Digital M With A Advance Lever Anyone?

[BNLee]

Okay, so it is already established that the new Leica Milestone AKA M240 is jammed packed with state of the art technology such that it is 5-10 years ahead of development(in Leica years...😛). Lets face it, many people
(including me) never expected Leica to come out with the "M10" sooo soon. However, this also means that we will not have to wait for such a long time for an update to the M9 and that the M9 will soon be "affordable" to many people!😀

So I have been reading many comments about how the M9 could be improved, and one particular comment which caught my eye is that they could make the digital M with a advance lever, like the film M's. Of course there are obvious reasons to request for an advance lever on a digital camera in this era of aerospace technology, but some people still cannot bear to think of life with an advance lever on a digital camera (You know who I am referring to, you couch potatoes!)... So what do you think about a Leica M digital with an advance lever?

Just having some fun and see what others think!😛

Have a nice day!🙂

 

[axiom]

I think it's been discussed here before.
A mechanical lever for cocking an electric shutter is costly (at no benefit) compared to an electrically cocked electric shutter.

 

[BNLee]

Yeah... I tried to find some discussions about this topic, but I just wanted to have a poll and see how everyone reacts! Haha...🙂

Go ahead and vote!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The idea that it saves power is BS. The very high powered DSLRs out there have amazing battery life. My old D100 had great battery life years before the RD-1 came out. The RD-1 has AWFUL battery life at that. The M8/M9 have better battery life than the RD-1 but not too much. Depends upon how much the LCD is used and also on the temperature.

As for the mechanism itself, Leica is now using a vertical travel shutter in the same vein as the Copal Square. It doesn't take much force to move those ultra-lightweight shutter blades. The mechanism itself is extremely efficient. Messing that up with some mechanical linkage is just asking for trouble and far more expense.

If it actually did cock the shutter, it wouldn't be the smooth advance that you feel in the film M bodies. Those feel that way because they have the tension of the shutter curtain drums to fight. If the M-whateveritscalled had an advance lever, it would be a complicated electro/mechanical switch and just wouldn't have the feel or the function of your beloved film M lever. Leica would have to dampen the lever artificially and that would introduce more mechanism in there to fail. Unless you stuck a mechanical horizontal travel cloth shutter into the body and limited yourself to 1/1000 second top speed. Personally, I loved 1/4000 and 1/8000 second top shutter speeds in the M9 and M8, respectively.

Leica is already deep enough in arcane rituals for the sake of making an image. We don't need more of them. Advance levers are for film, motors and servos are for digital.

I still can't believe this topic comes up every so often.

Phil Forrest

 

[Rob-F]

I don't need a lever for functional reasons, I like the auto shutter winding. But I would like the feel of the camera better with a lever. It could even be used to turn on the light meter!

 

[Vince Lupo]

Maybe it needs a rewind knob too? Rewind all those digital shots back into the card before you pull it out?

 

[Pioneer]

I think it's been discussed here before.
A mechanical lever for cocking an electric shutter is costly (at no benefit) compared to an electrically cocked electric shutter.

But that electric shutter cocker (say that really fast 20 times) is really noisy. A mechanical one should be much quieter.

 

[burancap]

Oooh! How about a removable base plate like the ol... Oh. Wait a minute. Ummm... Errr...

 

[axiom]

But that electric shutter cocker (say that really fast 20 times) is really noisy. A mechanical one should be much quieter.

If a mechanical one can be quiet, so can an electric one. Just make sure it moves no faster than 5mm/s.
If quietness is the thing, the feature to add would be an user adjustable shutter cocking speed in the firmware.

 

[Darthfeeble]

The shutter lever is one of the main reasons I love the RD1 so much. It also fits my hand better than the M digitals do.

 

[ShinX414]

it's really suprising to see how many would like to have an andvance lever on a digital M (me included).
I totally agree with Rob-F and Darthfeeble. That's also why i love the R-D1 so much even though i also have the M9.

 

[fotomeow]

The shutter lever is one of the main reasons I love the RD1 so much. It also fits my hand better than the M digitals do.

thats right Steve (Steve sold me his first RD1s, then had to buy another!).

Ad an advance lever? hell ya, but the main reason for me to do so would be b/c of the noisy, moment-busting cranking of the digital Ms electronic recocking. hideous.

 

[Vickko]

I would love if they designed a manual advance, and it eliminated the battery.

 

[axiom]

How are you going to power an otherwise electronic camera without a battery?

an internal generator that you can generate power by wiggling your thumb like crazy back and forth on that advance lever?

 

[dabick42]

I find this thread ironic in the extreme !

Those thoughtful people at Leica/Leitz spent millions of money eliminating all the onerous, energy-sapping, calorie-burning drudgery from film M photography - the tiresome, timewasting rituals of winding on, rewinding, removing and replacing baseplates, removing and replacing film cassettes - and what happens ?

Some people want their advance levers back to remind them of the times when Leica Ms were truly instruments of breathtaking mechanical beauty, smoothness and silence.

Us Leica users/lovers are a fickle breed, aren't we... (!)

 

[ruby.monkey]

I want one almost as much as I want a hand crank on my new car.

 

[steveclem]

The RD-1 rocks, if Epson/Seiko/whoever made a RD-2 model with upgraded sensor/buffer/whatever I'd be first in line.
Don't mess with the formula, Epson rules. Mine are going to have to be prised from my cold ,dead fingers.
Leica are just pissed off they never thought of it first.

 

[jsrockit]

I'm thinking there's room for one more film M... the MF, with no film advance lever. 😉

 

[BNLee]

Wow, it seems that the debate is getting heated!!😱

Relax everyone, we are just having a discussion session about a product that ain't gonna come out anytime soon, at least not when Leica's engineering department is still sane!

Say... Although in the comments section everyone is being sarcastic about how having an advance lever would be great, the initial poll results tell me otherwise... Go see for yourself.😉

 

[SilverPix]

I don't own an M nor likely ever will, but love using older cameras just for the winder feel. I think there could be a market for a mostly mechanical camera with a digital sensor only. Use the winder to cock the shutter and charge a capacitor for image capture only get rid of the LCD display. Dials for ISO and shutter speed only. Would solve that coffee ring screen issue that keeps showing up in the forums.