Long time Nikon guy just got his first Leica... whee!

[Sirius Glass]

I have always thought that the feel of the Leica, firing the camera and flipping the lever to advance the film and cocking, is the best feel of any camera. Unfortunately for Leica I prefer slrs so I have had to obsess on Hasselblads instead. Tough life but someone has to live it.

 

[Huss]

I have always thought that the feel of the Leica, firing the camera and flipping the lever to advance the film and cocking, is the best feel of any camera. Unfortunately for Leica I prefer slrs so I have had to obsess on Hasselblads instead. Tough life but someone has to live it.

I find Leica R series such as the R7 and R8/9 extremely pleasurable to use too. I enjoy them much more than my Nikons. One camera I love using is the Olympus Pen FT. It feels like the perfect cross between an SLR and Leica M. The shutter is so crisp and responsive, and the shape is just perfect. If only the film advance was a little smoother.

 

[Huss]

Well, good for you. You're just lucky I guess. That there are a fair number of Leica people who obsess over all manner of inane minutia cannot be denied however...they obsess over all manner of stupid shit like which way the shutter speed selector turns, which way the lens focuses to infinity, zinc alloy or stamped brass top plate, brass gears or steel gears, blisters in the finish, black anodized vs black paint, on and on and on...sometimes, I wonder whether these fools ever even run a roll of film through their cameras.

You seem to know a lot about Leica minutia! But I think that the people that you are describing are such a way because of how jewel like Leicas are.. And that effort may result in some being lost in that fascination.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Enjoy the Leica, John.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

I know about the minutia of Leica fussiness because I read the Leica forums. After using my M6 for a couple of weeks, I can agree with Steve that this camera really is the best feeling tool in my camera bag... but it's a tool and an imperfect one at that. The frame counter is about the least of my worries and it's the only part of the vaunted Leica that is kaput. I could carry around my Minolta 1 degree spot if the Leica meter ever died, leaving me with a fully manual camera with no battery dependency. By the way, my Minolta spot meter and the M6 are in complete agreement about exposure for a given scene and I already fully trust the spot meter. I understand the desire to treat the Leica as a jewel. The son of a gun is a lot more expensive than even my best digital full frame or the Nikon F5 I bought a few years ago. I want it to continue to work for as long a possible before I have to send it out for repair. I've tried to avoid treating it gingerly but it's hard not to.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

One thing I will say though, for those of us who bulk-load our film, unless we cut the film leader exactly the same way prepackaged film is cut, the load and take-up process for the Leica SUCKS. My Nikon and Canon cameras have zero problems taking my hand-cut leaders. Those same leaders in the Leica? Forget about it. What a pain.

 

[markjwyatt]

On the west coast, Sambos was Dennys. They're still around but fading.

The only Sambos I know of is in Santa Barbara (and I have not been there for maybe 2 years).

 

[markjwyatt]

There is an original Bob's Big Boy statue at a house on Las Flores Canyon in Malibu. Visible from the street.

I was a short order cook at a Bob's Big Boy for a while when I was 16.

 

[markjwyatt]

After you load your film make sure that the rewind crank is turning as you crank the film advance. If it is, then the film is being advanced properly. If the rewind crank isn't turning then the film is not advancing properly.

I do that. The Exakta VX I recently got gave me a curve ball, because it did not appear to have away to watch that, but there is a little window on top that shows the winding. I also hold the tail of the 35mm cartridge and rewind it manually until I feel a tug on the tail before loading the cartridge into the camera. That way I see the rewind starting almost immediately. I don't like waiting 4-6 shots before I start seeing the rewind knob turning.

 

[markjwyatt]

BTW- congrats on the Leica. A great rangefinder is as great a tool as a great SLR. Mine is a Contax iia, so at worst I am a small step behind the M3 in terms of features. I like the completely mechanical camera with no meter or anything (other than an antiquated flash contact I guess). The Zeiss optics are great.

 

[Huss]

One thing I will say though, for those of us who bulk-load our film, unless we cut the film leader exactly the same way prepackaged film is cut, the load and take-up process for the Leica SUCKS. My Nikon and Canon cameras have zero problems taking my hand-cut leaders. Those same leaders in the Leica? Forget about it. What a pain.

That's another thing that is so nice about the M2/3. As they have the removable spool, you just shove the film leader in there. Doesn't matter what the shape is. They may take a little longer to load, but I've never had a film transport issue with them.

 

[mshchem]

One thing I will say though, for those of us who bulk-load our film, unless we cut the film leader exactly the same way prepackaged film is cut, the load and take-up process for the Leica SUCKS. My Nikon and Canon cameras have zero problems taking my hand-cut leaders. Those same leaders in the Leica? Forget about it. What a pain.

Watch a couple Internet loading demonstrations .I fought it at first. Now I can just drop the film in the camera, follow the diagram. I drop the film in crank it just a wee bit to get tension on the film. Put the bottom on, crank it to make sure that the rewind crank is turning. Advance to zero and go. I don't fiddle with bulk loading any longer. The M6 series isn't fussy you just need to learn the tricks.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Watch a couple Internet loading demonstrations .I fought it at first. Now I can just drop the film in the camera, follow the diagram. I drop the film in crank it just a wee bit to get tension on the film. Put the bottom on, crank it to make sure that the rewind crank is turning. Advance to zero and go. I don't fiddle with bulk loading any longer. The M6 series isn't fussy you just need to learn the tricks.

The fact that you have to "learn tricks" that you don't have to learn on any other camera tells me that the M6 is indeed fussy.

 

[logan2z]

The fact that you have to "learn tricks" that you don't have to learn on any other camera tells me that the M6 is indeed fussy.

No tricks are required. Drop in the film cassette, pull enough film out so that the leader is wirhin the tulip (as shown in the diagram in the camera), reattach the baseplate and fire off a few frames until the rewind knob is turning. That's it. I've done this for years on my M4 and M-A, both of which have the same loading mechanism as the M6, and have never mis-loaded a roll.

 

[mshchem]

No tricks are required. Drop in the film cassette, pull enough film out so that the leader is wirhin the tulip (as shown in the diagram in the camera), reattach the baseplate and fire off a few frames until the rewind knob is turning. That's it. I've done this for years on my M4 and M-A, both of which have the same loading mechanism as the M6, and have never mis-loaded a roll.

+1

 

[BradS]

Indeed, it's not so much about learning tricks as it is about reading the manufacturer's directions and very carefully following them....and then you just have to develop faith that the magic take-up spool thingy works (eg not dick around with the rewind knob at the beginning)...at least that's what helped me. I too had a devil of a time with loading the M6 starting out and still screw up once in a while but I've learned how to discover it before reaching frame #40.

I have to admit that there is really very little about the Leica M that I like....until I look at the prints! Every time I get a packet of prints back from the lab, I find that I'm willing to put up with the goofy, expensive rangefinder camera and fantastic Zeiss glass another few rolls....oh, I do appreciate the light meter in the M6. It seems to be deadly accurate and no matter how boring a photo I make with it, it always seems to nail the exposure.

 

[markjwyatt]

Hand rewind your film first, then the rewind knob will start turning earlier. Most cameras require two frames minimum, but if you don't see the rewind knob turning you might not have confidence at that point. Some cameras have better loading systems than others.

 

[mshchem]

Instead of tricks, I should have said, look at the diagram on the camera. Voila!

 

[Sirius Glass]

One thing I will say though, for those of us who bulk-load our film, unless we cut the film leader exactly the same way prepackaged film is cut, the load and take-up process for the Leica SUCKS. My Nikon and Canon cameras have zero problems taking my hand-cut leaders. Those same leaders in the Leica? Forget about it. What a pain.

Buy a leader template and the shape will always be correct and load correctly.

 

[Huss]

No tricks are required. Drop in the film cassette, pull enough film out so that the leader is wirhin the tulip (as shown in the diagram in the camera), reattach the baseplate and fire off a few frames until the rewind knob is turning. That's it. I've done this for years on my M4 and M-A, both of which have the same loading mechanism as the M6, and have never mis-loaded a roll.

That's how it works with my M4-2, M5, M7, MP, MA, MdA...

But that is with regular production length film leaders. Perhaps it is different with roll your own bulk film? I know that if I trim the leader off I couldn't load it in my MP. (The film broke at the beginning in a different camera that was defective, so I unloaded it, cut off the broken bits, and tried to load it into the MP. No problems using it in a 'regular' camera).

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Instead of tricks, I should have said, look at the diagram on the camera. Voila!

Not so fast, buddy!

I follow the diagram exactly for several reasons: 1. I am intelligent enough to follow simple directions (I am a senior technical writer at Square (formerly Microsoft) 2: I have great new glasses that let me see the diagram clearly 3: I have decent manual dexterity.

The fact is, the take up widget was designed for a very specifically shaped film leader. If a hand-cut leader isn't wide enough at the tongue or extend to the right length, or the end of the tongue doesn't have a slightly rounded edge, the spinning 3-armed creature in the camera cannot take up the film. In addition, if the cassette is loaded to the normal 36 exposure length, it's packed a bit more tightly than the commercial variety (don't ask me why) which results in additional tension within the cassette. The 3-armed beast doesn't have enough purchase to pull through. On the other hand, my Contax IIa RF, Voightlander Bessa RF, all my Nikon, Canon, and Pentax SLRs have an intelligent take up design which includes tighter insertion slots and cogs that engage the film. The Leica has none of that.

I'll adapt of course. It's a fine camera. I'm just annoyed that I have to/

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Buy a leader template and the shape will always be correct and load correctly.

Yeah, that!

 

[film_man]

Well, good for you. You're just lucky I guess. That there are a fair number of Leica people who obsess over all manner of inane minutia cannot be denied however...they obsess over all manner of stupid shit like which way the shutter speed selector turns, which way the lens focuses to infinity, zinc alloy or stamped brass top plate, brass gears or steel gears, blisters in the finish, black anodized vs black paint, on and on and on...sometimes, I wonder whether these fools ever even run a roll of film through their cameras.

Some people are collectors, so what. Then you have all those other fools who obsess over which Nikon F is he most durable or whether the FM3a has a plastic gear in the shutter or not or if the FE is better than the FM or whether mechanical cameras are "better" than electronic ones or whatever other "stupid shit" gets asked on a daily basis in photrio.

 

[BradS]

Some people are collectors, so what. Then you have all those other fools who obsess over which Nikon F is he most durable or whether the FM3a has a plastic gear in the shutter or not or if the FE is better than the FM or whether mechanical cameras are "better" than electronic ones or whatever other "stupid shit" gets asked on a daily basis in photrio.

Nah, nothing that goes on here on PhotoRio/APUG even comes close to approaching the level of inane obsessing that happens routinely other places (dedicated to Leica).

Yeah, we have some fun here and we kick it around from time-to-time and we have a few folks who appear to tend toward obsessing over meaningless shit but...here, at APUG, they're the rare few. (and oddly, for some of them, I never really know whether they're being serious or satirical). We even have a few folks who are still burdened by the delusion that Canon are better than Nikon!

 

[logan2z]

...and cogs that engage the film. The Leica has none of that.

Actually, the Leica does have a sprocket that engages the sprocket holes in the film. I rarely think about it because following the loading procedure outlined in the camera's user manual (and shown in the diagram under the base plate) just 'works', but the sprocket is there. See the right side of the M6 image below...