Matin FILM PICKER 35mm 135 Film Leader Retriever Extractor Puller Release

I see a lot of people saying these things are hard to use. There is a knack to it, but after the first roll, I got it every time and worked flawlessly. So don’t be put off by others, you’ve just got to get the knack and then you’ll be fine.

For the past few years I’ve been using a licked end of spent film to extract my film leaders - for some reason I seem to have completely lost the knack, which would only work 60% of the time anyway. Bought this and after a couple of initial fails and re-reading the instructions a number of times I can get it every time. It’s actually very satisfying so I’ve been blasting through the 60+ rolls in my fridge. Great quality gadget!

Better than the other brands I’ve used but still doesnt work on every film. Worth having though.

I have used two other film retrievers before and found them very difficult to use. In fact, I never was able to work one of them at all. However, I have had immediate success with this one. The instructions are incredibly clear and detailed and I was able to extract my film immediately. I can really recommend it.

I used it a couple of times on Kodak ECN-2 film. The first time it worked well, but on subsequent attempts, with the same film, which I was trying to switch to another camera, I had to try 2 or 3 times to extract the leader successfully. The trick was, once the device was ready to pull out the leader, to rotate the film canister's central core clockwise before pulling, to help it come out.It may be because the film is a little thicker and stiffer than normal C-41 film.It's still better than not being able to extract the leader, though.

This was total plastic crap, I was trying to the leader back from a unused roll of Portra 160 and I was doing what the instructions were telling me and it just wouldn't give the leader back. I went to my local camera store instead, and they did it for me with one of their tools, and free of charge as well. Wasted my money, should have just gone them instead. I threw it away, as I didn't like the idea that someone else would have to go through with the misfortune I went through.AVOID!

This is a bit tricky to use but it does the job. I've not used one for years so maybe that is why I found it tricky! Be firm when you use it, but don't pull too hard or you may pull out too much film by accident and lose pictures (guilty of doing that at least once!)

couple of £ but makes different to amateur photographer!