scott kirkpatrick Posted January 20, 2007 Share #1 Â Posted January 20, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) From the recent IR-Newsletter (a digest of the Imaging-resource.com website): Â LEICA Â Â Also at Pepcom, we had an interesting chat with Christian Erhardt at the Leica booth (Leica - Three Independent Companies Share the Leica Brand) after a Leica fan complained to him about the touch on the Leica M8 shutter. Christian told us that it's actually adjustable. Set by the women at the factory, it can be factory adjusted if the owner isn't happy with it. Â Â Has anyone else heard this? Tried to have it done? How do you describe a desired "touch" in words that the technician can understand? Â scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 20, 2007 Posted January 20, 2007 Hi scott kirkpatrick, Take a look here M8 shutter feel is adjustable. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Eoin Posted January 20, 2007 Share #2 Â Posted January 20, 2007 Leica must be changing the touch of the shutter when the M8's are back in Solms. Mine arrived back and the gritty feel is gone, replaced by a soft 2 stage meter/lock and the 3rd stage release is smooth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted January 20, 2007 Share #3 Â Posted January 20, 2007 I confirmed with Solms that the power switch and shutter release are being adjusted as part of the camera upgrade. The new release is much better, but not perfect. It's still markedly gritty on the release. Â At the end of the day, the shutter release is only activating a 3 stage switch - initial pressure point to clear the menu, exposure lock, release and it's a pity Leica didn't spend a few euros more to get it really right. It is one of the primary user interfaces. Â I wouldn't be surprised if there was an upgrade available - for a fee - at some point in the future, a bit like the IR film speed reader upgrade on the M7. After all, I've never seen a positive comment about the shutter release feel. Opinion is either neutral or negative. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted January 20, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted January 20, 2007 I've been thinking about this, and think that a two-stage release is sufficient. Turning on the camera and clearing the menu does not have to be separte from locking the exposure, IMO. They are separate actions anyway, and are not done logically together. So, halfway to turn on camera OR lock exposure, all the way to shoot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevez4 Posted January 20, 2007 Share #5 Â Posted January 20, 2007 Does the change you mention softem the terrible shutter sound? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted January 20, 2007 Share #6 Â Posted January 20, 2007 No, still as noisy as ever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlaurpic Posted January 20, 2007 Share #7 Â Posted January 20, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I love the camera but not the shutter. To really get it right they need to provide for a really muffled quite click to open and close the shutter and then silence until you release pressure from the button, at which point the shutter would be tensioned again. In this manner, one could take a photo in the most unobrusive fashion and then, if you want, drop the camera to one's side before releasing the button. I do this with my M3 and MP...snap off the shot and then drop the camera to my waist before recocking very slowly, sometimes using the ratcheting movement of the winding lever. A slow quiet advance with the leicavit is also possible, but currently the M8 shutter is just wrong. Still love the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevez4 Posted January 20, 2007 Share #8 Â Posted January 20, 2007 The noise is a problem for my work. I was hoping for a fix. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share #9 Â Posted January 20, 2007 I've been thinking about this, and think that a two-stage release is sufficient. Turning on the camera and clearing the menu does not have to be separte from locking the exposure, IMO. They are separate actions anyway, and are not done logically together. So, halfway to turn on camera OR lock exposure, all the way to shoot. Â Suppose you try several points in a scene to see what exposure you get, locking it and unlocking it each time. While the 12 sec timer might protect you from having the displays go off while you are doing it the present system only turns the shooting display off if you completely remove pressure on the shutter button. It makes sense to me to have that separate from locking the exposure. Â scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffreyg Posted January 20, 2007 Share #10 Â Posted January 20, 2007 OK - here's a first: I think the shutter is pretty good! OK, its not like the snick ofthe M2 shutter, but given the number of things its doing, it does pretty well. The release is fairly linear, as each step is about the same pressure level. Â In contrast, Rollei and the GX shutter (2 stage) is horrid - there is a notchiness with the actual shutter trigger that prohibits good handheld shots at 1/30 or below. This is not the case with the M8, so for me, it gets a passing grade. Â Goeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carstenw Posted January 21, 2007 Share #11  Posted January 21, 2007 Suppose you try several points in a scene to see what exposure you get, locking it and unlocking it each time. While the 12 sec timer might protect you from having the displays go off while you are doing it the present system only turns the shooting display off if you completely remove pressure on the shutter button. It makes sense to me to have that separate from locking the exposure. scott I am trying to follow you, Scott, but failing. Are you saying that you are testing exposure settings for the next picture, without ever letting go of the button, cycling between stage 1 and 2, very slowly (longer than the camera's fall-asleep time), and that you therefore appreciate the three-stage shutter, because stage 1 is keeping the camera alive?  While it is possible to think up cases where three stages is more convenient than two, I am more than willing to separately tap the shutter to bring the system back to life, and then to press the shutter multiple times, once for each exposure I want to test, to have a more normal, two-stage shutter. Three stages causes me to have to think too much each time, since all other systems I have ever used have two stages. Muscle memory, perhaps.  To Geoffrey (Goeff ),  I don't find the current shutter horrible, and I don't have the gritty shutter that some have, but I think that a two-stage shutter would be nicer, and quite sufficient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share #12  Posted January 21, 2007 I am trying to follow you, Scott, but failing. Are you saying that you are testing exposure settings for the next picture, without ever letting go of the button, cycling between stage 1 and 2, very slowly (longer than the camera's fall-asleep time), and that you therefore appreciate the three-stage shutter, because stage 1 is keeping the camera alive?  My apologies. I was having two thoughts at the same time. The role of the fall-asleep time occurred to me as I was trying to describe using the display of the shutter speed suggested by different parts of the image to set what seems likely to be a good compromise, which I then hold while framing the shot. The fall-asleep circuits should keep everything going long enough for this mode of operation. With my M8, the initial step of turning off the play or menu modes is so initial that it doesn't occur to me that I have a three-step shutter. What I feel is stages 2 and 3.  Back to my original question. Has anyone noticed changes in the "feel" of the shutter release since their cameras have been to Solms, or gone in to have this particular issue adjusted?  scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvaubel Posted January 21, 2007 Share #13 Â Posted January 21, 2007 The manual shutter cocking is one of the things that I love about the RD1. People snickered at it when the camera came out, but I have found that slowly cocking the shutter at my discretion to be a real advantage. It's too late for a manual lever but perhaps Leica could have an option to delay shutter cocking until the the shutter button is fully released? Â Rex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted January 21, 2007 Share #14  Posted January 21, 2007 The manual shutter cocking is one of the things that I love about the RD1. People snickered at it when the camera came out, but I have found that slowly cocking the shutter at my discretion to be a real advantage. It's too late for a manual lever but perhaps Leica could have an option to delay shutter cocking until the the shutter button is fully released? Rex  That would be good, selectable as part of a profile... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted January 21, 2007 Share #15  Posted January 21, 2007 I have found that slowly cocking the shutter at my discretion to be a real advantage. .......................... Leica could have an option to delay shutter cocking until the shutter button is fully released? Rex  Rex - I absolutely agree with this. My Mamiya 7s have very quiet shutters but unfortunately rewinding sounds like a creaky barn door being opened during the dead of night, so I too am used to 'dropping' cameras to my side for surreptitious winding. I hope Leica takes note of shutter noise concerns and soon give us an option of shutter cocking controlled by return of the shutter release.  A good friend, a respected teacher, critic, curator, and [exclusively] Leica M user and fan for well over 35 years recently handled an M8 for the first time, his response to hearing the shutter sound is unrepeatable given requirements for delicacy in this forum. I tend to agree with his unrepeatable outburst with regard to certain Leica............. 'design follies'.  ..............................Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted January 21, 2007 Share #16 Â Posted January 21, 2007 I don't quite understand why Leica decided on such a noisy shutter after saying they were trying to duplicate the "M" shooting experience. My little Panasonic LX1 actually has a menu selection to turn off the shutter sound, hmm - stealthy, sorta like a film M. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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