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Kodak Snap-Cap 135 Magazine

absalom1951

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Does anybody have knowledge of the Kodak Snap-Cap 135 Magazine? I've seen auctions for NOS and can't find much info on them? Seems as they are a 60's product ? Would they be fairly durable for bulk loading? I'm wondering if their age might make them susceptible to light leaks ?
 
They may have STARTED making them in the 60's, but they sold them for decades. They are top of the line and designed to be use multiple times. They will not deteriorate with age if they have been sitting on the shelf -- unless they got wet and rusted.
 
I have a bunch, mostly NOS so I’m the first user. The light trap on the snap cap is superior to the fuzzy stuff on the plastic cassettes that starts falling apart at the first use. They’re not cheap anymore but will last along time.
 
They’re great, my local camera store sold me a box of ten. I have used about five of them and since they’re reusable I will slowly introduce new ones as some older ones wear out.

I also have a bit of a stockpile of old Ilford cassettes. They used to be the go-to reusables because the caps pop off and back on cleanly. Not sure about current ones but any cassette that you can open without bending should be good, assuming the felt trap is clean
 
Snap-caps are just OK in my book.

The best snap-type are the old Soviet cassettes.

If you have a Nikon F/F2 or a Leica RF the best are the cassettes made for those cameras. The Nikon's work with the Alden loader; the Leicas are a bit of a PITA as you have to roll them by hand.
 
Same experience here. I have been using, and reusing, a box of ten Snap-Caps for several years with no issues. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them have been used for 20+ rolls.
 
Kodak Snap-Caps are great. I have quite a few and still have an unused box some where. Beware though that they have about the least secure style of cap. I like the Ilford style that Bill Burk mentions; they have a grove in the cassette and a matching ridge on the cap that is much more secure. There were lots of copies of those made, though I don't know what is available today. The Snap-Caps are very nice and the cap won't pop off on its own; just don't drop them. I make sure to always have mine in a plastic film can, even just carrying them down to the darkroom. That is really a good policy anyway just to keep dirt out of the light trap.
 
The FILCA cassettes for the LTM Leicas work fine in an Alden 74 loader if you notch the disc driven by the crank to clear the knob on the cassette. I don't have any of the IXMOO cassettes for the early M cameras but they should work too. The best bulk loader for the FILCA cassettes is the Watson 100 but its fit and finish are nowhere near those of the Alden. The Watson 66 does NOT work well with the FILCAs.
 
Mark Crabtree said:
Kodak Snap-Caps are great. I have quite a few and still have an unused box some where. Beware though that they have about the least secure style of cap. … The Snap-Caps are very nice and the cap won't pop off on its own; just don't drop them.
Click to expand...
Right! The almost open on their own sometimes.

Lucky for us all that the general design of 35mm cassettes makes most of the film on the reel safe from cap light.

Just click them closed and you’ll probably be alright, if you ever find the cap starting to come open.
 
I would buy boxes of 10 and used them for years. The problem for me was when I used it for Ektachrome, the film processors did not want to return the snap cap cassettes to me.
 
Back in the 70's I preferred the plastic type that had a 1/4 turn end cap. Snapcaps are perfectly fine as well. I was always afraid of them popping open, they never did so.
Several years ago I found two boxes of 10 in a junk store for a dollar/ box of 10 so I'm well supplied

The 70's plastic ones were nice European versions, not sure what is out there today.
 
Thanks for all the input. I have some Russian metal cassettes and probably 15 kalt metal cassettes. I like the Russian cassettes but I believe I like the Kalt better. Have some of the plastic ones also but use them very sparingly. Think I'll pick up some of the Kodak Snap tops when I see a good price. There's some right now for the asking price of 10 for $49- little to high for me.
Thanks-
 

I don't see what you gain over the Kalt. At least my Kalt are that old Ilford style cap that I prefer. I bought my last box of Snap-Caps mostly for nostalgia. They work fine, but I am still using Kalt, or similar, that go back a couple decades. I also use some of my ancient Snap-Caps. Keep them clean and they last a long time.

It is a bit of a shock seeing what any of these go for today. I found a bag of generic like the Kalt that I picked up when our local photo store was getting out of film stuff.
 

Those are opened too. There’s an auction for 8 of them looks good. I won’t bid against you - go for it
 
Sirius Glass said:
I would buy boxes of 10 and used them for years. The problem for me was when I used it for Ektachrome, the film processors did not want to return the snap cap cassettes to me.
Click to expand...

The plastic quarter twist caps were good too.
 
FWIW, one useful trick with the more flimsy metal reusable cassettes is to make them more rigid by contact cementing one of the two removable end caps in place.
But be sure that you pick the right end - the one that the stub of the centre spool sticks out of.
 
I saved the auction for the 8, at the moment there's 8 watchers so.........will keep an eye on it.

Think I figured out what FWIW means- for what its worth ? Not to up on all these abbreviations.
 
Ilford and agfa both used the cassettes with the "concave" end caps. they are slightly more secure than the Kodak Snap-Caps.
before about 1960, all Kodak Cassettes were reusable and had a cap like the removable end of the snapcaps. after about the early 1960s, Kodak went to the"staked" ends wich are not reuseable. (reason given is that they are more secure, BUT I guess that some folks were reloading used cassettes with Bulk film and selling them) the Snap caps have one crimped end and one end like the older cassettes.

before the early 1950s, Kodak cassettes had a "cup like" end caps, simaalr to the metal soviet cassettes.

we used to be able to get Ansco Cassettes which had a similar cap to the pre 60s Kodak ones.
The AGfa/Ilford cassettes used to have a Tangental light trap, but they were redesigned to have a flat area near the light trap when the cameras started to have a window to show the type of film. That style is the one seen form supliers like KALT.

the original ADOX (not to be confused with todays ADOX) used a plastic cassette with a twist off cap. Many brands from eastern Europe used a simalar style (ORWO, EFKE, CEBMA etc.)

almost all factory cassettes these days have the staked ends.
 
  • AgX
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I have a bunch of the snap cap style, some with long gone store branding, a bunch of miscellaneous grey ones, a bunch of the nicer Ilford style that came with a darkroom lot, and 16 Efke cassettes, 15 of them still full of KB25 though…

A local shop that processes C41 throws away all their used cassettes, but they’ll give them to me if I ask. For the price I can toss any bad ones without concern. They’re usually good for a couple reloads before the felt frays.
 
Kodak snap work ok for me (got about 30) but somehow I find the soviet cassetes easier to dissasemble (the metal ones, not plastic ones). Normally don't need to dissasemble unless they are new or if the film leader got pulled into the cassete.
 
Don't know anything about Kodak Snap caps. But I'm so old that I remember when Kodak started staking the end caps so that reloaders like myself and friends could no long use them. Free by the thousands from any photofinisher before then. Mid 1960's? Grrr.....
 
Was bidding on some on the Big Auction, but they went a couple of bucks higher than I wanted to spend. I have plenty of others though, someday I'll pick me up some at my price.
 
to the victors go the fruits of the auction. My high bid is usually lower than all other bidders 90% of the time- guess I'm frugal (cheapskate).
 
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