Re: [Leica] BW, was Leica Cassette (long)

["Raimo Korhonen" <raimo.korhonen@pp2.inet.fi>]

Chernobyl means just black and white
Raimo
photos at http://personal.inet.fi/private/raimo.korhonen
nyt myös Kameralehden juttuja suomeksi

- ----------
> From: TTAbrahams@aol.com
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: [Leica] Leica Cassette                 (long)
> Date: 09. tammikuuta 1999 1:09
> 
> On 1/8/99 Mary Kephart - kephartol@att.net wrote 
> Re: [Leica] Noctilux notes/question about Leica Cassettes:
> 
> >Hi Tom,
> >I read this with interest.  I have never seen one.  Where can you buy 
> >them?  How do they load?
> >Thanks in advance,
> >Mary
> 
>  The reloadable Leica cassette has a long history. With the first "Ur"
Leica
> in 1914, the cassette was a necessity as there was no 35mm film in nice
little
> metal containers. The current crop of metal cassettes that you get with
your
> film is a fairly recent invention
> (1930's) and for a long time black/white film was only available in long
> rolls. The user had to load his own film, either in a darkroom or in a
> changing bag. Some really weird cameras, Agfa Karat, Robot, etc. had a
> variation of that - you had two cassettes and wound the film from one to
the
> other, processed it, and reloaded the cassette. Of course, none of these
were
> standardised so you could not use Agfa cassettes in a Leica, or the Robot
> cassette in anything but the Robot (today it is known as Captive Market
> Strategy). I am old enough to have used some of these systems in the 50's
- -
> grew to hate them. Never had enough cassettes of the right kind (which
could
> account for my current fetish for hoarding them!).
>  There were basically 3 kinds of Leica cassettes. The very first version
for
> the 1920's Leica screwmount camera (now a bit of a collectible), the
version
> with the black knob, or "lug" on the top for the Screwmount cameras and
the
> latest incarnation, the cassette with the chrome lug on top for the
M-cameras.
> The good news is that these cassettes are backwards compatible - the
latest
> version works fine on the older cameras (but not the other way around).
>  The cassette comes in three parts (how Germanic do you want it to be!),
a
> center spool with a spring loaded set of teeth to hold the film end, an
inside
> shell and an outside shell,  all metal construction too. 
>  To load it you enter your darkroom, and, in total darkness open the can
of
> 100ft long film, disassemble the cassette and unspool an approx. 6 ft
length
> of film, realise that you cant find the scissors or the Exacto knife.
Pack
> everything down, find the scissors, go back in the darkroom, turn off the
> light, open the filmcan, listen in amazement at the sound of film, having
> spent a substantial time under tension, unwinding itself and draping
itself on
> you and on the floor. You patiently find the end and with the scissors
cut a
> V-shaped end on the film, feed it in the spring loaded slot and measure
of an
> appropriate length of film 
> (about the length between your fingertips if you extend your arms fully)
and
> cut it of. By this time you have probably cut your fingers already doing
the
> V-groove. Have no fear, the drops of blood does not affect the processing
> time! Now you wind up the film on the spool, insert it into the inner
cassette
> shell, pull out a piece of film and insert the inner shell in the outer
shell
> - losing the little end that stuck out through the slot in the inner
cassette.
> After a while you manage to get the film through both the slots, snap the
> cassette shut and start on the next one. All of this is done in total
> darkness, accompanied by words your mother told you not ever to use and
> chasing implements like the scissors, knifes, center spools that has
rolled on
> the floor- all the same wondering if you got the emulsion side the right
way
> up! It is great entertainment for anybody outside your darkroom door. 
>  Once you have got the hang of it - and the scars on your fingertips have
> healed - it is a good system. The older M's M1/M2/M3/M4/M$-2/M4P and the
> earliest M6's had the appropriate base plate lock for opening and closing
> these cassettes. Around 1990 they changed it to the current lock (a flat
> disc). If you look at the older baseplates, you will notice the indent
and
> slot on the lock - the chrome lug fits into the slot, the curved piece of
> metal that stops the lock from turning full circle also pulls the locking
> spring of the cassette out of the way. When you load, you drop the
cassette in
> the camera, put the baseplate on and turn it to locked position and this
> action opens the cassette so the film can move through the ¼" slot that
opens
> up. You don't get scratches from the opening as there is no felt-trap to
> accumulate grit, the friction is reduced and once the film is exposed and
> removed from the camera it is in a pretty solid container.
>  There are some caveats to using these cassettes; if you are shooting
with
> Esthar based films (Tech Pan, certain Ortho films) don't use the cassette
- -
> you cant rip these films off, they have to be cut and the "one-way"
spring
> trap in the center spool jams and you have to unscrew the springs in the
spool
> (very small black screws that tend to disappear). I have also found that
using
> Infra red emulsions can create problems - the cassette is very safe - BUT
the
> large opening can fog film.
> These cassettes show up at swap meets everywhere. The price seems to
vary,
> from a reasonable $2-5 for the cassette, add another $2-3 for the
aluminium or
> Bakelite container with its Leica logo - to the highly unreasonable $25
or
> more that some dealers ask.
>  Any large dealer will have some in stock, usually in a box of assorted
Leica
> pieces that he/she has despaired of ever selling (you know the box with
the
> Reprovit camera mount, the 35 contact printer, the Benser baseplate and
other
> assorted goodies). 
>  I use mine for loading large quantity of film - occasionally I get
> moviestock, Super XX, Agfapan 250, etc. in 400ft cans. I lock myself in
the
> darkroom for a couple of hours and load 65-70 of these cassettes and
there is
> a month to 6 weeks shooting supply.
>  I saw a different version of this loading system some time ago. A friend
> brought back from Russia a 64 ASA black/white film (it must have been one
of
> the worst marketing gaffes ever made. The name of the film was 
> "Chernobyl")! The camera store had the film in little alloy foil
packages, it
> contained a center spool and the film wound up on it. The user supplied
> his/her own outside cassette shell. Not a bad film, slightly prefogged,
but
> considering that it cost something like 8 cents/roll, not a bad deal. It
is
> good to remember how convenient our 35mm film system is - at least we
don't
> need a changing bag to reload the film.
>  Of course there were tools to make it easier to use these cassettes, the
> famous film cutting template, the table edge mounted winder and my
favourite,
> the brass rod for turning the cassette center spool. Leica was somewhat
> accessory happy in the first 50 years of its existence (look at Jim
Lager's
> volume III, accessories). 
>  The cassettes are useful, but they are very heavy, more than double the
> weight of the regular filmcassette (for the retentive types, 46.1 grams
for
> the Leica cassette, versus 20.3 grams for a regular cassette -36 exp/
HP5+ in
> both).
>  If you pick up one of the Leica Manuals from the 50's or 60's you will
find
> all the variations of these cassettes listed there. Great reading for all
the
> other stuff too. The variations on the Visoflex lenses and the mounts
will
> keep you riveted to your chair - and it is all useful information too. At
> least it gives you a great excuse for looking in dusty boxes at camera
stores
> and finding adapters, etc. You never know when it comes in handy!
> All the best,
> Tom A
> www.rapidwinder.com
>