Soft Release

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Bought a soft release button from PhotoVillage in NYC ,nice little "touch" of ingenuity good investment for 20 something bucks.
 
dave, be careful when you use stainless steel. the thread gets quite sharp and can easily cut the chrome part of the thread in the cameras cable release thread!
I did try a lot of material for the Softie, stainless, brass, various alloys until I found one that was slightly "softer" than the plating in the cable release of the M's. I rather have a slightly distorted thread of a Softie when over tightened than a "buggered" up camera release. If a release jams. it can actually unscrew the shaft that goes through the camera body to the flat spring at the bottom! Only thing worse than that is having one of the "cheapie" pressed aluminium ones break and get stuck in the cable release thread. You have to drill it out!!!!
 
I have one for the Bessa and Canonet. I wish someone would develop a no-release for the M2. I keep firing off blank shots when the camera is back in the camera bag. Could probably use a soft release and add little feet or a cylinder that would extend out and down from the edge of the "head" so that when screwed in place the shutter cannot be depressed.
 
Tom A said:
dave, be careful when you use stainless steel. the thread gets quite sharp and can easily cut the chrome part of the thread in the cameras cable release thread!
I did try a lot of material for the Softie, stainless, brass, various alloys until I found one that was slightly "softer" than the plating in the cable release of the M's. I rather have a slightly distorted thread of a Softie when over tightened than a "buggered" up camera release. If a release jams. it can actually unscrew the shaft that goes through the camera body to the flat spring at the bottom! Only thing worse than that is having one of the "cheapie" pressed aluminium ones break and get stuck in the cable release thread. You have to drill it out!!!!
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Dear Tom, many years of professional machining, - and the stainless, or certain grades of it, are still a 'pig' to work!, but do retain a nice polish!, BTW, I was in no way denigrating your soft releases - I have never seen one, - rather some dubious looking ones from the far east, that I have seen advertised.
Regards, Dave.
 
The Hair Tie Trick

The Hair Tie Trick

I bought a pack of "hair ties" at the local pharmacy, and they work just great. No more tripping the camera by accident. It only takes a second to undo the tie, it just "pops" underneath my TomA softies, it's a perfect fit! With the cheapo pressed-out ones, I have to wrap the hairtie around the base of the softie. No big deal.

-Dan, whose hair is getting longer.
 
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I have a classic one for my (now broken) Canonet. I really liked it, I could nail really slow shutter speeds - excellent value for the added functionality. I really must get the mini version for my Bessa..
 
mich8261 said:
I have one for the Bessa and Canonet. I wish someone would develop a no-release for the M2. I keep firing off blank shots when the camera is back in the camera bag. Could probably use a soft release and add little feet or a cylinder that would extend out and down from the edge of the "head" so that when screwed in place the shutter cannot be depressed.
Click to expand...

I just use one of those black elastic bands (round profile type) girls use to tie their hair back. I just have it through the loop on the end of the camera strap then do a double loop around the softie before putting it away. Must agree, that problem was the main reason I didn't use them previously.

Obviously hadn't read far enough... Nokton had obviously beaten me to patent this method 😀
 
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I know it's probably sacrilege to say this on Tom's forum, but I now use one of his Softies with a Motor M on an M7. I can honestly say the combination transforms a beautiful to use small rangefinder into a superb device to use in fast moving situations.

Cheers, Paul.
 
They don't fall off if you put some glue on the threads and let it try before screwing it on. I use Elmer's. Does not stick to camera, softie comes out when you want to take it out, otherwise stays in. I find it an essential component of my M's - that and Tom's grip. No other "accessories" please.
 
FANTASTIC!

Thanks for the tip.

Nokton48 said:
I bought a pack of "hair ties" at the local pharmacy, and they work just great. No more tripping the camera by accident. It only takes a second to undo the tie, it just "pops" underneath my TomA softies, it's a perfect fit! With the cheapo pressed-out ones, I have to wrap the hairtie around the base of the softie. No big deal.

-Dan, whose hair is getting longer.
Click to expand...
 
Hmm, maybe I need to color coordinate the hair tie when I use the purple softie I bought from Tom last year. The current ratty gray one I'm using just looks bad. Oh wait maybe that makes me look more like a user than a collector.

Better yet - Tom, have you considered selling pre-distressed softies? You could sell them at a premium to some I bet. Anyway - after using softies for a year, I only remove it now to change to a different colored one. Whoops - collector warning..
 
I bought a black one from Tom recently for my M6 because I felt like I had to go digging down to get the shutter to release, and consequently missed several shots expecting it to go off when my Bessa R does. The soft release, sitting up higher, solved the problem. Now I wouldn't be without it. I keep checking to see if it's coming unscrewed, but it isn't.
I don't worry about an accidental discharge (hmmm, that term reminds me of my teen years) as I virtually never put it away cocked.
 
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