Thumb Up cause problems on your M8 or M9?

A

astroboy888

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I'm curious if anyone here has had any problems caused by their Thumbs Up on either a M8 or M9.

I was told by a Leica Technician that using a Thumbs Up might affect several delicate solder points located under the hotshoe, resulting in broken connections.

I have been using a Thumbs Up starting with my M8 and now M9 and absolutely love it.
 
Hmmm that would be a design flaw from Leica. Since the hotshoe is designed to hold a flash. (not that many people use a flash on a Leica...)
 
There are some VERY heavy hot shoe mounted flashes that would be more than the average force for a thumb holding the back..........

so I'm voting X 3 also.

B2
 
the Leica technician may be speaking about the set screw in some of the thumbs up models. It would be very easy to break the contacts with that little screw.

Phil Forrest
 
I believe you are right Phil. He also mentioned that the wiggling needed to remove the Thumbs Up might contribute to breaking the delicate solder points. Mine comes with that little screw.

I take everything I hear with a great pinch of salt and am hoping he's exaggerating.
 
The TU rubbed a little of the finish off the back of my chrome M9, right under where your thumb sits.

I remounted it with a small piece of scotch tape under there which took care of it.
 
I am not worried. It's hard for me to believe using a Thumbs-Up would hurt anything since I really don't put much pressure on it. I am sure that my thumb doesn't put as much force as trying to mount different accessory viewfinders (for wide angle lenses) which I do often and some of them require quite a bit of force and wiggling. Did the Leica Tech guy warn anyone about using Leica's accessory finders on the hot shoe? Probably not. Jim
 
This reminds of the times my mother told me that I would 'catch my death of cold' if I went out and played in the rain!

:rolleyes:
 
I have found that especially with German companies that they don't want anyone messing with their products. BMW motorcycles are the worst about this. Not necessary the dealers but the factory reps. Jim
 
Rogier said:
Who uses a flash on an M :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I do, for one.

Being a ukulele player as well, I long viewed flash much as I viewed amplification - as a necessary evil. And that once they were accepted, I found that there are many useful, creative applications for both.
 
There are case histories of thumbs-up denting or scratching the back of the camera and of loosened top plates. But not too many. Personally I would put something like felt on places where the handle can touch the camera finish and take care not to put too much strain on it.
 
Nobody carries their camera gripping the flash.

Think about a bottle opener. Very similar to a Thumbs-up, mechanically; not in regular use, of course, but how about if the camera is banged around, gets stuck on your sweater or belt, etc. ?
 
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Wiggling a finder in and out of the hot shoe might take some force, but you are putting a lot of constant pressure on the hot shoe by carrying the camera by the Thumbs Up. I like the idea of the Thumbs Up, but I don't like the idea of something taking up the hot shoe space and having to removing it when I am using a lens that needs an accessory finder. I know there is a Thumbs Up for accessories, but that throws parallax further off.
 
The Thumbs-Up model that I have has a cold shoe on the top of it. Model CSEP-1. I never use flash so it doesn't really make any difference to me. I carry my camera with my hand wrapped around it and not by the Thumbs-Up. I think maybe putting a piece of felt or something under it makes sense and I would think that if it's thick enough it may take some of the pressure off of the hot shoe. I don't plan to change it. Some Leica dealers carry these in stock. Using a Thumbie is probably a good idea. Jim
 
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