I almost ran a roll of film through a new acquisition (Nicca 3S) and when I inserted the film leader in the take up spool it apparently didn't catch. Is there anyway to know for sure the film has been caught and is advancing with these cameras. I don't have the instruction manual and was depending on my intuitive knowing about cameras. That didn't work. Thank you, Bill Barber

If you are new to bottom-loading cameras- You MUST trim the film leader to about 5inches. The camera can jam if you do not. Also- until you get used to it, take the lens off and set the shutter to "B". You can confirm that the film lines up with the sprockets and transports through the mechanism. You'll get used to loading it, and can quit this after the first few rolls. Even after skipping this step, always take up the slack on the new roll using the rewind knob, and watch it turn as film gets pulled through the camera. You will get used to it. I just loaded up my Nicca 3 this afternoon. It's been treated to a full CLA and new shutter curtains.

There's a lot of discussion of this over on Rangefinder forum -- it's sort of a lost art. It took me a while to get good at it. Here's a YouTube video of the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heMk-4hde9E&feature=related

Here's a Leica IIIf manual (just like the Nicca):

http://yandr.50megs.com/leica/3f/3f.htm

For me one of the key things was to remember to keep the advance lever in advance (not rewind) in the process and to remove the slack on the film before any winding forward -- this tensions the film against the sprockets. One develops a feel for this and you begin to sense and see the film when it's correctly sprocketed.