Reloadable Cassettes, Anyone?

I still have about a dozen Leica cassettes which I use mostly for

black & white personal work. It got me thinking that perhaps a Bessa

could be designed with a hinged end on the baseplate, with the key

for opening/closing the Leica cassette. The new cassettes should be

fully interchangeable with the old Leitz production. Would anybody

like a Bessa that took Leica cassettes, or just a new source of

reasonably priced cassettes?

Al, I find it disappointing that I can't use the Leica cassettes with my M6. So I'd like an old M3 baseplate to fit to my M6. Shouldn't be hard to find, you'd think, but darned if I can find one.

Al,

I have about 70 of the IXMOO cassettes (enough to load a 400 ft reel of Super-XX). They are used with my M2's and the current version of the M2 Rapidwinder-IXMOO. This is a limited run of winders that open and close these cassettes. To do a Bessa that would operate the IXMOO is complex, the base would have to be redesigned and some form of spring-loaded lock integrated into the base. To manufacture the cassettes today would be prohibitively expensive. They are complex, deep draw brass shells, springs, locks and the center spool contains multiple parts - all of which was assembled by hand! Just for fun, I asked a machinist friend about the cost to replicate the IXMOO." Between $2-300 based on a run of 1000". They have several advantages, they never scratch the film, they are absolutely light tight and they seem to last forever. Disadvantages are weight (almost 50 grams each - 150% more than a regular film cassette) and dont even think about flying with them. Airport security takes a very dim view of things that look like a 50 caliber cartridge! Loading them is a bit of a challenge until you learn how. It involves total darkness, three components (outside shell, inside shell and center spool), sharp scissors and a ABLON shaft to rotate the center spool. I have made a couple of M6 Rapidwinders that can handle the IXMOO's, but I will not go into production with these as certain cameras like the MP and M7 cant use them and using the cassette could damage the camera. Works fine on my Millennium M6 and my 0,85 TTL though. On the other hand, the M2 is still the best Leica ever and the Rapidwinder-IXMOO works fine with the cassettes.

Tom A (proud owner of 14+ M2's)

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Tom Abrahamsson

Vancouver, BC

Canada

rapidwinder.com

It's such a pity that some of the best enginering of the not-do-distant past is rendered unfeasible by today's economics. I've got a Grafmatic film holder for my 5x4, it's a marvelous device which has two interleaving metal boxes with six metal septums (septii?)that each holds a piece of cut film and automatically shuffles them to the front one at a time by pulling the inner box out and pushing it back. All of this is approximately the thickness of one conventional 2-sheet holder. I can't fathom how much it would cost to produce them today.

I would love to get a few reasonably priced cassettes. We could have them produced as a group thing, but they'd most likey be very pricey unless we could order quite a lot of them. I see baseplates for sale sometimes, esp via the LHSA, but they are usally several hundred dollars. I thought I saw a posting about DAG or Lutton modifying M6 baseplates for cassette use, but I can't seem to find it now. Having your M6 baseplate modified is most likely the cheapest route. Good luck & please post if a source of cassettes becomes available. Thanks Jim.

Thanks for your reply, Tom. I was thinking maybe aluminum inner and outer shells, and rather than a complicated film grabber in the spool perhaps just a plain old plastic spool to use with masking tape.

 

What are you souping your Double-X Pan in these days? I'm thinking of getting some 400 ft. rolls again now that "ends" are hard to come by.

I've got a few of the reloadable Leitz cassettes and they're great for bulk load B&W in my M4s. Older Watson bulk loaders work fine with them, but have heard that modern loaders don't. I was given a couple of Canon cassettes that have been modified to work in a Leica but unfortunately my loaders have trouble with these and are unable to close them properly. Could open the loader (in the dark) to close them, but more hassle than it's worth. Have also got one of the Leitz gadgets for cutting the leader. These must be getting rare, as I've only seen a couple in many years of photography.

FWIW, for more details on Leica Cassettes (which cameras they work with; how to open, load & clean etc.), see the entry in the Leica FAQ I maintain at:<p>

 

<a href="http://www.nemeng.com/leica/049b.shtml">

http://www.nemeng.com/leica/049b.shtml</a><p>

I'm able to close Leica and Canon cassettes with a Watson or Alden bulk loader. But the Canon cassette is prone to going "beyond" closed. Last time, I just tossed the loader in the changing bag at the end.

 

The old Leica screwmount cassettes are so common that it's cheaper to buy used ones. No idea if the later M2/M3 ones are as common.

 

It would be nice if you could still buy the 412 format bulk film, pre-cut with leaders and tails. I've got a roll of XX412, but I really don't have the heart to open it up and use it.

There was a cpompany or two (Ilford?) making "daylight refills" consisting of a spool full of film attached to a few turns of black paper. You'd load the cassette and pull the paper until the film leader came out, then discard the paper. The 412 roll, 27.5 feet cut for leaders and tabs that fit the spool slot, gave you five 36 exposure reloads. It cost a bit more that way. Unlike conventional bulk film loading, each roll's numbers "1-36" were where you expected them, instead of pure happenstance. For some reason when I bulk load by hand, using no loader, I always do it with the numbers upside down and running backwards.

Look at Shirley Wellard cassettes, which work with any camera with a pull-up rewind crank.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

Google "Shirley Wellard" and you'll find my June 2004 Shutterbug piece on them.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

There are two usable Leica cassettes. The M-cassette is code-named IXMOO and can be identified by the chrome knob on the top. The screw-mount cassette's knob is painted brass and that cassette is 2mm taller and will not work in a M-camera. However, the M-cassette will work in the screwmount - backwards compatibility. The Canon, Nikon,Wellard cassettes are fine but I find that sitting in total darkness, waving sharp implements I like to standardize my procedures. Some of the older daylight loaders have the facility that will open/close IXMOO cassette (and the screw-mount cassette too), but none of them can take the 400 ft reels that XX comes in (you have a choice,400 ft, 1000 ft and 3000 ft - trying to load from a 3000 ft reel could be a challenge!)

For Super-XX I use a variety of developers. Contrasty subjects would be the D-96 formula, this is Kodak's Motion Picture formula and it flattens the contrast, biased towards the mid-tones. My standard developer is otherwise PCK (Phenidon, Ascorbic Acid and Kodalk), similar to D76 but with tighter grain. The classics works fine, D76, ID 11, Rodinal - try it with 10-15% less time than you would with Tri-X. The only problem you are likely to encounter with XX is if you use a motorized camera (F/F2) or the Horizon 202. The slight difference in the pitch of the perforations can "back" up and jam or tear the film.

To make a new version of the reloadable metal cassettes is probably not financially viable.You can still buy cheap regular cassettes or convince your local lab to give you used color neg cassettes and reload these.The reason I like the IXMOO cassettes is that they never scratch the film and the fact that I have 78 of them (just received another 12 of them today, a gift from a dealer friend).

Tom A

If anyone need an ABLON (It might be a copy, but I'm not sure) I have one wich is availeble to

a user, for the cost of shipping

Thanks for the detailed answer, Tom. I used to shoot a lot of ends, hard to come by now. The 400 ft. rolls are manageable but awkward by hand. I mostly just used D-76, really pretty close to D-96. What I really miss is Eastman XT Pan, which I suppose was the motion picture version of Panatomic-X.

Tom, nice to see you slumming it with us.

I have, almost for free (=shipping + 1 ltr. of Jim Beam) 7 cassettes for LTM in their aluminum cans

That's all I use. Only problem occasionally is the appearance of static discharge when I accidentally wind the film too tight. (too long a film length).

Tom, for years I've wanted to own (and use) a Leica A. If I ever get one, can I use the many cassettes that I've accumulated over the years (some for my IIIf, some for M's)?

The shorter body cassettes made for the M Leicas will work fine in the older thread mount bodies.

Al, how about in the Leica A? The old Leica Manuals always said they require a special cassette.

You might be right about the Model A requiring a special cassette. The oldest Leica Manual I have is the "Second Printing April 1938" of the "Third Edition 1938". On page 21 it refers to "The Standard Leica Film Magazine, sometimes referred to as the model B..." which would certainly imply that there had been a model A magazine.

 

The first printing of the first edition goes back to 1935. Perhaps one of the newer editions (I have several of them) has this bit of trivia. If nobody else comes up with the answer I'll try to research it more. Somebody must know!

Dear Tom,

 

I take your point about simplifying life in the darkroom but Shirley Wellards do have the great advantage over Leica cassettes that they CAN be used in a Bessa (though not in Leicas). Likewise Nikon cassettes in Nikons, etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Dear Al,

 

There was indeed a cassette A, for the A only, with a turned over top to the spring (Wright/Glanfield/Matanle's Checklist). I do not know about backward compatibility of the B cassette FILCA (black mushroom, discontinued 1956) with the model A: I sold my last Model A Leica about 25 years ago and don't recall what sort of cassettes I used in it.

 

As well as the Cassette N (IXMOO -- chrome mushroom, 1954) the same source describes the Cassette C (labyrinthine 'always closed') and Cassette D (velvet trap).

 

Cheers,

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

To Kaj: Check your e-mail. I've got my hand up really high!!!

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I've got seveal .pdf files of pamphlets and manuals that include one from 1925 for the Leica Roll Film camera. It's about 6 pages long, and 4 pages are about preparing the film canister. It doesn't seem to identify either the camera or the canister, and I'm not enough of an expert on the 1925 models to know. I could forward the .pdf file, if someone really wants.

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I love threads like this, because I learn things. It's always very nice to read anything from Tom A.! Thanks, again.

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Owen