Automatic or manual winder on next digital RF?

Automatic or manual winder on next digital RF?

  • Manual winder

    Votes: 51 68.0%

  • Automatic winder

    Votes: 24 32.0%
  • Total voters
    75
macmx

macmx

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When the next digital RF comes out, whenever it does, would you prefer it to have manual winder or automatic? Or indeed would which would you choose if it becomes an option?
 
I'd prefer to have an overridable manual winder.

Basically, in normal use, you wind on to move to the next exposure, but can shoot repeatedly on a single 'frame' for multiple exposures.

If you want though, you can select 'continuous' and just shoot without needing to 'wind'.

But that's just me (love the fact that my XPanII and Hasselblad/Holga allows me to do multiple exposures)...
 
Do you mean a wind lever (ala RD-1) or just some kind of a switch to fire and not reset the shutter?

If it's the former, I'm surprised that this is much of a debate, though I came to film from digital. Winding on my film cameras is fine by me, and I don't need high fps shooting or anything like that. But as winders are necessary functions having to physically move the film in the camera - and on a digi there is no film - it seems natural that pressing a button fires and recocks the shutter on a digi. So no manual winder for me (in the same category as the M8 bottom plate - get out of my way and let me work).
 
I'm torn. I like the idea of the manual winder but after years of shooting digital I often miss shots on my film RF's because I forget to wind.
 
You need to cock the shutter.
I believe that the current M8's shutter is cocked by an electric motor. Doing this manually would save the weight and space of the motor. Maybe i am wrong? If this is not the way the M8 works, can someone please correct me and explain how this is done?
 
macmx said:
You need to cock the shutter.
I believe that the current M8's shutter is cocked by an electric motor. Doing this manually would save the weight and space of the motor. Maybe i am wrong? If this is not the way the M8 works, can someone please correct me and explain how this is done?
Click to expand...

Correct. The M8 shutter is plenty quiet but the motor to cock the shutter is clunky and much louder than the shutter. (Which leads me to the question, why upgrade to a quieter shutter when the recocking motor is much louder than the current shutter? But this is a question for another forum :D)

Having owned an R-D1s and an M8, I much prefer the quiet shutter and manual recocking of the R-D1s IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS when noise is a concern - like my wife's choir concerts, in recording studios, etc). Other wise an automatic shutter cocking motor and "continuous" firing mode is fine in conditions where noise is not an issue or there is a need for high speed shooting.

So the next generation DRF should - imho - have an automatic shutter cocking motor that can be turned off and a manual winding lever included ala the R-D1s.

Also, a card holder and battery holder that can be changed WITHOUT taking the damn bottom plate off - that is absolutely the worst ergonomical feature of the M8 and needs to be dumped for the next model. :( We all understand this design for changing film but for digital? - a total waste that ties back to a film tradition that actually slows down shooting in the digital era.

O.C.
 
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I quite agree with all of the above. I would prefer a manual winder. If I wanted to rapid fire all the time, I'd buy a DSLR again.
 
Manual, if the mechanical winding action actually saves battery power (or even regenerates the battery!)
 
I assume that the top battery eaters on the M8 are the display and the winder. I'd would save a lot of battery I'm sure.
 
Definitely a manual winder. The secret to the success of the M series is not complexity, but beautifully engineered, small and discreet cameras which are simple to use. A manual winder might allow the M9 to be smaller than the M8 and certainly quieter - particularly since the operator decides when to wind on.

Personally, I also love the feel of a well-engineered manual winder (or shutter-cocking system in this digital case).
 
It will not happen. The RD1 has a manual shutter recock because it was an el-cheapo way to fit a sensor into an existing body. The number of people who would buy a manual camera is a magnitude smaller than the number of people who would not buy it for that reason.So it would need a dual system - quite a difficult engineering problem if one looks at shutter designs, which would take up (too) much space.
 
jaapv said:
It will not happen. The RD1 has a manual shutter recock because it was an el-cheapo way to fit a sensor into an existing body. The number of people who would buy a manual camera is a magnitude smaller than the number of people who would not buy it for that reason.So it would need a dual system - quite a difficult engineering problem if one looks at shutter designs, which would take up (too) much space.
Click to expand...

Thus far in the poll, it is 2/3 in favor of manual wind. A better majority than any recent US election :D Why not manual shutter cocking? Simple, effective, quiet. RF cameras are prized for their lenses and their quiet operation- why abandon half of this? Because an SLR is completely motor driven? When I test drove the M8 what was the first thing I thought of? How much quieter the camera would be if there was manual shutter cocking- and I was working in the woods- no people to sneak up on.
 
Definitely automatic. As a former owner of an R-D1 before the M8, the one almost palpable burden that I was released from with the M8 was forgetting to wind on. I can't tell you the number of shots I missed because I had forgotten to wind on with the R-D1. If you are desperate for a manual wind get an R-D1 and fine camera that it is you'll soon find yourself yearning for a M8.

LouisB
 
Well, I think we can conclude, that if Leica wants to keep selling cameras, they've got to move more to digital with the R and M series. Perhaps in the future there will be a choice of what kind of digital rangefinder you want, e.g. choose M9 or MP-D. Perhaps even "a la carte" digital rangefinders, which would let you choose manual or automatic winder etc.
 
louisb said:
Definitely automatic. As a former owner of an R-D1 before the M8, the one almost palpable burden that I was released from with the M8 was forgetting to wind on. I can't tell you the number of shots I missed because I had forgotten to wind on with the R-D1. If you are desperate for a manual wind get an R-D1 and fine camera that it is you'll soon find yourself yearning for a M8.

LouisB
Click to expand...

A couple of people have said the same thing. I don't really get it - with me it's instinctive, an automatic reflex movement rather like blinking, after I've taken a shot I wind on without even having to think about it - sometimes I don't want to and have to actively think about it not winding on.

There is also something very satisfying about the action of winding on - the final completion point of having captured a photograph...
 
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