Would you buy an M2/3/P rewind post accessory?

[nobbylon]

Why?

So you can save five or ten seconds rewinding your film? I must confess I have never understood these devices. If you're in that much of a hurry then a Leica M is probably not your camera of choice.

exactly!!!! It probably takes me 30 secs longer to rewind the MP over the M6. To me it's just going to be something else that gets snagged on something in my bag and will probably get bent off or worse bend the post it's attached to. If you really want your film rewound fast then buy something with an electric rewind!😀

 

[nobbylon]

sorry if someone has already posted this link but here's a few pics from one of Stephens pages
http://www.cameraquest.com/LRWlev.htm

 

[payasam]

Youxin Ye once wrote to me that he did not approve of M rewind cranks. He did not elaborate, but I assume his objection has to do with bending stress on the rewind shaft.

 

[ferider]

Is it just me or has anybody else tried a crank (in my case Wasserman) and was bothered that it got stuck everywhere, camera bag, sweater, etc ?

 

[gdi]

My M3 came with a nice rewind crank and a Leica soft release type contraption (really tall).

Both have been sitting in a box since the date of purchase...

 

[kully]

Hallo ferider, I have your Wasserman permanently on my M2 now - it's great!

But yes, it is not perfect and although not catching on my clothes or dangling bits it is causing wear in my bag. I also like to have the camera upside down when reloading on a table and the crank makes this slightly more difficult.

But, that's all fine, it's eleviated the one thing that was a chore - loading with the spool I've gotten used to.

 

[pkuglin]

I got one of those from a used camera (M3) . I took it off and threw in in a drawer. I love the post rewind method and hate the crank especially on the M6 - no clutch so don't go while you are rewindering....

I will stay with the m3 style on my MP w/o any help from a crank...

 

[TomN]

Bob, not sure what the age of the camera has to do with one's need or want to rewind quickly. I don't mind the winder on my M3, but when I do weddings (often) I really want the speed. I have yet to purchase a winder because I don't think that any of the offerings atm are as good as they could be.

 

[leighmarrin]

The slightly slow rewind knob on my IIIf and M2 is not a problem for me, despite a bit of carpal-tunnel. I've seen several thrift-store 35mm SLRs with bent rewind levers, and my lightly-constructed Bessa L would be a likely canidate for a snagged-and-bent rewind lever; I wish it had a rewind KNOB!

 

[Benjamin]

Yes, please do Sir..

Yes, please do Sir..

The post rewind is the bane of many, myself included for sure. It looks nicer, I guess, and is certainly more rugged than the levered cranks of the later M's.

The add on cranks are all +!

As Artorius mentioned; anything that speeds up the down time when shooting proffesionally is a major plus.

It doesn't spoil any classic lines etc, and is removable anyway.

One can take advantage of both the stronger nature of the post, and speed. Why wouldn't you want one?

AND it's cheaper than going all a-la-carte for the sake of rewinding speed.

The minus points currently are that they are usually overpriced, and don't offer much to hold onto. Especially when it's cold.

Anyway, blah blah. I would certainly be interested, even if it was more expensive than the Leica option.

As long as it was better.


Benjamin

 

[Yammerman]

I have the leica one that was bundled with my MP, have fitted it twice and taken it off immediatley both times. It just dosen't seem right somehow.

 

[Larry Manuel]

I like the simple knob on my M3, I'll not be your customer. Still, good luck.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I still have one on my button rewind M2 #929XXX, mostly because the screw was rusted in place when I bought the camera back in 1972 and I've been too lazy to hacksaw it off of the knob during the past 37 years (is that a laziness record?). I've had several other M's over the years, and I still have an M3 and an M2-R, but that was the only add-on crank.

 

[Rui Morais de Sousa]

Would you buy an M2/3/P rewind post accessory?

I would only think of buying one if I would be a kind of reporter working under battle fire or some other highly stressing situation. But who uses a Leica under these circumstances these days?
I never bothered the rewinding of my M3 and M2. Usually I get the chance to sit down and take a rest, when time comes to change the film... It is also easier with the bottom loading...
I usually can spare the extra time.
For sure, it goes faster and easier with the M4 and M4-2, but these little differences also add to the fun of using different Leica bodies.
By the way: I said it already in this forum, but I will repeat, that I find it completely ridiculous that Leica whent back to the rewinding knob on the new MP (Wich should not be called MP!), just to look "retro" (meaning fashionable).
After many years praising the "new" system developed on the M4, we now get served the old crap, together with one more accesory (that costs a lot of money) to overcome it's design flaws! It just doesn't make sense to me... I think that I am just too stupid to understand it!
No, as a working photographer I don't need these kind of marketing games.
Rui

 

[Rui Morais de Sousa]

Would you buy an M2/3/P rewind post accessory?

You people who like the rewind post are nuts!
Are you telling everyone that you're happy with a S L O W rewinding system when there's a much faster system available as a simple add-on for less than $100?

Mr. Ron,

Maybe YOU should not be nuts, and buy another Leica model instead. There are plenty of them that do not use the rewinding knob...
To buy a new camera from the shelf that comes with it (meaning the new MP), that is maybe beeing nuts...

And yes, $100 is a LOT of money for some people.
There are surelly enough human beeings on the planet that feed the entire family with that amount of money for a whole month!
Please, don't be arrogant just because you can afford it.
I know that you don't find that kind of people on this forum, but even thinking for myself, I would rather spend it on something else (film comes to mind...Bills, food, diesel, bier...).


As I also said before: I hate Leica snobbery!

My kindest regards,
Rui

(P.S.: I didn't know that there were still so much photographers doind rush assignments with their Leicas. I am amazed. I thought that those people were shooting digital SLR and didn't need to change their films...
We can always learn something new everyday...).

 

[Al Kaplan]

Those of us who did do "rushed asignments" with Leicas learned various tricks for speeding up the rewind process. The quickest way to get from one roll to the next is by using one of your other bodies.

 

[pachuco]

I have a crank on my M3 and I like it. I don't know if I would even think I needed one if I did not like to change film quickly.

 

[leica M2 fan]

To unload my M2 especially with a 36 exp. roll became such a chore for me that I got a silver one from Tamarkin about 3 years ago for $99 and I love it! Wouldn't be without it.

 

[Doug]

Rewind cranks can be a pain, such as those that are small and/or don't fold out completely flat. Annoying when they fold in while you're cranking fast. Or you can lose your grip and the crank then un-rewinds a ways. But I do admire those cranks on certain Canon RF models that fold down flush into the camera top.

OTOH, the knob rewind on my M2 is fine too, and I've not been tempted to get an accessory crank for it. The newer MP improves on this, I understand, with a brake to inhibit reverse-turning. Sounds good!

 

[maddoc]

Oh ... this old thread came up 😎 I have re-read my former post here, the MP is long gone and so is the rewind crank add-on. 🙂

Having an M2 now I can live very well with the knob, it doesn't slip back and albeit takes longer time than rewinding my M4-P or M6, it doesn't bother me at all.

The best rewind system of all M Leicas is the ratchet bottom-plate system of the M5. Nothing sticks out, simple mechanics, no sliping back and very fast due to the large rewind arm. I wonder why Leica have omitted this system in the newer models ...