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.

This is absolutely fantastic. I'm new to developing film and have put in endless hours reading about the process, the method of retrieving the film is hotly contested in particular. I approached this process aware that it may be both tricky and frustrating. I needn't have, the instructions that come with this tool are clear and concise, I had my film released within a few short minutes, first go. An excellent tool!

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

couple of £ but makes different to amateur photographer!

Struggled with this - despite good instructions I found it hit and miss at times and si=ometimes I needed quite a few goes to get the film out. Easiest think is not to wind the film all the way back into the cartridge although with aouto rewind cameras this is not possible. Seems well made, just doesn't work that well.

I've tried this on several films that have been wound back into the cassette and it works perfectly. It's light and easy to carry with you in the field. It may be advisable to save keep a copy of the instructions somewhere, as the method of operation (which is easy and smooth once you know how to do it) will need to be remembered the next time you take it out of your camera bag.

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!

I watched YouTube videos to understand how to use the retriever and the concept is very simple. However I’ve tried in vain multiple times on several different film canisters and this just doesn’t work. I suspect that the thin extractor needs to be malleable to stop the film being damaged but this creates a problem as it’s subject to warping. Many of the YouTubers suggest that after some usage the retriever fails to work as it’s irreparably damaged. In my case it just failed to work from the get go. Very pricey for what it is and doesn’t work - a lemon.