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You can always get a Leica jig that helps you cut the film accurately. But of course, they are at least $100 or more, if you can find one.

Hi Bill! :-)

Great video. A couple of points: 1. for loading, not more than two sprocket holes of the trimmed side of the film should be outside the cassette. This prevents the film from hanging on the first sprocket. 2. For quick shooting set your hyperfocal distance scale. Depending on the lens nearly the entire depth of field will be in focus. It will be as fast to shoot as any modern camera.

I actually learned a few things. Your video was simple, true and to the point - no BS :) I have given up counting the number of shots per roll of film altogether. Since I only use the film, I can pack additional rolls of film to use. However, my issue is that the film breaks away from the reel and I have to open up the camera and manually develop the film after pulling it out of the camera. It can be annoying. I usually use about three cameras on each shoot to ensure that I do not have issues with film. In addition, I usually redo the shots with my Fujifilm as insurance. Lastly, I try to find film reels that are heavily discounted but are unopened. Bulk loading can save money if done correctly. Otherwise it can be stressful and if not done right create waste.

burning a hole in the shutter curtain... not the shutter

Thanks for the advice

Another thing nobody tells you............the lenses for these cameras (even the Summicrons) are all pretty awful.

Better yet..............just cut the ten centimeter film leader as intended. This GREATLY reduces the likelihood of fragments of film fouling the shutter!

My Zorki 4K is quirky as hell, but it doesn't have those problems with loading the film - you buy the film, you load it, you shoot it, done...

Congratulations, great video to tell all the facts other enthusiasts dont talk. I still do not own a Leica (don't know which one to choose 😂) but I am using Canon rangefinders of the 1940s and 1950s and they are copies of the bottom loading system. It was a heard time (ok, two days) to find out, that the 10cm leader is inevitable to get the film into the camera. And thank you very much for the hint what the lens cover is made for. I think noone thinks about that all the time danger of getting pin holes in the shutter curtain and dozens of hot spots on your pics. Thanks a lot , Thomas

A nice clear helpful video.

Can confirm lens cap is to protect the shutter curtain. I just paid $415 for my M3 shutter curtain replacement.

Great video! Always good to see Leica III content. As a fellow TH-camr I try to share the magic of these cameras too! You cover some great points and I love the high tech testing (slow mo etc). For loading film I agree for a smooth "cut" but I have about 8 of them that I use and I never message the leader length. It will vary a lot but I never have any issues with any body. I agree to rewind before starting. Works great. Shutter sounds vary a lot too. Older models to the one you have are much smoother and quieter sounding. I use from 1930s onwards and the early ones are super smooth. (Each have their benefits ofc, later ones have more features). Good to see you're a fellow cyclist too!

I love your reason for getting it! A long time ago a golf coach told me to pick a putter that I liked the look of because you should enjoy looking at it when you use it. I may not gold any more but I still hold on to that gem.

Some camera like nikon shoot only 30/s on frst 2 frames :/

I use a Watson bulk loader without issues.

Thanks for the video. I hope I don't upset any Leica purists with the fact that I'm watching this video out of interest for my new Canon IV Sb. It's my first rangefinder camera and I'm already in love. It's hitting that perfect middleground between cameras of the early 20th century with it's relative operational and mechanical simplicity, and cameras of the latter half of the century with a broader range of options for exposure control that I've gotten used to with more modern cameras. I can only hope that when my test roll comes out of the developing tank it will prove this camera operational.

Wild. I bought my IIIC because of the exact same photo. I also found the EWER (?) finder to replicate the camera! It was wonderful.

IIIa is the best Leica :3 I have M4 and IIIa but IIIa is better in my opinion :3 Much more smaller and m4 to me look heh .... not in my type. Oh about card... i use it and my camera was in service :/

Very much appreciate your sharing about your Leica camera. Can you tell me which Russian manufacturer makes the closest copy of Leica? I think I'm torn between the iiiF Leica or 1934 iiiG Mr. BARNACKS LAST LEICA . It seemed to me Amelia Earhart had a Leica around her neck in The Search For Amelia Earhart photo. Would it be more practical for me to buy a Russian copy of Leica or spring for the real deal? Are the optics of Leica so much superior to that of Russian copy? Thank you for any free help.

I have a III and IIIc and have never had to cut the film, worked fine with stock film for the last 40 years!

An excellent video, thank you. I`m an M user but have been lusting after a Barnack for a while.

Very informative!. I haven't tried bulk loading yet but I want to. As a general advice I would like to say to you: take the good with the bad. Little annoyances are a good way to make oneself more resilient.

Leica is not a electronic, laica is a art becouse that camera look amazing and beauty😍

great job man ! lots of great info here !

There are so many things that can go wrong with the whole film process. Bulk loading is just one extra thing too many for me. Thanks for your excellent posting.

take a curved nail-scissers

I shot a roll a day in my lllg back in tho 60s and remember having a bit of filling getting the film to load easily. But I do remember that I cut the leaders rather crudely and not having any trouble. I bulk loaded slightly out of date Kodak XX film which worked out at about 1 cent a frame. I think I encountered some film chips and learned to not cut through the sprocket holes. The roll a day exercise took about a year to close the gap between how the image in the viewfinder looked to how it was rendered on the film. So I learned to previsualise with a rangefinder - an awareness which does transfer even to single lens reflex photography. I am a B&W photographer at heart but like to shoot with my Olympus EM-D 5 Mark lll with the viewfinder in monochrome because I’m grateful to not have to translate the colour viewfinder image into monochrome. Seeing it directly still gives me a boost.

Great!

I think a Barnack Leica is like a vintage car. If you want to use it every day, then you need to get used to it and have a lot of mechanical sympathy. Once you do that and really connect with it you have a great experience. If, however you just 'take it out for a spin' now and again you need to concentrate on getting into the mindset so you don't expect it to do things it was never meant to do. I love using my IIia precisely because it makes me look and think in a different way from my Canon 5D. - And I don't drive my 1959 Austin Healey like I do my modern Jaguar. :-) Lastly, I highly recommend an ABLON film leader cutting template. - Solves the whole trimming/ bits of loose film/jamming issue! :-)

awesome presentation thanks. I'd love a barnack I have a zorki 4 which is away getting fixed.....It's a fun camera to shoot. One day I'll have one haha. happy to Like and sub cheers

I believe those Barnack Leicas is the most affordable way to get into Leica rangefinder system (Ms are most expensive). And plenty of good 3rd party Leica screw mounts lenses available: Nikon, Canon, etc. As long as you stick with shorter primes like 50mm, and not doing macro work, it should be fine. Of course, if you are patient enough and wiiling to spend more cash, then get a M3 or M2. Handling the Barnacks is a bit annoying.

I have the same camera and i don't trust the meter so i use a Sekonic L-358 to enure proper exposure. It has a Nikkor 35mm f/2 lens. It originally came with Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 that i traded for the 35.

Thank you for your very informative video. I have been a Leica M2-M3 photographer since the 70’s. Had previously used a Nikon F Nd F2 but when I started shooting with the Leica’s I put my F2 on the shelf. About 10 years ago I bought a Leica IIIa as a start of my Barnack Leica collection…..never got beyond this though. I recently decided to dust it off and started shooting it. A different experience than shooting M’s and really enjoyed the experience. Sent it to Youxin Ye who does excellent work on older Leicas. Now the camera works perfectly almost like new after 90 years. I was fortunate to get the original Leica film leader template which is the way to go. You don’t risk the chance of tears causing bits of film jamming the shutter. But the Leica template is either too hard to find of cost an arm and a leg. Recently found a possible alternative. Get the long one @ www.freestylephoto.com/783512-Arista-35mm-Film-Cutting-Guide-Large Keep up your informative videos and would like to see an update on your experiences with the old Leica. Thank you

Thank you for an excellent video. Also, there is a greater chance of film scratching with bulk loaded film (more opportunities for dust and dirt to get on those velvet light seals).

Is Nikon F4,5,6 capable of winding 44 exp?

The easiest way to trim the leader is by using a leader cutting jig. It’s a hinge with a slot cut to the shape required for Barnack Leicas. Leitz made them for loading the Leica brass reusable cassette with rolls of cinema film. You pull the leader out to engage the sprocket hole to a tab, then close the hinge and cut down the slot with a small pen knife blade, leaving a perfectly trimmed leader. I don’t have a Leitz trimmer but an aftermarket one. It’s made of aluminum and weighs next to nothing.

as loading a scewq.mount leica, like the IIIf takes ages, rvrn more important to do it in the shade, not in sun. reason to keep cap on when rewinfing, is that sclth shutter blinds get tiny holes,., through age. old leica lenses best avoided, like summar. they suffer balsam cement failures, used to cemrnt elements into groups. Leica was slow to move away from using iz. I had a 50mm 6-rlement canadian summicron that had big balsam failure. thr pre.M cameras are jewels, destined for collector's glass cases. Andreas Fieneger was b'bug-eyed' photogapher?of the Leica copies, the British Ried was considered the best, followed by Japanese - was it Nikon or CANON; with a Nikon or Canon lens? I xan't conceive why anyone iterested in end results now uses film, let alone a pre-M leoca. for compact carrying, I now use a Contax TVS digital . I love it.launched in 2002, its old itself. HCB was just one of the photographers who sucessfully exploited the 'minature camera' - Leica. I marvel at the superb photos in Leica Fotografie magazines of the 50s',60s',early 70s'. recommended. work of Roni Schnieders,PeterCornelius are my favourites! you will learn more studying these photos, than anyphoto course - momochrome and colour.

I have a IIIG and have never had any troubles loading film and I have never cut a longer leader.

Thank you - very informative for me pondering the acquisition of a Leica III to add to my small collection of film cameras. A collection that I use and rotate between cameras as I desire. At present my oldest camera is a mint condition Rolleicord IV from the late 1950s - visually and mechanically a joy. As a child in the 70s all I wanted was a Pentax SLR (to me more appealing than the Canons or Nikons of that era) but I “made do” with a Praktica through the 80s and it still works just fine. I finally got a Pentax MX dating from the 70s and it’s a gem. The MX was the smallest SLR ever made and is roughly the size of the Leica III but is quite heavy by modern standards 750g with 50mm f1.4 lens attached. The funny thing about the “silent shutter” (almost) of the TLR Rolleicord is that there is less of a sense of occasion pressing the shutter than an SLR, and maybe the Leica as well. The auditory feedback of the mirror and shutter is quite enjoyable in my opinion. Yes it announces you to all who are close by but you feel involved in the process. With the super quiet Rollei the moment passes in virtual silence so in some ways less satisfying. It does take great photos with that big negative and sharp lens though. Easily the most enjoyable is the Pentax MX with its large, high magnification viewfinder and TTL view means you feel connected to the image. I do wonder how the Leica rangefinder experience will compare.

Very helfull! Thank you❤

Nikon used some of the same external parts from the rangefinder camera on the F. No need to waste parts. LOL

Good grief. I've used Barnack Leicas since the 1960s, trimmed my own film leaders with my Swiss Army Knife since film manufacturers stopped cutting it, used them like the (now somewhat eccentric) gems that they have always been, never needed all this mumbo jumbo. If you're in action with one, you wind it by opposing movements of both hands: Left hand holding camera body, over the top toward your shoulders. Right hand holding winding knob, turn away from your shoulders. Simple, fast, you feel it.

Why not just get an M3? You’ll have a far superior camera and avoid a lot of these problems.

This is the most valuable advice I could find on the topic.

I have an old camera leica for sale

Bulk loading video we needed, yet haven't deserved for.

Very good presentation of a quirky but capable camera! As a sidenote, I think Cartier Bresson is holding a Leica M6 in that color-picture. You can see the taped-over red-dot. For shooting people while beeing with them, in my experience from the 90s up to now, nothing beat the Leica until small and really silent mirrorless digitals arrived. The clicking of the shutter has been described as silent but is not even close but taking the picture is less obstrusive. I have never seen anybody giving the reasons as well as you did, congrats for that! 🎉

4:23 try using curved toe nail scissors! Hopefully it will give you a better curved cut.

Sold my leica after only a month of owning it,lost £400,sold it to the same shop i bought it from around 18 years ago,never regretted one bit.