I always try to leave the film leader protruding from the film canister when I remove a film from a 35mm camera. There are a couple of reasons. Firstly it saves me having to worry about retrieving the film later, and secondly I often take films out of a camera part-way through the roll - usually to change film types. By leaving the leader out, I can write on it to remind me which frame to start from next time. I'll do a separate post showing how I do that. When I get to the end of the film I still remove it with the leader out, but I make a sharp fold in it so I can't mix it up with an unexposed roll.
Occasionally I wind the film back a little too far and the leader disappears into the canister, so I either need to use a film retriever or I'll open the canister and load the film into a developing tank in the darkroom.
You may also need to use a film retriever if you have a camera that automatically rewinds the film and you can't set it to leave the leader out.
How to use the film retriever
• Insert all three tongues into the film canister
• Slowly turn the spool as if you're winding the film into the canister (anti-clockwise in the photo below)
You'll also need to grip the canister with your right hand - you won't be able to hold it as shown but I didn't want my hand to obscure things.
• Keep turning until you hear a click. If you're unsure, keep winding until it clicks again. Once I have heard the click (and you can usually feel it too) I wind the film back in the opposite direction - just a little until I can feel a resistance. My theory is that by winding it back a little bit, you ensure that the film leader sits under the appropriate tongue rather than just beside it.
• Slide the first slider as far as it will go. Wind the film as before - you will hear another click. Again, I like to wind the film back again a little after I've heard that click. (Note: you'll need to firmly hold the film canister as you move the sliders - these photos show the position of sliders after they were moved.)
• Slide the second slider as far as it will go.
• Grip the retriever and pull the film out of the canister.
Hint
If it doesn't work after a try or two, position the retriever so that it doesn't sit in the middle of the felt trap but is positioned closer to the end were the film spool protrudes. That's were the film leader is. I often have to do this to retrieve a film that I have loaded from a bulk reel - I suspect I cut my leaders a little small and narrow so the retriever tongues can't quite grip them.
Apologies for the scratchy sound in this video. I needed the microphone positioned so you can hear the clicks but that meant it picked up the sound as I moved my hands over the paper backdrop.
Comments