Leica MP sticky/rough shutter release when using softie?

S

Simon D.

Guest
Just wondered if any MP owners use the Abrahamsson soft release or any other make come to think of it.

I have one installed on my MP and I love it. However, the shutter release is "sticky/rough" sometimes and I find that I have to give the softie a twist with my finger to find a sweet spot before pressing the shutter to meter or shoot. This only seems to happen on the MP, my M3 & M6 are smoooooth! The camera has been to Leica recently for CLA but still the problem persists.

Just wondered if anyone else experienced this problem?

Regards,

Simon
 
I tried both the Luigi and TA softies on my MP and they both did not feel right to me. If I don't press the shutter straight through, the shutter seems to drag onto the sides, which makes the shutter feel rough. Needless to say, I stopped using soft releases.
 
I had similar problems with my MP, a slightly sticky shutter button that got worse when I installed a soft release to cure the problem. Leica had to take care of it (service) and afterwards the shutter button worked very well (and without any need for a soft release).
 
I had the same problem with my M8 ... with one of Luigis soft releases on it the action feels very coarse and a little hard to control. It's fine on my M3 and M2 though! ??

I'm not convinced about soft releases generally ... with an M you can sort of roll the ball of your finger over the button and it feels very controlled to me.
 
Yes, I have same problem with my MP. The shutter release button is rough and seems drag onto the sides. I have 2 MP and the other one has no same issue. Frankly, it is quite disappointing...

Not pretty sure if this could be fixed by Leica... Anyone has idea ???
 
yes, I had the problem too when using shutter button accessories. Now I just shoot without any and it's smooth an great. Still my fave cam of all time.
 
This problem is not the Softie - it is in the shaft going through the camera to the spring in the bottom that releases the shutter. Seems that the switch plate for the meter (it is on the shaft) can be rough or off center and that will cause this "roughness". It tends to go away with use - my MP's and M6's are all smooth. My M7 was not that smooth - but a couple of 100 rolls later it 'smoothed" out.
Non metered cameras don't have this problem as there is no meter switch on the shaft.
I have also found that cameras that has seen little or no use tend to be a bit rough as the lubricant in the release shaft dries out or, through gravity tends to migrate to the lowest point (usually the bottom of the shaft, when the camera is stored standing on its baseplate.
 
Tom A said:
This problem is not the Softie - it is in the shaft going through the camera to the spring in the bottom that releases the shutter. Seems that the switch plate for the meter (it is on the shaft) can be rough or off center and that will cause this "roughness". It tends to go away with use - my MP's and M6's are all smooth. My M7 was not that smooth - but a couple of 100 rolls later it 'smoothed" out.
Non metered cameras don't have this problem as there is no meter switch on the shaft.
I have also found that cameras that has seen little or no use tend to be a bit rough as the lubricant in the release shaft dries out or, through gravity tends to migrate to the lowest point (usually the bottom of the shaft, when the camera is stored standing on its baseplate.
Click to expand...

:angel: Hello Tom A, thanks for sharing. Do you think it would be costly if send the MP for repairing or replace the switch plate / shaft ? The roughness is quite annoying.....
 
Unless there is something else needed to be fixed on the camera - I wouldn't send it in for service. IF the release is stiff or rough even without the Softie - by all means have it adjusted.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that users tend to use the edge of the Softie to release the shutter - this of course skews the downward travel of the release shaft and increasing friction.
 
I had this on M7. BUt even without softie it was rough. It was so irritating that i had to fix it. My repairman polished it and now it is okay. But still not so smooth as my M6. i also noticed it on a M8 of a friend. But another M8 was okay.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema
 
I have mentioned before ( although it may not have any bearing in this case )- that most of the 'soft releases' on offer are cheap mass-produced (pressed ) and no way a precision item!, this and the ridiculously high price asked for them, led me to start turning my own from stainless steel, as required - though I do realize, of course that not everyone has access to the neccessary equipment to do this!.
Dave.
 
Dave Wilkinson said:
I have mentioned before ( although it may not have any bearing in this case )- that most of the 'soft releases' on offer are cheap mass-produced (pressed ) and no way a precision item!, this and the ridiculously high price asked for them, led me to start turning my own from stainless steel, as required - though I do realize, of course that not everyone has access to the neccessary equipment to do this!.
Dave.
Click to expand...

in my case it is a Luigi one *shrugs*
 
Dave, a lot of the Softies are made from pressed alloy (and cheap one at that). The problem with these is that they can easily snap and you are stuck with a thread part in the release.
Mine are not pressed, they are turned on a big turning center and if you manage to break one off - what ever caused it probably would have killed you anyway! Problem with pricing is not so much the machining (though a 3/4 million turning center is not cheap to run), but the price of high grade aero specced alloys. It has quadrupled in the last 4 years. I was lucky that I managed to pick up a large stock some years ago - but that has been used up and now it is back to high prices.
The stainless steel ones are fine, provided you don't make the thread too "sharp" as it can cut into the metal in the release. I like the alloy because it can be anodized in different colors and serve as film remainder too.
Softies made out of brass are a bit of a problem. I tried them, but the sheer weight of them kept turning the meter on in my M6/MP. looks nice when polished though - and brass is fun to machine too.
 
My M7 was a little balky, but through use it has smoothed out. Conveniently, I was planning to use the camera anyway. :)
 
Tom A said:
Dave, a lot of the Softies are made from pressed alloy (and cheap one at that). The problem with these is that they can easily snap and you are stuck with a thread part in the release.
Mine are not pressed, they are turned on a big turning center and if you manage to break one off - what ever caused it probably would have killed you anyway! Problem with pricing is not so much the machining (though a 3/4 million turning center is not cheap to run), but the price of high grade aero specced alloys. It has quadrupled in the last 4 years. I was lucky that I managed to pick up a large stock some years ago - but that has been used up and now it is back to high prices.
The stainless steel ones are fine, provided you don't make the thread too "sharp" as it can cut into the metal in the release. I like the alloy because it can be anodized in different colors and serve as film remainder too.
Softies made out of brass are a bit of a problem. I tried them, but the sheer weight of them kept turning the meter on in my M6/MP. looks nice when polished though - and brass is fun to machine too.
Click to expand...
Dear Tom, as in similar threads - I was in no way denigrating your own products, as judging by the high regard in which they are held here, are of good quallity. Now a retired toolmaker, it gives me pleasure to make things - from model engines, clock gears, to various camera bits and bobs in my little shop, but of course without the benefit of CNC equipment ( which does'nt really interest me! ) a lot of things I do could not be a commercial proposition, although I do send out some items-as a favour. Yes, the thread on a stainless soft release is the difficult bit, mainly in my case because of the size and taper!, but often something that has taken me a morning or more to perfect is superior to a mass-produced item, and although not financially viable - a lot more satisfying.
Regards, Dave.
 
Dave, being financially viable usually involves compromises! I hate that. I wish I was a tool and die maker. Neither Journalism nor Clinical Chemistry degree's prepared me for metal working! You know, the basic fact that very hot stainless steel looks exactly the same as cold stainless steel!
I have an advantage that a good friend is a trained (Mercedes Benz/Stuttgart) tool and die maker and he has a huge shop with all the machines. Designs are usually perfected on the back of scrap paper and then his programmer sighs heavily and makes 3D modelling from them!
My machining skills are basic and learned the hard way. Minor things, having a 1 inch stainless rod work itself loose from a chuck and embedding itself in a support beam (100 year old wood and hard to boot) - or that titanium doesn't like to be machined and will feed all of the heat back into the toolbit - which will then shatter and send very small, very hot particles of carbide down your shirt. Some nice foot work resulted from this!
I do love the process of creating something in my mind and sketching it out and then make a prototype - just to see if I can.
 
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