How to retrieve 35mm leader?

Well, I done it again; through sheer skill, I have *another* roll of unexposed
35mm film with the leader inside the can. Now how the hell do I get it out?

I know there are leader retrievers available for sale; I don't want to buy
one. I've heard somewhere or other that one can easily make one's own
retriever. I tried sticking a thin curved piece of sheet brass into the
cassette, but no luck.

How do the retrievers work? Do they just guide the end of the leader out, or
do they actually hook one of the sprocket perforations?

Any helpful answers will be appreciated.


--
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- Cynical shop talk from comp.publish.prepress

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:17:01 -0700, David Nebenzahl wrote:

Well, I done it again; through sheer skill, I have *another* roll of
unexposed 35mm film with the leader inside the can. Now how the hell do
I get it out?

How do you manage such a thing? I've had cameras for over 20 years and put
many hundreds of films through in that time, and never rewound a new film.
Buy one for around 20USD or less, See here for one in the UK:
http://www.goldenbough.co.uk/q.k/49-2666
Or, buy a reusable film canister for ~2USD, and load the film into that.
Alan.

--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.
http://www.dvatc.co.uk - Off-road cycling in the North Midlands.

Our local camera shop processes film in the store (as do most) in a machine.
The first thing they do is retrieve the leader strip (in daylight) in order
to get the film loaded into the machine. The couple of times I have rewound
a partially used roll, I have taken the cannister to the local camera store
and the kind person there has retrieved the leader in a few seconds with no
charge to me.

Sam

Actually, there are two pieces of thin metal and you trap the leader between
them. You then slide the clap down tighten the leader between the two pieces
of metal. IMHO not an easy thing to make (that works) If you do this that
often just spring for a retriver at Adorama:
There are 4 choices listed here; better yet stop doing this!
Hama
BLFLRH
8025 Hama Film Leader Retriever 35mm
$13.95


Sekonic
SKL188
401188 Sekonic L-188 Auto-Leader - Analogue Ambient Reflected Light Meter
#401-188
$64.95


Adorama
BLFLR
B252 Adorama Film Leader Retriever 35mm
$4.95


Adorama
BLFP
NPFLR-5328 Adorama Film Picker Plastic, Oversize Film Leader Retreiver
$9.95

Regards,
Gary

You need a light tight room or change bag or dark room under a jacket. Take
a can opener and open the cassette. Feed the film through the slot. Snap
the end back on and your all set.

"drhowarddrfinedrhoward"

You need a light tight room or change bag or dark room under a jacket. Take
a can opener and open the cassette. Feed the film through the slot. Snap
the end back on and your all set.

Er, I haven't seen film come from the manufacturer in a 'Snap Cap cassette'
in the last 50(?) years [famous last words, I know]. If you pop the end
off you will most likely not be able to pop it back on.

I would buy a retriever from a camera store if the need is steady. Otherwise,
as suggested an Boots that does film processing will be able to pull it out
for you. They pull the tongue out on every film they process.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/

I could be wrong then. I haven't had that done in many years and only
assumed you still could.

"drhowarddrfinedrhoward" wrote

I could be wrong then. I haven't had that done in many years and only
assumed you still could.

Now _that_ statement is open to a great deal of interpretation.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.

drhowarddrfinedrhoward wrote:
I could be wrong then. I haven't had that done in many years and only
assumed you still could.

The major brands haven't had the uncrimped caps which are
easy to remove and replace for many years now, but I was
pleasantly surprised to find that the Lucky SHD 100 film
I got recently does have the snap caps. When I took my first
roll to the darkroom, I tapped the knob end on the counter
and it came apart perfectly. I'm going to re-use the cartridges
for bulk loading, they actually seem to be better made than
the Kalt brand ones sold for bulk-loading. The PRC-made Lucky
black-and-white film isn't bad either.

The Maco PO-100 cartridges also come apart easily, but the steel
seems to be a little soft so that they get deformed easily and
can sometimes be hard to put back together.

Peter.
--

Retrieving a leader:

1) Wind the film in the lost leader cassette until you hear it just "click"
past the leader slot, then turn it a tiny amount more.
2) Take another roll of film one that has the leader out, lick the leader to
wet it.
3) Put the second leader inside the slot of the first as far as you can.
Make sure the natural "curve" of the films are both inward toward the spool.
4) Start winding the first cassette and gently pushing the second leader in,
until you pull the second cassette leader in about two or three inches.
Until "it takes" in other words. (If it doesn't take the first time go back
to step 1.)
5) Gently pull the leader of the second cassette while unwinding the first
to ease the lost leader out.
6) The two leaders stick together because of your saliva and the fact that
they overlap each other by a couple of inches, the "retriever" leader is
under the "lost" leader during this operation which basically forces the
lost leader to follow the other leader outside the slot. Wallah!!!

It might take a couple of attempts to begin with but I've always managed to
retrieve lost leaders in daylight this way.


"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
...
Well, I done it again; through sheer skill, I have *another* roll of
unexposed
35mm film with the leader inside the can. Now how the hell do I get it
out?

I know there are leader retrievers available for sale; I don't want to buy
one. I've heard somewhere or other that one can easily make one's own
retriever. I tried sticking a thin curved piece of sheet brass into the
cassette, but no luck.

How do the retrievers work? Do they just guide the end of the leader out,
or
do they actually hook one of the sprocket perforations?

Any helpful answers will be appreciated.


--
I was quickly apprised that an "RSS feed" was not, as I had naively
imagined, some new and unspeakable form of sexual debauchery practised
by young persons of dubious morality, but a way of providing news
articles to the cybernetic publishing moguls of the World Wide Wait so
they can fill the airwaves with even more useless drivel.

- Cynical shop talk from comp.publish.prepress