Hard to load cameras and tips

WetMogwai · Sep 6, 2010

I think he's a candidate for digital!

Definitely not. I've just not had to deal with cameras that load that way much before. It never came easily to me. Nobody showed me, so I had to figure it out myself. I'm much more comfortable with 120/220, 4x5, and the Canon EOS 35mm system, which I find are all easier to load.

phaedrus · Sep 7, 2010

Some Nikons are made to be loaded in haste. I think my F6 is that way. It has a spring-loaded lip at the left side of the cassette chamber. If i fidget with the cassette, I need multiple attempts to seat it properly. If I jam it in, it works on the first try.
YMMV and don't blame me if you waste your Nikon!

michaelbsc · Sep 8, 2010

xxloverxx said:
I find my Zorki 4 requires a bit of attention while loading. It's not "hard", but I need to make sure the film leader goes into the takeup spool "straight", else the film just creases on itself. I guess the clip's just a bit loose.

I have several FSU models, and they all require attention. I also wouldn't say they are "hard" to load. But they do require that you know what you're doing.

MB

mablo · Sep 8, 2010

michaelbsc said:
I have several FSU models, and they all require attention. I also wouldn't say they are "hard" to load. But they do require that you know what you're doing.

MB

Just like my Rollei 35. Loading it is completely different than with a normal 135 camera. You get used to it but only just.

IloveTLRs · Sep 8, 2010

Screw-mount Leicas have been the hardest for me

bblhed said:
Here is something I have learned. On the FM once I think I have it loaded I rewind the film until I have some tension in it so that when I wind the camera I can see the rewind knob turn when I advance the film that way I know the film is advancing.

^^ this is what I do, and it has helped every time (along with trimming the leader.)

michaelbsc · Sep 8, 2010

xxloverxx said:
I find my Zorki 4 requires a bit of attention while loading. It's not "hard", but I need to make sure the film leader goes into the takeup spool "straight", else the film just creases on itself. I guess the clip's just a bit loose.

I have several FSU models, and they all require attention. I also wouldn't say they are "hard" to load. But they do require that you know what you're doing.

MB

Jeff Kubach · Sep 8, 2010

If I have a hard time loading film in my camera, I use a sledge hammer!

Jeff

photoncatcher · Sep 8, 2010

The only one that makes me nuts is my Oly IS. It has one of those annoying systems where you just "lay" the film into a predetermined spot, and close the back. It almost never catches properly the first time, and the basic "film curl" always pops it up out of position.

blockend · Sep 8, 2010

photoncatcher said:
The only one that makes me nuts is my Oly IS. It has one of those annoying systems where you just "lay" the film into a predetermined spot, and close the back. It almost never catches properly the first time, and the basic "film curl" always pops it up out of position.

Weird - I was just about to post that the simplest 35mm loader I ever used was the Olympus Mju/Stylus. Close the back with the film in any position and a bunch of pixies set to work engaging the take-up.

I agree on the start at the end idea. Most take up problems derive from the user not wanting to expose enough film for proper leader connection.

totalmotard · Sep 8, 2010

I had a devil of a time loading Fuji neopan 1600 into my Canon AE-1 P this last time. Lots of curl going the wrong way. Didn't seem like Kodak Gold 200 was as difficult. Is Kodak film thicker? The reverse winding cameras seem harder to load, especially with Fuji.

Pumal · Sep 8, 2010

I had a bitch loading the Rollei 35 S the first time, but you get use to it with time

cfclark · Sep 8, 2010

Rol_Lei Nut said:
I also find the Pentax 6x7 pretty akward: I'll certainly try the trick of not removing the tape until the spool is in place.

I found my 6x7 awkward also, until I tried this tip--it really works! Before that I'd sometimes have no trouble, and other times fumble around so much that I'd start to wonder if I was losing motor skills. Now it's a snap.

eddym · Sep 12, 2010

Jeff Kubach said:
If I have a hard time loading film in my camera, I use a sledge hammer!

Jeff

Hey Jeff, I used to do that too, but I found I had to use a crowbar to get it out. All those extra tools really weighed down the camera bag! Try a little, um, "lubricant" instead.

Casey Kidwell · Sep 12, 2010

Loading my Pentax 6x7 is still the least graceful thing I do in life. And this isn't exactly a hijack of the 35mm thread. The 67 is kind of a big 35. With a shutter that scares children and wildlife for miles around.

removed account4 · Sep 12, 2010

i always thought that my pen ft was very difficult to load ...
it turns out that a part was broken ... i sent it john hermanson and
he fixed it, and NOW the camera loads easy

thanks john !

lxdude · Sep 12, 2010

I never did care for the "Magic Needles" in my Pentaxes. I much prefer the aggressive "gimmethegoddamfilm" attitude of the F3's slots with the honkin' big sprocket claws.

benjiboy · Sep 12, 2010

Jeff Kubach said:
If I have a hard time loading film in my camera, I use a sledge hammer!

Jeff

I think think you'll find Jeff that a sledge hammer is even harder to load, and takes crap pictures

lxdude · Sep 12, 2010

But at least it won't break when you drop it. And they're easy to handle if you use your head.

Plus you can do your own CLA's.

dynachrome · Sep 12, 2010

Two cameras I use a lot and don't find very easy to load are the Minolta X-700 and the Canon F-1. I need two hands to push the leader into the spool far enough with the X-700 to make sure a pin is in one of the sprockets. The F-1N is easier to loan that the F-1 but I enjoy using the F-1 more. The Konica Autoreflex T2 has to be the easiest to load. I just push the leader into any slot and it's taken up nicely. The Nikkormat FT and early SRT 101s are also not as easy to load as later models. Any of the Canon QL cameras is easy to load as is the Konica FT-1.

winger · Sep 12, 2010

Casey Kidwell said:
Loading my Pentax 6x7 is still the least graceful thing I do in life. And this isn't exactly a hijack of the 35mm thread. The 67 is kind of a big 35. With a shutter that scares children and wildlife for miles around.

The 645N is pretty loud, too. I shot a wedding today with it and the groom (a photographer and a friend) commented on hearing it from 20 feet away.
And if you think a camera is easy to load, try doing it in the dark to shoot HIE. I'm so out of practice - it took 3 tries to load the PZ1p last night.

benjiboy · Sep 13, 2010

A good way to teach yourself to load a camera easily and quickly is the way they teach you in the military to dismantle and re assemble a weapon, in the dark against the clock, try it, but be careful not to put your finger through the shutter , generally the secret is practice, practice, practice .

2F/2F · Sep 13, 2010

Fs are great to load, because a damned hinged door doesn't get in your way when you are loading! Just hold the door in your teeth.

I find the Barnack Leicas (and, I assume, other bottom-loading cameras without a back door) are the most difficult to load of all cameras I have used. They can certainly be reloaded in a reasonable amount of time, though. It takes me about a minute. The M series, with their back door, take care of the hardest part of loading the thread mount bodies, i.e. getting both rows of sprocket holes over their respective sprockets, and the film all the way down into the slot so that the image is not exposed onto the sprocket holes on one side, all while working blindly from the top. With the Ms, you just open the back door and position the film.

Loading any 35mm SLR is easy as pie, IMHO. I don't see what is causing the problems with run-of-the-mill Nikons.

The easiest loading cameras I have used are probably anything with the Canon QL system. Boy, do I wish the F-1s had included this feature.

Terrence Brennan · Sep 14, 2010

Mackinaw said:
Loading a Nikon F is a royal pain in the butt. Still love using this camera though.

Jim B.

It's even more of a pain in the butt when the Nikon F in question is an older model, with the single slot in the take up spool, and you have an F-36 motor and cordless battery pack dangling off the strap!

benjiboy · Sep 30, 2010

I never had any problems loading the Nikon F when I had one, because I had been loading a Zeiss Contax since I was thirteen which also has a slide off removable back, and is almost identical except the Contax has a loose take up spool.

LyleB · Sep 30, 2010

eddym said:
But the best tip I ever heard was from a Pentax rep. Basically, he said to reverse the loading instructions: first, holding the open camera in your right hand and the film casette in your left, insert the leader into the takeup spool (yes, BEFORE you put the film cassette into the camera); then turn the spool with your thumb, wrapping the film around it securely; THEN pull the cassette back over to the left side of the camera and drop it into its place. Take the slack out with the rewind lever, close the back, and fire off a couple of frames... and you're done. Once you get the hang of this "backwards" technique, it is very fast and secure.

While I have had more problems getting the automatics like my F100 and N75 to load on the first try than I ever have with my FM2, FE, or FE2, this sounds like a great tip. Definitely sounds simpler. Will give it a try.

Hard to load cameras and tips

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