Who can identify this Leica reloadable cassette?

[mr_phillip]

Hey all.

I recently picked up another bunch of Leica cassettes – a mix of IXMOO and FILCA versions. Among them was this curiosity. There's no engraving on the bottom, but it looks and feels every inch a Leitz product. All measurements are identical to a normal FILCA cassette, but the spring latch to open/close the cassette is different from anything I've seen before. Instead of having a straight piece of metal with a small catch entering the side of the canister to act as a latch, this has the spring angled back at the end and engaging with one of two large notches in the top tim. It's definitely not a FILCA that someone has modified, the finish and build quality is WAY too high for that.

The system obviously works well because the cassettes catch operates beautifully. I've heard talk that there were four designs of Leica cassette (which includes a prototype version that never left the factory), so I'm wondering, is this the version that preceded the FILCA? Or is it just a cunning (and gloriously well made) third party copy?

Mystery cassette on the left, standard FILCA on the right:

Angled spring and notched top:

A closer view of that angled spring on the side:

 

[Luddite Frank]

Is that "fuzzy" in the bottom of the mystery cassette (middle picture, left cassette) a felt washer for a light -trap ?


If there's no maker's name stamped anywhere, I would be surprised if it were Leitz...

Exakta and Contax also had reloadable cassettes, but I would expect them to be marked by their makers too ("Ihagee" or "Zeiss-Ikon")

????

Is the mystery part the same height as the FILCA or shorter like the M version ?


Luddite Frank

 

[mr_phillip]

There's definitely no makers name that I can see, but I've had a few FILCAs pass through my hands that were unbranded too.

The more I look at it the more I'm certain that it's a Wetzlar product: The dimensions are identical to the FILCA; it has the same felt light traps at both ends as a FILCA; the internal reel is definitely a Leitz product (although I guess that could be swapped out easily). But mostly it just looks and feels identical to the Leitz examples, apart from the different locking mechanism.

 

[bob cole]

Who can identify this Leica reloadable cassette?

It's a Leica cassette, Mr. _Phillip, first of four versions, according to Jim Lager's Vol. III, Acccessories, of his Illustrated History....

Here's what Lager says:

 

[mr_phillip]

Ah, marvellous! You've confirmed what I suspected, thanks so much for posting that Bob.