TIL I was loading film wrong for 4 years

I always thought you had to pull the film leader all the way out so it was flat against the take-up spool. Last month at a camera swap in Austin, an old timer saw me doing it and laughed. He showed me to just tuck the tip under a spring and let the spool grab it naturally. I used to waste half a roll every time getting it to sit right. Anybody else have a basic technique they messed up for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_rivera8d ago

Pull it all the way out and flatten it against the spool... that's the only way I've ever done it and never had a single problem in ten years.

jennifer_west8d ago

Ha, that's funny because I've noticed the same kind of "just do it this one way" attitude comes up in a lot of random stuff, not just this specific task. It's like people find one trick that works and swear by it forever, @dakota_rivera, even if there are other valid methods out there. Your mileage may vary, but I think that kind of confidence usually comes from just having done it long enough to know what works for you.