Unlocking R8 Battery Compartment

[planner]

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Can't do this. Followed Mike Thomas's YouTube video to no avail. Any suggestions most welcome!

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[masjah]

Can't do this. Followed Mike Thomas's YouTube video to no avail. Any suggestions most welcome!

 

I've just looked at the video, and mine doesn't open as easily as his! It can be a stubborn little beggar. I usually manage it as follows:

 

(1) Make sure you haven't got a tripod plate obstructing it (yes I know it's obvious, but guess who's made that mistake before now).

 

(2) With the finger of one hand press the catch as far as you can to the open position, and whilst holding it in that position, use the thumb of your other hand to push downwards (towards the base of the camera) the top front of the battery cover, kind of massaging it downwards. Eventually you'll see a gap open up below the chrome trim, and then it should slide down OK. Persevere and you'll get there.

 

Evey time I have to change the batteries I have this problem, and I think "I'll never get this beggar off" but it will eventually move. I really don't know why it does this. Good luck!

[planner]

Thanks so much, John

 

I followed your advice but also placed a thin, blunt metal edge in the gap between the chrome and the cover and twisted carefully. Presto. However, my ultimate solution will be a motor drive, Pity it costs almost as much as the amazing R8 body.

 

Best,

 

 

Tim

[masjah]

Thanks so much, John

 

I followed your advice but also placed a thin, blunt metal edge in the gap between the chrome and the cover and twisted carefully. Presto. However, my ultimate solution will be a motor drive, Pity it costs almost as much as the amazing R8 body.

 

Best,

 

 

Tim

 

Tim, glad you got the thing off! Yes, the market priceing does seem a bit bizarre. I think it's more a question of the R8 being ridiculously cheap, because a lot of s/h R9s are now coming on the market. The R lenses are of course quite another matter!

[planner]

Yep, agree that R8 body is a great bargain. It sold for $2395 in 1999 - slightly more than the M6 TTL which I also own. R lenses are up and down in price. My 50mm Summicron was far cheaper than the 50mm M that I own. But a used 35mm Summicron-R is expensive and an old 21-35mm (like William Klein's) is often well over $3000. I guess this is due to pro demand and M240 owners.

[farnz]

... I guess this is due to pro demand and M240 owners.

Also due to how undervalued the R lenses had been following Leica's unfortunate decision to drop the R line. They're now returning to price levels that their value justifies I think.

 

Pete.

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I recently bought a brand new R8 sealed in the box from one of the latest batches just before the R9 according to the serial, for only 325 euro!!

[Lisa Davidson]

On 7/22/2014 at 6:26 AM, planner said:

Thanks so much, John

 

I followed your advice but also placed a thin, blunt metal edge in the gap between the chrome and the cover and twisted carefully. Presto. However, my ultimate solution will be a motor drive, Pity it costs almost as much as the amazing R8 body.

 

Best,

 

 

Tim

An absolutely great idea.  Yet another use for a simple kitchen kinfe.  It worked very, very well, and of course it \had never occurred to me to do that.  Thanks again. 

[wlaidlaw]

One reason that the R8 motor winders are in short supply is that they have a tendency to fail irretrievably from a design error. When you come to the end of a film, if the camera has not completed a wind on and you don't rewind the film immediately, the motor remains powered up and stalled, with no back EMF to reduce the current flow. It has no ventilation and given that the CR123A batteries are lithium manganese, they can supply a quite high current. The motor will quickly overheat to the extent that the stator distorts and the motor seizes. Leica chose not to put a power switch on the Motor-Winder R8 like they did on the Motor-M, so you cannot isolate the winder from the batteries other than the power switch on the camera. This does not have full authority and only powers down the camera from sending a wake up signal to the winder and not the winder itself. Leica really should have put an auto-shutdown or current limiting switch in the motor circuit to prevent this problem. 

The solution is that you must always rewind a film immediately on coming to the last frame and make 100% sure that the camera is switched off when putting it in a bag, so that it will not be taking unintentional photos in the bag and come to the end of the film, without you knowing about it. I had a fairly serious search for a replacement motor for my R8 winder and failed to find one near enough to fit, in spite of searching for hours through far east electronic/electric equipment websites. I managed to un-seize my motor, after stripping down the winder but not enough for it to be workable again. I ended up buying a new old stock replacement winder R8 and another one came with the barely used R8 I bought to have a spare for my heavily used R9, for when that dies, so hopefully that will keep me motor-winding for some time.

It is probably best to remove the batteries from the handle of the winder if it is not going to be used for a long period. 

Wilson