Thumb rest, is it really necessary?

[peterm1]

A half case on my MP240 makes the camera comfortable to hold and helps protect an expensive camera. I have never used a case on my film cameras and only use the film advance lever when I want to take a series of quick exposures.

I think that the film advance lever on the M10 is pretty bogus as Leica is trying to capture the "nostalgia" market. Why did not they design it for something useful although I have no idea what that would be.

The pretend film advance lever could use it to recock the shutter. Which would save power and extend camera shooting time between battery recharges. That could potentially be useful. As it is though, while I like the idea of using a thumb grip as it does help me hold the camera firmly and steadily the idea of a pretend film wind lever that only does this sounds a bit as if they are trying too hard.

 

[pyeh]

For me, I find some cameras very uncomfortable to hold in one hand for any length of time, and it's mostly to do with its shape or covering, rather than its size. Digital Ms are too fat, mostly, and the skin and shape too smooth. RX100s are too small to hold, but you can always slip it in your pocket.

Having said that, I have never used a thumb rest and have never thought to hold a camera by its wind lever. i can't imagine it's good to hold a kilo of camera by a metal casting and one cog.
Half-cases help sometimes. I had to put one on my digi CL.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I don't use thumb rests.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I have been shooting SLRs since 1973 and have never used the wind lever as a thumb rest. I don't miss not having a wind lever on my digital cameras either. Somehow Leica thought the wind lever was unnecessary from the introduction of the M8 in 2004 through the M10-P in 2018. It is only with the introduction of the M10-D that all of a sudden it became necessary. It is ridiculous, and therefore worthy of ridicule.

 

[furcafe]

You are not alone. I used cameras w/film advance levers long before autowind & digital bodies (still do), but never relied on wind lever for gripping the camera & have never "missed" them on a digital M. Then again, I also used, & still use, knob wind cameras.

I also don't need a pistol grip on the body as I primarily use my left hand to hold the lens/camera combo, as I was taught back in the '70s (to hold a camera + lens like a small rifle or shotgun, not a pistol).

When reading the recent discussions (not only on RFF) about the thumb rest in form of a wind lever on the Leica M 10-D I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who after one and half year using the M10 do not absolutely feel the need of an additional thumb rest.
I feel the camera perfect in my hands as it is, maybe because I have small hands 🙂
Just curious, each one is entitled to his opinion, needs, way to use of course!
robert

 

[LCT]

Different feelings here. I have found digital Ms as slippery as soap bars since the M8.2. The worst camera bodies i have ever owned in 30+ years from this standpoint, whereas my R-D1 and R-D1s were much easier to handle thanks to their advance lever which worked the same way as that of my M3 DS more or less. The Match Technical's Thumbs Up and the Leica's Thumb Support have fixed this issue for me fortunately but Leica is the only camera maker forcing me to buy accessories tu use its gear and it is true also for the digital CL. I'm not interested in the M10-D but i do hope the M11 will have some decent thumb rest be it a faux wind lever or anything else.

 

[sepiareverb]

Where's the poll?

I prefer a decent grip on front, like the Rapidgrip. Wish there was a digital M version of that.

I used a Thumbs-up for a time, but got sick of it sticking me in the belly.

 

[shawn]

I've left the thumb grip off for now, mainly as I am sometimes using OVFs and remote flash triggers so I want to be consistent.

As an update... I just received a Thumbs Up CSEP-10S. This is the thumb grip that also includes a cold shoe as part of the design. For use with an OVF that is fantastic as the cold shoe can have its tension adjusted for whatever is slipped into it. Most of my OVFs are very loose in the m240s hot shoe to the point that I was worried about the Voigtlander 21/25 falling out easily. With the CSEP-10S I can adjust it to hold the finder tightly.

Shawn

 

[Rob-F]

I have a request. Can someone post a picture of how the film advance lever is used as a thumb rest? I cannot find any comfortable way to use the lever, so much not know how it is done.

You just hook your thumb inside the advance lever when it is pulled out as far as it goes with the film wound. After you press the shutter, any pressure against the lever will start it on its way to begin winding the film. Sometimes that catches me off guard. But I don't usually put any significant pressure on the lever.

 

[raid]

As long as this camera is a good camera overall, such features don't annoy me in any way.

 

[Rob-F]

When reading the recent discussions (not only on RFF) about the thumb rest in form of a wind lever on the Leica M 10-D I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who after one and half year using the M10 do not absolutely feel the need of an additional thumb rest.
I feel the camera perfect in my hands as it is, maybe because I have small hands 🙂
Just curious, each one is entitled to his opinion, needs, way to use of course!
robert

I use an M9, not an M10. With my M9, or the M8.2 that preceded it, I have not felt the need for the thumb grip/thumbs up. I seem to adapt to holding the camera without the grip or the winding lever. Probably an accessory grip on the front would serve me better than the thumb thing. I do like having a leather half-case on my film Leicas, so maybe one is in my future.

 

[Lss]

I have never even held the M10, but it’s hard to imagine the thumb rest would be necessary.

I have used the thumbs-up on the M8, and it sure can be useful. It’s also annoying at times and takes up the hot shoe. An integrated thumb rest that gets out of the way is a better solution to a problem that is there for some people. Anyone who claims otherwise is looking at their own use or preference only.

 

[jsrockit]

I'm with Godfrey in not using the Leica wind lever as a thumb rest since getting my M2 in 1967.

So, you guys just would wind the shutter, put the lever back in place before each photo, and not be ready to wind again quickly in case something is happening / changing before your eyes?

 

[jsrockit]

Like Godfrey, I've never used the advance lever as a thumb rest. With all my film cameras that had advance levers, I usually kept the advance lever pulled outward with my thumb between it and the camera body. Thus held, it was quick to advance the film to the next frame.

Hmmm, maybe that answers my question above. Interesting.

 

[jsrockit]

I hated using a thumbs up... it just poked me in the chest way too much.

 

[Dogman]

Yeah, that's why I don't understand how the new Leica's faux film advance lever can be considered a thumb rest. Is it stationary? If so there ain't much there upon which to rest one's thumb. Do you pull it out like an advance lever and put your thumb behind it (like I've always done with manual advance film cameras)? If so you really are not resting your thumb on the lever, are you?

The thumb rests I've used like the Lensmate and ThumbsUp are curved platforms on which you place your thumb and use as a gripping device. Maybe Leica's device is a "thumb hook" where you can dangle the camera off your fat digit.

 

[LCT]

The lever has a short stroke like those of the M3 double stroke or Epson R-D1.

 

[xayraa33]

There is an antsy and unnecessarily foul mouthed YT video describing part of this problem.

All that apart, I got to agree about his hyping an older well known classic Japanese RF digital camera, the maker should issue a modern FF revamped version of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfSb9zGKU1U&t=915s

 

[MCTuomey]

Thumbs Up addressed the same habit, mostly for the crowd that likes to pimp out their cameras with gee-gaws like exotic wood grips, elaborate lens shades, ornate soft shutter releases and hot shoe covers, expensive colored neck straps, and the like.

Hmm. With my oddly long fingers and thumbs, a thumbs-up or, much better, one of Steve Barnett's unobtrusive thumbies, has allowed me to carry M bodies in the hand for hours. Without this gee-gaw, I'd be uncomfortable in minutes. To each, their own pimpage, I guess.

 

[umcelinho]

It's funny how I never felt the need for anything like a thumb rest with all my film Ms but now with the digital ones I find myself enjoying having them. Particularly useful for vertical shots.