhayat]

I dunno, guys, I think there is some rationalization at work here. Yes, loading an M is quicker and easier than a Barnack-type camera, but it's way slower than almost any other 35mm camera, particularly something like the humble Canonet QL, where you just lay the film leader on the takeup spool.

I should time the process with a Hexar RF, but my guess is that you'll be ready to take a picture less than 10 seconds from when you first open the back.

I've never used a Canonet nor a Hexar so I don't know how they work. But to me, the M's tulip is far more elegant and effective than the typical manual backloader's slats-on-a-pillar. Just thread the leader to the middle, and you can be sure the spool will take. No worries about the film flying free off the slats as you're busy advancing the darned lever, or the film not turning cos the sprocket holes are not lined up properly with the gear's teeth.

Or, in the case of my electronic Yashica T4, the film not actually feeding through when the mechanism turns after you snap shut the back door. So you then happily snap away until the number reaches 39, and you wonder how come Kodak or Fuji decided to give you so many free frames, and then you open the camera and discover you haven't actually taken a single shot. Cos the film is still sitting unloaded in its canister.

Plus, while the back door is open, it blocks your right hand, so you have to place the camera on your thighs or table in order to use both hands to thread the film. And while loading film hurriedly in the field I'm always worried I might accidentally apply too much pressure on the back door that the hinges break.

 

[Ruhayat]

Also, a common complaint about the M loading system is how you have to use two hands to do the procedure (and people, it seems, have a problem with where to put the bottom plate while doing so. Hmm. I just hold it with the little finger of the hand that's loading the film. Maybe I'm just incredibly dextrous?). As if you can easily use just one hand to load a manual back-loading camera! (It may be possible, but certainly not easy.)

It is indeed possible to load an M with one hand in the field, and pretty easily, too:

Camera balanced on left palm and fingers with thumb keeping the back flap close to the body, twist the lock with the right hand, grip bottom plate with right hand's little finger, grab film between right hand thumb and fore/middle finger, half drop canister into the camera, thread film through to the tulip making sure the leader gets to the middle, push canister and film all the way in, squeeze back flap with left thumb and fingers, replace bottom plate with right hand.

 

[tamct]

+1 for M bottom loading. No, you have to hold on to the bottom plate somehow. No, it is a harder to retry if it did not drop in properly. But yes, it 100% once you get the film leader touching the sprocket. To me, this quicker and more economical than thread and wind, or praying the film leader doesn't curl when you close the door of a back loader.

 

[semilog]

I'll take the Canonet QL system or the Ricoh GR-1 or any of a dozen good P/S cameras over ANY Leica M system, any day of the week. Far superior. And yes, I do use an M6 and I do know how to load it. The removable bottom plate is stupid.

 

[Monochrom]

haha, well i must say i learned to load leicas with a III-f...i had to tear apart a bit of the film end with my teeth in order to make it....so the m3 old systems doesn´t seem too cumbersome.
The quick load system on "newer" leicas is really quicker
Soemtimes quicker tahn back loading cameras....like my bessa or other ones, many times you have to nail the end of the film and then go back with the cartridge to the rewind spool...the olnly faster part is opening the camera...