The Sub Club

RELOADING YASHICA Y-16 CASSETTES

The Y16 is sort of a 110 cassette as the film plane is part of the cassette mechanism. Yashica made a film loader for this camera, so we know that the manufacturer designed the cassette to be reloaded. This cassette has a reputation as one of the more difficult ones to reload , but if you practice on a scrap of film first you won't have any problem -- and you won't need a film loader either. You start with the usual 18 to 20 inches of 16mm film (any type of perforation will work). Since it is a daylight cassette, all of the reloading takes place in the dark, unlike with other cassettes. This makes things much more difficult as you will discover.

Memorize these instructions since you can't refer to them in the dark; better yet, run through the steps with the lights on with scrap film.
Gather all your items together -- 16mm film, cassettes, scissors, 1/2" black tape, and film template.
With the lights on, pop the top off of the cassette. You may need to remove one or two strips of tape.
Turn out the lights.
Cut a length of film.
Tightly roll up the film with the emulsion side IN.
Tuck the rolled film into the small film feeder compartment while holding on to the leader.
Slip the film through the presssure plate and around the film guide. The film takes a hair pin turn to get behind the pressure plate and the emulsion side will face out.
Tape the film leader to the removeable takeup spool with the EMULSION SIDE OUT. The spool then slips onto the takeup spindle in the film cassette. You'll probably need to rotate the spool slightly to get the gears to mesh. (If you don't have the film spool, you can still reload the cassette but it is much more difficult. Please note that the only part of the takeup spool that rotates is the very top section -- with the gears -- so make sure you attach the film only to this top section. It's a good idea to try to get tape attached to more than one tooth on the take up spool.)
E. Put the cover back on. Most covers have an indented section which goes over the cassette window. Then tape the cassette closed.

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