Mic Drop Moment: M10-D with thumb lever

[Phil_F_NM]

The wind lever does not cock the shutter?
Like mammary glands on a male Bos taurus.

It should go through the full travel of the lever as a switch that cocks the shutter just to make people feel better. I don't put this past Leica at all. It's just novelty for the sake of novelty. A solution to a problem that didn't exist.

Phil Forrest

 

[RichC]

t's just novelty for the sake of novelty. A solution to a problem that didn't exist.

Exactly.

Wouldn't surprise me, though. Leica digital Ms have that ridiculous removable base that makes the camera a joke for professionals: it's impossible to use the camera in the studio with a tripod because you can't remove the battery or SD card! And the base reduces the stability when on a tripod.

This from someone who was foolish enough to buy an M8...

(Yes, I know studio work is not the forte of a Leica M. But why deliberately design a camera to make it less efficient and useful!?)

 

[a.noctilux]

Rich,
Since M(type 240) Leica M has tripod socket attached to the main body.
Unlike the M8/M9 base plate, their base plates have a hole.
You are right for the antique way of taking off base to change SD or battery.

As this M10-D, we'll know more in few days what the lever is for.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Exactly.
...
But why deliberately design a camera to make it less efficient and useful!?

It's like one of those metal model cars you see at the end cap of a shopping aisle. The doors open, the hood opens, the trunk opens, the wheels turn, some even have articulating suspension. It is a new symbol for the imagination of the would-be player that hearkens back to the halcyon days of youth.
You can't get service for the toy car either...

I bought an M8 and M9. When they worked, they made great images. Never again though.

Phil Forrest

 

[Godfrey]

I've owned Leica M9, M-P 240, and M-D 262 digital M cameras. I've made 48,000 exposures with them. They have always worked just fine. The M9 came up with the sensor corrosion issue but it never stopped working; the M-P replaced it three-four weeks after I sent it to Leica for evaluation.

The Leica M was never intended to be a studio camera, btw. It's been used for that purpose, as well as tripod mounted for landscape and other field use, but that wasn't what it was designed for.

All of which does not say that the silly shutter wind lever on this alleged M10-D makes any sense at all, regardless of what it does or doesn't do.

G

 

[David Hughes]

We have radios that don't need batteries because you wind them up and they work until the spring runs down and the generator stops. Then you wind it up again.

And there's torches that you wind up and they charge a battery and that lights the bulb until it runs down and then you wind it up again.

So I'm wondering if this is another wind up...

Regards, David

 

[BillBingham2]

......So i'm wondering if this is another wind up...

Regards, David

Perhaps a trigger winder might be an option.....

B2 (;->

 

[DougFord]

It will be interesting if one needs to use the advance lever before each shot, like'a Leica film camera.
Perhaps rather than cocking the shutter is takes the device out of some sort of low power standby mode. Advance the lever, take a shot. Perhaps a timer is set before it goes back into standby mode. Take another shot quickly or you'll have to advance the lever again. Could be a PITA, like manual film camera PITA. 😀

 

[Godfrey]

The measure of how much I love shutter cocking levers is that I just paid for a winder for the R6.2 I bought recently so that I could leave it folded and ignore it.

A film advance/shutter cocking lever is an unnecessary, dumb thing to put on a digital camera.

 

[RichC]

A film advance/shutter cocking lever is an unnecessary, dumb thing to put on a digital camera.

The Epson R-D1 being an honourable exception... based on a Bessa chassis including its manual shutter, it needed the cocking lever. Unlike this Leica abomination.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I'm heavily left eye dominant so you can figure out what I think of winder levers. That thumbs up thing on the M9 was awful for my forehead.
If there was a lighter and more compact version of the MD4 for the Nikon F3, I wouldn't ever touch another 35mm camera for serious shooting, and the regular MD4 is already really damned good.
This is why I loved cameras like both of the Hexars and especially the Nikon F4.

Phil Forrest

 

[GarageBoy]

Isn't this what people have been wanting? A stripped down digital version of their film camera? Or has everyone who wanted one moved on/are retired?

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Yes, to some extent, but largely useless winder levers are just silly.

Phil Forrest

Isn't this what people have been wanting? A stripped down digital version of their film camera? Or has everyone who wanted one moved on/are retired?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

A film advance/shutter cocking lever is an unnecessary, dumb thing to put on a digital camera.

I like it. It feels good to do, which is pretty much the only reason I use an actual camera instead of my phone. It was my favorite thing about the R-D1. Honestly, by this logic, the entire camera is dumb and unnecessary. You only use a Leica because you enjoy how it looks and what it feels like to use. If you shoot a Leica, you've already bought in to the aesthetics of obsolescence.

It would be disappointing if this lever were just decorative, though. Can't say I'm fond of vestigial/nostalgic design elements unless they have a practical purpose.

 

[retinax]

Perhaps a trigger winder might be an option.....

B2 (;->

If they also offer a motor drive to go with it, it might be a huge success with those who need to take a lot of pics quickly.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Like it or not..these cams are intended for the hobbiest market.. a fun toy to play with..for the people that can afford it..
Like Rolex watches and any 2 seater sports car..not meant to be logical or practical..
There are loads of other options for that..

 

[Godfrey]

Like it or not..these cams are intended for the hobbiest market.. a fun toy to play with..for the people that can afford it..
Like Rolex watches and any 2 seater sports car..not meant to be logical or practical..
There are loads of other options for that..

We should indeed celebrate the hobbiest, the amateur. Because no matter how many professionals there may be and how much equipment they use and buy, there are and will always be several orders of magnitude more amateurs who love photography and are willing to put a lot of money into its development than there are professionals.

Professionals do photography because they might like it but more because they make a living from it. Amateurs do photography because they love it. The quality of what they produce is only different insomuch as as it reflects the amount of thinking and effort ... and money and time ... they each individually put into the pursuit.

The fact that Leica's largest audience is a lot of relatively well-heeled amateurs should surprise or disparage no one. The fact that many of them are amongst the finest photographers around speaks to their commitment and willingness to work at their craft.

G

 

[Emile de Leon]

The fact that Leica's largest audience is a lot of relatively well-heeled amateurs should surprise or disparage no one. The fact that many of them are amongst the finest photographers around speaks to their commitment and willingness to work at their craft.

I didn't say other wise..!
But that said..Leica at this time is a luxury item..

 

[airfrogusmc]

I didn't say other wise..!
But that said..Leica at this time is a luxury item..

No more luxury than top o the line nikanons.

I happen to be a full time pro and have been for over 3 decades and my personal work is my hobby. So not that much different than a CPA that has photography as a hobby. I just happen to make my living at it and that is very different from what I do for me as the hobby part.

I find a camera that matches the way I see and work very practical. Leica M digital is that way for me. So there's the practical side.

 

[CameraQuest]

I bet DAG could install an advance lever on any digital M body

M10-DAG