How to retrieve a film leader without a tool

abdoujaparov

abdoujaparov

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Keith
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So, I managed to "shoot" 39 frames on my new ME Super yesterday before I realised it hadn't wound on at all - user error, didn't secure the end in the spindle well enough. (As an aside, I hate things that claim to measure one thing (frames advanced) but actually measure something else (times the lever has been cranked))

Anyway, like an idiot, I rewound to make sure, and managed to rewind the leader into the cartridge. I don't have a retriever tool, so a quick google returned this

http://awareofthevoid.com/2014/06/11/how-to-retrieve-a-film-leader-35mm/

and it worked! I'm sure it's better to use the tool for the job, but in a pinch, this was perfectly fine.
 
That's very clever, worth knowing how to do that.
 
Nice find Keith. I'm gonna try it now..
 
Most photographers in the old days never pulled the film out by the leader.
We always snapped off the end of the cassette and took the whole reel out.
this prevented long scratches caused by grit in the velvet.

later the makers started crimping the ends of the cans rather tightly
and some photographers took to using bottle openers to remove the short end.

adox cassettes were plastic and reusable by twisting the bayonet style end.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
adox cassettes were plastic and reusable by twisting the bayonet style end.
Click to expand...

Gosh Terry, you must have been made of money! I just re-loaded standard Kodak cassettes from a bulk reel (in the dark, not with a daylight loader) until well after I started work ;)
 
I never bothered with bulk film. But any lab would let you have sacks full of used casettes if you wanted them. They just chucked them away.
most of the film I used was 120 or 5x4
 
I'd forgotten this tip until a few weeks ago and likewise, Google jogged my memory :) Back in the day, I had a 'proper' leader retrieval thingy. It was more effective, but not by a massive amount!
Terry, I seem to recall Ilford cassettes were not as much of a PITA as Kodak? (Or was it the other way around?)
I'm still using up my seemingly never ending bulk Legacy Pro100 and re-usable plastic cassettes, so the joys of a bottle opener in the changing bag have yet to be revisited.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
Most photographers in the old days never pulled the film out by the leader.
We always snapped off the end of the cassette and took the whole reel out.
this prevented long scratches caused by grit in the velvet.
Click to expand...

This is often quoted as a reason for not loading from the cassette, but in reality, the film has already passed through the slot twice in the camera and possibly once in the factory.

I have never had a problem with doing it this way. If there is grit in the velvet, you're doing something wrong!


Steve.
 
Steve Smith said:
This is often quoted as a reason for not loading from the cassette, but in reality, the film has already passed through the slot twice in the camera and possibly once in the factory.

I have never had a problem with doing it this way. If there is grit in the velvet, you're doing something wrong!


Steve.
Click to expand...

The problem arrises when people do not return the used cassette to the canister but carry them in their bag or pocket.
 
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