I don’t get what’s wrong with a ST?
If by ST you mean a self-timer... they're annoying and get in the way. I've always found their position on Barnack-styled cameras to be an irritance - that's right where my right hand wants to be when I'm carrying them. I actually found myself a IIIg where the self-timer had been professionally removed at some point long ago for this reason.
As for the Leotax T2L... I love mine, but if I'm honest, I think I actually prefer winding knobs to the wind lever on the T2L. I find it jabs me a lot in the side while I'm hiking. I never miss the 1/1000 shutter speed (it's one of those things that sounds great on paper, but I rarely use it even on cameras that have it), and the overall feel of the camera in the hand is great; the covering they used is a bit more grippy than the Leica and Canon equivalents. The viewfinder is the second best Barnack viewfinder I've ever used - not quite on par with a IIIg, but definitely a step above all other screwmount Leicas (and, I'd argue,
all the Canon ones).
One of the biggest positives of the T2L is the rewind lever, though. It's a small thing, but it's much better (and cleverer) than the canted rewind lever used on the M4 onwards. I wish that could be retrofitted to other Barnacks. It's a really smart design.
The only real negative I can levy on it is the shutter release. I don't know if this is just mine, but it's noticeably a bit harder to fire the shutter smoothly than on a Leica - there's a bit more travel on the button before it trips the shutter, and the dish-shaped surround means you have to use the end of your finger more than I like. It's a nice machine overall, though. I really don't understand why Leotaxes don't get more love.
