Question for M2 & M3 users

[Michael Markey]

As it comes .... no requirement to trim .
Just make sure its straight .

 

[Rob-F]

Barnacks have a different loading procedure. You'll need the trimming template ABLON to cut a leader to your film. Without this leader loading is possible, but very difficult.


Erik.

Come on, it's not that difficult. You do have to trim it, but with a little practice it becomes second nature even without the ABLON. I don't have an ABLON. I just trim using the tiny scissors on my smallest Swiss Army Knife. I trim it back by about ten or so sprocket holes, being careful to cut between sprocket holes, and not through any (that would leave a rough edge that can, and probably will, get caught on something and be torn off, leaving a film chip in the shutter).

Sure, use the ABLON if you have one, but I do fine without it.

 

[Rob-F]

Oh, yeah. The original question. No, I have never needed to trim the leader for my M2. Not for any M camera.

 

[David Hughes]

I don't mean to be rude but every time I read an enquiry like this I wonder if I am the only person in the world who buys the instruction book and reads it. It seems to me the most obvious thing to get with a camera, as important as (say) lens or body caps but...

Does anyone else feel this way?

I can understand (say) the one page "Quick Load" instructions* being lost or the wrap round "in brief" instructions but surely not the whole book.

Regards, David

* This was an optional extra for the M2 from memory and hated in general although I think it works well.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Come on, it's not that difficult. You do have to trim it, but with a little practice it becomes second nature even without the ABLON. I don't have an ABLON. I just trim using the tiny scissors on my smallest Swiss Army Knife. I trim it back by about ten or so sprocket holes, being careful to cut between sprocket holes, and not through any (that would leave a rough edge that can, and probably will, get caught on something and be torn off, leaving a film chip in the shutter).

Sure, use the ABLON if you have one, but I do fine without it.

Yes, you can do this of course without an ABLON. I wrote this however for people who are familiar with M2 and M3 cameras who want to try an early Leica. They will run into problems - I've seen that quite often - if they load the early Leica like their M2 or M3.

Erik.

 

[p.giannakis]

I don't mean to be rude but every time I read an enquiry like this I wonder if I am the only person in the world who buys the instruction book and reads it. It seems to me the most obvious thing to get with a camera, as important as (say) lens or body caps but...

Does anyone else feel this way?

I can understand (say) the one page "Quick Load" instructions* being lost or the wrap round "in brief" instructions but surely not the whole book.

Regards, David

* This was an optional extra for the M2 from memory and hated in general although I think it works well.

I am one of those people who never read the manual and learn things the hard way. I learned that I had to trim the film while loading my IIc a longtime after I bought it but I never had any accidents/issues with it.

 

[raydm6]

I own a lot of vintage cameras and on occasion need to do a quick manual review to go over some of the idiosyncratic operations. Doesn't take long.

 

[Mlehrman]

A bit off-topic, but I stopped trimming to load a Barnack after a well-known RFF member hinted a method he uses, which works every time. And gets you a few extra frames.

https://philipus.com/how-i-load-a-barnack-camera

 

[Horatio]

A bit off-topic, but I stopped trimming to load a Barnack after a well-known RFF member hinted a method he uses, which works every time. And gets you a few extra frames.

https://philipus.com/how-i-load-a-barnack-camera

Neat trick. Thanks for the link.

 

[Mlehrman]

Neat trick. Thanks for the link.

The key for me is using a very thin but rigid card. For my iiig, a credit card is way too thick. But a NYC MetroCard is perfect.

 

[Beemermark]

Just about every M3 bottom I've seen (in photographs only) has the same diagram as the Barnacks re: leader trimming.

That’s because when The M3 was marketed all film had a long leader (like used in the Barnack and other cameras).

 

[Horatio]

That’s because when The M3 was marketed all film had a long leader (like used in the Barnack and other cameras).

I did not know that. Explains a lot. I was only a gleam in my father's eye that long ago. 😀

 

[Derek Leath]

I go straight on the M2, but always trim on my M3's

 

[Pál_K]

That’s because when The M3 was marketed all film had a long leader (like used in the Barnack and other cameras).

You all will laugh, but as a teenager, long before I bought my first camera, I would go to the library and read about photography and cameras. I must've been reading an old Leica manual when I learned about loading 35mn film.

So, when I bought my first camera, a Pentax SLR, for many years I continued to trim out a long leader before loading.

It wasn't too detrimental, since I bulk loaded my own cassettes.

 

[Rob-F]

That’s because when The M3 was marketed all film had a long leader (like used in the Barnack and other cameras).

Yes. I wonder why they shortened it? To save one inch of film?

I'm trying to remember when they shortened the leader. Late sixties? Some time in the seventies?

 

[Rob-F]

I go straight on the M2, but always trim on my M3's

Why did you trim for the M3? Exact same loading system as the M2, after all.