Realist 3.5 Film Guide

[P3D Chuck Hassen <deck_0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-- [ From: Chuck Hassen * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --

Well, thanks a lot you guys.  I have been reading this newsgroup just a
little too long and I finally succumbed to peer pressure and bought myself a
near mint Realist 3.5, with a pristine leather case, for $165.
I am happy with the way it looks and feels, but I just about went nuts as I
attempted to load the camera according to the instructions I found in the on
-line reproduction of the manual for (what I am assuming was) an earlier (or
maybe a later?) model (serial number on this unit is 015027).  In particular
, when I refer to figure 12 on page 10 of the manual, there is a feature on
my camera that is not shown in the camera in the figure: namely a small,
chrome-plated film guide just above the exposure counter sprocket.  This
guide has a small tab that sticks up out of the film plane toward the back
of the camera, and the guide plate is so close to the sprocket, that I
cannot slide the film under the guide, with the leader already inserted in
the take-up spool, per the instructions. The full width of the film
interferes mechanically with the guide.  So, I had to slide the film under
the guide plate first, then draw it over to the take up spool with the film
advance release button held down.  Although this seems to have worked, I was
unable to start with the sprocket adjusted so that the white dot was visible
, since the act of pulling the film through the guide obscures the dot from
view at the same time that it rotates the sprocket...

My questions:
(1) Is this problem a result of modern film having shorter half-width
leaders than 1950's era film?
(2) How do others handle this challenge?  Does anyone out there actually cut
the film leader so that the narrow segment is long enough to match the
figures 12 and 13, which indicate that the leader is still at only half-
width well to the left of the sprocket?  How many exposures does this
eliminate from the roll?
(3) On the top plate of my camera, where the camera in the manual has a
single dot next to the rewind release, this camera has an "A" with a CCW
arrow, just like the "R" CW arrow for the rewind postion.  I assume this
stands for "A"dvance.  Is this older or newer than the simple double-dot
arrangement?

Thanks,
Chuck Hassen


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