"dumb" question how do I open this plastic cassette

I have gotten two different Flic Pik devices, One came in the set with 5 Cassettes. it has a white base with Black "wings". I took me several tries to get it working well. The Label has to come completly off the cassette, or else the cassette does not fit the pic. the opening on the cassette has to fit entirely into the recess provided for it, and the casette must be FIRMLY installed into the base. when it is in the proper position, you can turn out the light, close the wings and then with some firm pressure pull the protruding end of the spool towards yourself. the spool and one half of the casettes will come out of the pic, with the other half trapped. the part that comes out has the U shaped slot holding the spool, so the spool is easy to remove from that side. at that point you can treat the spool like the spool of a normal cassette. (cut the leader and load the film into a reel.

before I obtained the pic, I did use a small Pry bar to lift the latches, but the retainers would get bent and the casettes wold not snap shut again.

I was thinking of posting a couple more observations, so I am as well Do that here:

1) I did get some of the chinese "sensi" cassettes from B&H, they have a slightly different spool than the flic casettes, But they will work (but not as well as the flic casettes) with the Flic Pic.

2) I also got a few ready loaded Ultrafine finese 400 film - they seem to be in the flic casettes.

3) Filc packed film does seem to have a small fogged section near the core, much like film loaded with a bulk loader.

4) the spools on the flic cassettes have a slot like the Ilford cassettes to hold a tail with a hole, however, flic seems to use a plastic tape similar to what Kodak uses to hold the end on the spool, so you need to keep your scissors handy.

5) so far I have gotten two different thickness of labels on film packed by Flic. a fairly think one, which can be peeled, nd in fact tends to be already a touch loose. the other one is thinner, but is harder to peel. I ended up using a knife to cut it near where the cassettes comes apart to ensure that nothing was holding the cassettes from separating.

6) the cassetes with the thick label seem to be a tight fit on my Canon EOS Cameras.

7) the only two flic packed films I have opened wiere the Double -X and the flic Ultra pan. the double X was fresh, the one roll of ultra pan had no edge printing, (which I kinda expected)

8) as I posted above getting the cassette into the flic pic is a bit fiddle-y. if it is not in the right position the little pry bars will not line up with the tabs that hold the cassette closed. I have been finding that the label has to be almost completely removed for the Cassette to fit.

9) I did get a couple of rolls of the Chrome 100, and finished one and sent it out. slides were clean a clear and the edge print was EASTMAN 5294 as expected. (not be be confused with the older 5294 in the 1980s)

10) I did order a flic pic by itelf and it came in a vinyl bag and both parts are black. I have not done a detailed comparison.

all in all, I am happy to see that someone doing work on the task of getting film loaded into cassettes. And grateful that there are a couple of Canadian Dealers carrying some of the products.. For convience I ordered many of the items from Film experience, which is in the same town, and so I did receive fresh looking products. they also pay the postage within Canada if you buy enough products at the same time.

cmacd123 said:

For convience I ordered many of the items from Film experience, which is in the same town, and so I did receive fresh looking products.

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I just checked the addresses and the store if FlicFilm's camera store and retail branch. If the product you got isn't fresh, there is a definite problem!

I'm in the process of going through a roll of Elektra and the cassettes are definitely bigger. It barely fits in my Nikon F90x but doesn't seem to be causing any issue. I got mine in Quebec at a branch of Gosselin Photo Video.

I'm really wondering how opening this thing will go... I might keep a stubby flat head screwdriver on the counter just in case and hope that I won't stab myself in the hand in the process...

Xylo said:

I just checked the addresses and the store if FlicFilm's camera store and retail branch. If the product you got isn't fresh, there is a definite problem!

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It appers to me that "Flic Film", "Film experience", and "Prairie Light Gallery"are related. I can understand how Flic film wants to keep their business Wholesale only, while still demonstarting to Camera stores that there is a demand for thie products. On Film experience's facebook page they metioned that they were planning to go Mailorder only, as their landloard (ERR Flic Film) needs the space.

Xylo said:

I'm really wondering how opening this thing will go... I might keep a stubby flat head screwdriver on the counter just in case and hope that I won't stab myself in the hand in the process...

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I did try these : to pry the tabs, and they did work well without sharp edges, BUT they made it easy to over stress the tabs on the cassettes so they would not longer snap together. Chaenge is that you have to open the tabs in the dark in any case as once they are open, the spool is open to the light.

cmacd123 said:

Chaenge is that you have to open the tabs in the dark in any case as once they are open, the spool is open to the light.

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That's pretty much what I thought. Thing is I'd like to play with one before I commit, but I don't want to play with the one I have as there is film in it...

Looks to me like the design is only "slightly reusable"...
I wonder if I couldn't use a thin guitar pick to open the tabs? This works for pretty much every clip on electronic products...

Xylo said:

I wonder if I couldn't use a thin guitar pick to open the tabs? This works for pretty much every clip on electronic products...

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if you look close, their are ridges protecting the tabs on all but a few approach angles. pry bars can easily spring the tabs, or even break them off.

I would love if someone designed a metal tool to open the tabs, like the Flic Pic, but with stamped metal sides. (and prehaps a set of pry bars to open the other end of the cassette at the same time. the flic tool only works at the tabs on the end where the spool protrudes.

Flic's UK distributor is sending me a replacement Pic. Once it comes, I'll look into making replacement lugs out of brass rod and gluing them into the Pic that doesn't work. The lugs seem to me to be the only weak point of the design (though the Pics in the video and photos look far better made than the one that came to me). If I manage something, I'll report back.

I've just developed my first Flic cassetteful this afternoon and am pretty happy. I used Rollei IR as it seeks out stray light and loaded it on to a Barfen spool in the cassette. The cassette opened with no problems in the dark and the resulting 24exp roll has no relevant issues. There is no fogging and no sign of light leaking into the cassette. There is no sign of any wear or damage to the cassette itself. Checking the felt trap will be easy, as each side is plain to view.

One small modification I'm considering is to shave off a tiny bevel on each of the cassette lugs that are raised, to give the Pic a little more purchase. That can be done without weakening the area around those lugs.

The roll of unexposed film had to wait till the weather would let this all go ahead.