Dralowid
Michael
Who was Shirley Wellard...maybe a blonde from the North?
I have come a cross one of these cassettes...is it really supposed to fit an ltm camera because it doesn't seem to...indeed it was not easy to get it out again...
Any knowledge out there? It is a beautifully made thing.
Michael
I have come a cross one of these cassettes...is it really supposed to fit an ltm camera because it doesn't seem to...indeed it was not easy to get it out again...
Any knowledge out there? It is a beautifully made thing.
Michael
archive59
Established
Roger Hicks is the man to answer your questions as I seem to remember him commenting on their use in the past, and I think he used to reproduce the original instructions on his website.
Unfortunately the Shirley in this case is the place (in the Midlands) and not a person.
Unfortunately the Shirley in this case is the place (in the Midlands) and not a person.
Livesteamer
Well-known
It is a labyrinth cassette like a filca or ixmoo but meant to fit all cameras. It has several adjustments to fit it to a particular camera and was activated by the rewind knob if I remember correctly. They are complex and lovely. I have several around somewhere but have never actually used one. Joe
ChrisLivsey
Veteran
I'm sure Mr Hicks will be along soon. Shirley is in the UK industrial Midlands famed for engineering both heavy and light. The wellard is allegedly from the design required to produce the product - it was "well hard". Filca is the answer for ltm. Now if only someone can come along and explain where that and IXMOO came from 
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Shirley is where they were made, and one of the inventors said, once they'd finished it, "Any money we make from this will be well 'ard earned..."
They can be used with almost any opening-back camera having a pull-up rewind knob -- but NOT with Leicas, 'real' Nikons, etc.
Manufacturers' nstructions:
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps shirley wellard.html
From
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how choose cassetes.html
shirley-wellard
The trick with these is the four little studs on the bottom of the film spool, clearly seen in the illustration below. Normally these sit slightly outside the corresponding holes in the bottom of the cassette, but if the spool is pushed down and twisted they engage and the inner shell can be rotated: clockwise to close (the same direction as rewinding) or anticlockwise to open. This is done by pushing down on the rewind knob and twisting in the appropriate direction.
There are only two real disadvantages. One is that the rewind knob sits very slightly proud (about 1/16 inch, 1.5mm) when the cassette is in the camera. The other is that you have to remember to open and close the cassette. The former is more often an aesthetic problem than practical, and the latter is a question of memory.
The end cap just screws on and off. You can clearly see the four studs on the bottom of the film spool and the corresponding holes in the base-plate of the cassette. If anyone were to build such cassettes today they would probably have to sell at over a hundred pounds ($200) each; the amount of engineering in there is extraordinary.
Two forms of adjustment are provided to fit the cassette to the camera: a properly-fitted Shirley Wellard fits perfectly and will not rattle at all. One is the vertical adjustment, and the other is the rotational adjustment. Both are most easily understood from Shirley-Wellard's own instruction leaflet, reproduced on its own page.
Incidentally, Short Schrift on the title page is now being updated again: two in the last couple of weeks.
EDIT: Google Shirley Wellard and the first three options are my site and a Shutterbug article I wrote.
Cheers,
R.
They can be used with almost any opening-back camera having a pull-up rewind knob -- but NOT with Leicas, 'real' Nikons, etc.
Manufacturers' nstructions:
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps shirley wellard.html
From
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps how choose cassetes.html
shirley-wellard
The trick with these is the four little studs on the bottom of the film spool, clearly seen in the illustration below. Normally these sit slightly outside the corresponding holes in the bottom of the cassette, but if the spool is pushed down and twisted they engage and the inner shell can be rotated: clockwise to close (the same direction as rewinding) or anticlockwise to open. This is done by pushing down on the rewind knob and twisting in the appropriate direction.
There are only two real disadvantages. One is that the rewind knob sits very slightly proud (about 1/16 inch, 1.5mm) when the cassette is in the camera. The other is that you have to remember to open and close the cassette. The former is more often an aesthetic problem than practical, and the latter is a question of memory.
The end cap just screws on and off. You can clearly see the four studs on the bottom of the film spool and the corresponding holes in the base-plate of the cassette. If anyone were to build such cassettes today they would probably have to sell at over a hundred pounds ($200) each; the amount of engineering in there is extraordinary.
Two forms of adjustment are provided to fit the cassette to the camera: a properly-fitted Shirley Wellard fits perfectly and will not rattle at all. One is the vertical adjustment, and the other is the rotational adjustment. Both are most easily understood from Shirley-Wellard's own instruction leaflet, reproduced on its own page.
Incidentally, Short Schrift on the title page is now being updated again: two in the last couple of weeks.
EDIT: Google Shirley Wellard and the first three options are my site and a Shutterbug article I wrote.
Cheers,
R.
Last edited:
Dralowid
Michael
Thanks for the info, it is something that I will treasure...whether I use it remains to be seen.
Michael
PS: There is a Shirley near Southampton too....
Michael
PS: There is a Shirley near Southampton too....