Issues with the Hot Shoe of the M10 and M11 - Your Feedback is more than welcome!

[Anbaric]

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4 hours ago, fotografr said:

Probably never used a thumbs up on a Nikon. I recall when using my old Nikon's that when initially sliding a flash unit it would be somewhat loose until being tightened down by the wheel on the flash. Same with my Canons. 

A thumb grip is quite an odd use for a flash shoe and maybe it puts more stress on it than some other things, but it seems like the springs deforming is an issue with other accessories too, including flash units (as here). I have one of those Nikon flashguns, and I guess it's designed to slide in and out quite easily until you tighten the wheel, but I haven't noticed the shoe getting looser over time - I suspect the springs are more resilient.

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[jgeenen]

I think it is not a "hot shoe issue". Yes, the hot shoe spring might get flatter over the time but - at least on my M9, M10, M240 and M11 I never had an issue with a loose flash or thumbs grip. But - if I understand it correctly - the only point is that the supplied plastic thing called hot shoe cover - at some point in time - no longer sits strong on the hot shoe and gets lost.

So we do have in fact a "hot shoe cover issue". Leica could fix this very easy by asking for a slightly "thicker" hot shoe cover (or a cover with an springy bend like other brands use) (I am pretty sure they are not making them themselves). Probably you could fix it by putting a little bit of electro tape to the bottom of the shoe (I did a similar thing with the original Q2 cap that does not sits tight on the lens hood). For this type of corrective action I prefer the red TESA ISO tape - it has a strong glue, the tape material is strong and the color is Leica red (although invisible when the cover sits on the camera)

BTW - part of the root cause seems to be the famous M traditionalism (we are all a victim of). Other Leica cameras like the Q don't use a curved shape "spring" but a more modern upward pointing "spring" that I find at many other modern camera brands. Those have a totally different spring torque that is much easier to handle than the three-bend-spring of the M

[Smudgerer]

3 hours ago, Cologne_1961 said:

Hi everbody, i have the same issue on my M11 as well on my formerly owned M10. Gaffer Tape around the flash cover???? on a +$8000 camera seems to be a joke, I would expect a proper solution from Leica on this one. Would you expect an Rolls Royce owner to fix parts with gaffer tape to not lose any equipment🫣?

Well if you ever visited a film set you'd probably see gaffer/paper camera tape fixing a whole host of things on and around a movie camera, cameras that cost many times that of the M whatever #'s. I still use tape all the time on my cameras for a bunch of tasks. The trick is to use good quality camera tape, regular grey/black tapes from a hardware store will soon leave sticky residue that is a PITA to remove.

[charlesphoto99]

Hot shoe covers are like lens caps - made to be lost. 

[kiwidad]

19 hours ago, Helmut said:

Hello everyone, 

I love my M11 but now have unfortunately an issue with the hot shoe or its plastic cover.

To photograph my friend and former professor's 90th birthday with the M11 without any noise or blur, I put the Leica Flash SF60 in the hot shoe.

Unfortunately, after the photo session, the cover no longer fit on the hot shoe. I reported such a problem to Leica about 5 years ago with the M10 and the hot shoe has been repaired. After the repair, I hadn't used the flash anymore.

Today I have to learn from Leica that this issue has still not been solved.

My question to all of you: Has anyone made the same experience? If so, it would be more than helpful to contact the Leica Customer Care Service (customer.care@leica-camera.com). This would really help to prioritize this issue in the right direction.

I would be very happy to receive any feedback from forum members! Many thanks.

buy the Leica brass cover or the match technical brass one. A tighter fit for sure.

correct be if I am wrong but isnt the cover listed as part of the weather protection? seems like I read that somewhere?

[jeri]

I don't have a camera with a thumb grip, nor will I have one in the future. The camera shoe mount flash is designed for the flash, or for an external eyepiece and also for the visoflex device. In my opinion, the thumb grip produces a lot of continuous torque on the shoe mount springs, which can cause weakening and loosening.

[jeri]

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7 hours ago, Cologne_1961 said:

Hi everbody, i have the same issue on my M11 as well on my formerly owned M10. Gaffer Tape around the flash cover???? on a +$8000 camera seems to be a joke, I would expect a proper solution from Leica on this one. Would you expect an Rolls Royce owner to fix parts with gaffer tape to not lose any equipment🫣?

Don't see any problem using guffer tape. Leica is a camera to take pictures with, not a grand prize that you put on a showcase.

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[MyLeicaWorld]

7 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

Well if you ever visited a film set you'd probably see gaffer/paper camera tape fixing a whole host of things on and around a movie camera, cameras that cost many times that of the M whatever #'s. I still use tape all the time on my cameras for a bunch of tasks. The trick is to use good quality camera tape, regular grey/black tapes from a hardware store will soon leave sticky residue that is a PITA to remove.

Do you have link for that quality tape? My 21 mm external viewfinder does not stay on the hot shoe.. too loose to hold.. also same for the thumbgrip.. M10 had the same problems.. 

[muskyvibes]

I’ve been thinking about one of these. Can’t make up my mind. 
 

1) brass flower pattern

https://www.camgadgetworld.com/product/hot-shoe-cover-flower-vintage-brass/
 

2) Waves brass 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.OfWGD

3) Match Technical plain black 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1619337-REG/match_technical_acs_m10_leica_m10_accessory_shoe.html
 

Mine is the 10R Black Paint. What would you go for?

[jaapv]

What about These. The description is not very convincing, but there are more offers like this.https://www.ebay.ie/itm/275757239666?hash=item4034698d72:g:eUEAAOSw6~lkHAFO&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4HBHjnlAbLgMNx1QmM5i%2BmBgoaFoyz5zdpcnPZoALbL9YAcgIOcpWYv%2F7jN8GV4qescqcguTQwu331ADTwv9GEYaFKQLadHv1rtPwvFSThW%2Bz4pI9erKBerXaPaW174UlPbE%2BRH0mfYLcVvEh1%2B6yq%2BUZawbo7N2nIC4M987EZZlZdE%2FrWXyHfP8848EiKbFUuacp2J%2FginKZr3NDAIhjrBdt8%2FY5BuZ%2FAh%2Bk3HxQEPIshSZEOjY5KjH93Je4rQzloqhdDa2w8kFsq%2BUv8Yw3CSodqTXVGz0UJQ53L5Bf0wl|tkp%3ABFBMqJG8h41j,

[jeri]

I know people who decorate the outside of their cars with wind deflectors and spoilers. And these are the same people, who somehow always manage to destroy their spoiler in an accidental encounter with the curb...

[Olaf_ZG]

Two weeks ago I bought a new mp240. Took it out to the companies xmas party with the godox junior as a fill flash. Yesterday evening I found a piece of metal which came out of the hotshoe from the mp. Put it back and hope it stays there. That said, I guess, without all will work as well so I don’t really fret about it, but I never experienced this with other brands.

[jaapv]

A new M 240 ? 

[Olaf_ZG]

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

A new M 240 ? 

Showroommodel, when registering at the Leica site, I even got an additional one year warranty.

[kiwidad]

On 12/12/2023 at 11:59 AM, Helmut said:

Hello everyone, 

I love my M11 but now have unfortunately an issue with the hot shoe or its plastic cover.

To photograph my friend and former professor's 90th birthday with the M11 without any noise or blur, I put the Leica Flash SF60 in the hot shoe.

Unfortunately, after the photo session, the cover no longer fit on the hot shoe. I reported such a problem to Leica about 5 years ago with the M10 and the hot shoe has been repaired. After the repair, I hadn't used the flash anymore.

Today I have to learn from Leica that this issue has still not been solved.

My question to all of you: Has anyone made the same experience? If so, it would be more than helpful to contact the Leica Customer Care Service (customer.care@leica-camera.com). This would really help to prioritize this issue in the right direction.

I would be very happy to receive any feedback from forum members! Many thanks.

I just got an sf60 and it flops around in the hotshot . Seems crazy, and now the Leica thumb grips is looser than it already was. Doesn’t seem to affect the Visoflex tho. I put the flash on a different camera and it’s solid so it’s not the flash shoe that is loose on the flash

[High_n_Dry]

My hotshoe became loose after using the Match thumb grip on my M11. It was an easy fix by lifting up the metal prongs, but I went to a stick on Thumbie to stop stressing the hotshoe. Plus, it's easier with flash/visoflex. I had to send my SL2 back to Leica as the Match thumb grip loosened the shoe to the point where my ProFoto trigger would not work.

My GF bought me a hotshoe cover from Jay Tsujimura in Tokyo. You can get much cheaper versions on the web, but his are handmade and soooo nice! https://shopjay.com/en/products/list.php?category_id=53 . This is another reason to get rid of the thumb grip and go with a Thumbie.