sanmich
Veteran
BLKRCAT
75% Film
more info?
lam
Well-known
I kind of want one of these 
Brian Legge
Veteran
Ha, I wondered if something like this was possible. I couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't work. Nice to see someone else have the idea and actually try to make it happen.
Vics
Veteran
Rapid load system? Doesn't Leica already offer a kit for this?
sanmich
Veteran
sure...
It's a tulip like the M4 and later. It just happens to be exactly the right diameter to be pushed in place of the regular M2 spool.
The result is almost the same as an M4 tulip. The main differences are:
1- the central axis is still there. you slip the film beside it. not as easy as the regular tulip but pretty close.
2- It can be placed and removed by the user. No camera surgery involved. Removal is difficult (I had to use tweezers). The bright side is that I don't expect it to slowly slip down the rod during use (which would cause quite a mess). So, not for M3 user I'm affraid.
3- cheaper than the definitive tulip installation.
Caveat emptor: I just received the thing and my M2 is partly dismantled, so I could only shortly try it a couple of times. Problems may appear with time and use, but from what I see, I think it should work just fine.
sanmich
Veteran
Yes, but the rapid load system needs to be aligned before loading, and looks a bit more fiddly that the tulip (never tried one though)
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
Micheal, where did you get it. Looks like the best of two worlds - retain the driveshaft and still have a tulip load if you so wish. Cost? M2 take up spools have evidently gone through the roof price wise. I have a handful of "spares" including a couple new in the box - price tag says $6,99!!!!
sanmich
Veteran
Tom, I asked Don (DAG) if this could be done, and there it was
with the small limitations mentioned earlier, it does offer an easy solution without sending the M2 for a tulip install (I've done that on a couple of M2's)
I want to be careful, since I didn't even run a film with it, just tried a few times to start the loading, and it looked ok. I hope the film will disengage freely at the rewind too...
first thing I'll check when I get my M2 back in one piece.
MartinP
Veteran
And for those curious about using this in an M3, the spool has to come out a few millimetres in order to reset the frame-counter (including with the official Quickload kit), so having this as a semi-permanent modification won't do the job.
Is there also any cage or basket mod made on the baseplate to make sure the film goes in the right place and stays there?
Is there also any cage or basket mod made on the baseplate to make sure the film goes in the right place and stays there?
sanmich
Veteran
and you know what...
It seems to work on a Barnack too
A bit too tight for my taste both on my IIIf and III (had to use a nose plier to remove it), but it should save all the fiddling around with the long leader of film and the spool.
It seems to work on a Barnack too
A bit too tight for my taste both on my IIIf and III (had to use a nose plier to remove it), but it should save all the fiddling around with the long leader of film and the spool.
sanmich
Veteran
The tulip support is not necessary.
Once the film is on the sprocket, and the door is closed, you won't need any support. I'm using a modified M2 with the original base plate, and an M6 with an M2 base plate (for IXMOOs) with no issues.
BLKRCAT
75% Film
I think I would be interested in this. Any idea of cost? Would it be worth it to throw a more in depth video together?
maddoc
... likes film again.
Brilliant !! Now we need another solution for the M3 to reset the counter ...
sanmich
Veteran
Brilliant !! Now we need another solution for the M3 to reset the counter ...
For the M3, I see only the quick load solution.
Another totally unsupported idea would be to check if the M5 spool fits on the M2/M3 shaft.
Any M5+M2/M3 user around to tell us if it works?
B-9
Devin Bro
Excellent mod! Wish this would work on the M3.
a.noctilux
Well-known
I have checked.
Try to put M5's spool in M3 = not possible.
The hole is smaller than M3's spool.
Arnaud
Classique
Well-known
I would be interested in one for Barnacks!
sanmich
Veteran
Most excellent! Mod of the year so far.