Originally posted by TomB_tx Loading Leica and similar cameras was much easier when I started using them, as back then all commercial 35mm film came with a “long leader” (4 1/2”) already trimmed on the roll. Leica was the first (~1924) 35mm on the market, and was about the most popular until after WW2. Many others copied the Leica loading system - including Canon throughout the 1950s, so film was provided that needed no trimming.
I remember when I first bought a roll with the modern short leader: I thought it must have been a manufacturing error.
My oldest Leica was made in 1929. I have others from the 1930s & 40s, and all are still working fine.
I didn't know all that stuff, some, but not all.
That '29 Leica is very old, worth a bundle I bet...and more importantly what a interesting collector's item.
The camera store that I bought my '51 Leica and '40's Leitz Elmar 50 collapsible lens from back in '81, was a long time camera store (established 1897) and long time Leica dealer. Behind the counter on the wall was a very old Leica poster, showing a guy dressed in plus fours, Germanic looking hat, on what appeared to be an Alpine ledge...with a Leica RF and I think a 135mm lens. The ad...looked like it was from the early '30's... and was touting the new telephoto lens...can't recall whether it was a 135mm or shorter, but what a photo in itself, One that I wouldn't mind having for display purposes in my house.
This camera shop had been used for decades and when I would walk into it, I felt like I was going back in time. It was located opposite the main newspaper building of a paper of record that went back to the early 1870's and aside from Leicas, also used to sell Rollei, Mamiya, etc. Catered to pros and enthusiasts. Gone now, Shortly after I bought the camera, the owner died, business shut down, then building bulldozed over a a new downtown development took place.