Buying Leica R from German Leica store and hoping for no shutter delay

[Radost]

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After so many R cameras that  I got  have shutter delay I ordered a R5 from a German Leica store. Let’s see if Leica will send me a working one.

My SL and R3 work great. But My R4 R5 R7 RE have shutter delay.

I really like the R5 the most for size. I am hoping the one from the leica store works. 

Will follow up after I receive it. 

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[wizard]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Radost:

I am hoping the one from the leica store works. 

Ask them to check it for shutter delay before shipping the camera.

[a.noctilux]

3 hours ago, Radost said:

My SL and R3 work great

My SL has no shutter delay (well much less than my R4/5/6/R-E)

80ms for Leica R even the mechanical R6 ?

 

 

post #6 (wagner)

The Leica R4s has a tested delay of 160ms. (photo Revue 1985)

 

For comparison :

Minolta X 300: 90ms

Pentax Super A 150ms

Contax MA 110ms

Canon Al1 80ms

Nikon FE2 60ms

Canon T50 170ms

Ricoh XR P 370ms

[Radost]

On 7/18/2024 at 3:33 PM, wizard said:

Ask them to check it for shutter delay before shipping the camera.

I did.

[Radost]

On 7/18/2024 at 4:16 PM, a.noctilux said:

My SL has no shutter delay (well much less than my R4/5/6/R-E)

80ms for Leica R even the mechanical R6 ?

 

 

post #6 (wagner)

The Leica R4s has a tested delay of 160ms. (photo Revue 1985)

 

For comparison :

Minolta X 300: 90ms

Pentax Super A 150ms

Contax MA 110ms

Canon Al1 80ms

Nikon FE2 60ms

Canon T50 170ms

Ricoh XR P 370ms

Not the issue.The issue is delayed “sticky” mirror 

[Radost]

camera arrived and it has shutter delay.

I was hoping a german leica store will have the camera serviced and in perfect condition.

I think i am giving up on the idea of having R4-7 cameras. I love the design and feel but can not live with the shutter delay.

It is very disappointing that Leica made those cameras for such a long time and they all had this design flaw.

 

[earleygallery]

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What exactly is the issue? I'd be surprised if Leica sent you a faulty used camera.

I have had R3's since new and when my original one started playing up I tried a later R and immediately noticed the difference (delay) in the shutter action. I decided to buy another R3 as I preferred the feel of it.

 

[TomB_tx]

I've had R cameras that increased shutter delay with age. I expect this is due to the lubricants getting sticky in the mirror damping mechanism. I had the same issue with aging Pentax MX bodies which used a pneumatic damper on the mirror.

[Eclectic Man]

My R5 has significant shutter delay, but that is the nature of a mostly mechanical SLR camera.  The mirror flips up and then the exposure is made.  (I have several photographs taken on holiday in Antarctica of a splash where a penguin used to be.) Compared to the newer cameras which rely on electric motors and big batteries to wind on the film and flip the mirror to of the way, an old style SLR which uses springs to perform the mechanical operations will probably be slower.  What shutter delay were you expecting?

See, e.g., https://casualphotophile.com/2018/07/18/leica-r5-camera-review-marthas-vineyard/ and search for shutter lag

One of the comments states: 

Quote

There is distinct shutter lag, just like with the Minolta XD. It’s intentional, actually. The camera takes a split second meter reading just before the shutter releases. It takes some getting used to. After a day, it didn’t bother me anymore.

I do still love my Leica R5 though.  Whenever I think I really should sell it and pick it up I fall in love with it all over again.  (You always remember your first love ...)

[250swb]

I’ve been out photographing action events today with my R-E (an R5). And while the shutter release is slightly slower than my M cameras or my Nikon SLR’s I’m old enough and experienced enough to know I can educate my finger to anticipate and compensate. There is something troubling if you can’t adapt to the world and want the world to adapt to you considering it’s an action that can save your life crossing the road.

[davidmknoble]

This was an interesting thread, so I did some research.  It appears that the Leica R8/R9 have delays of about 60 milliseconds.  The Nikon F2 has a delay of about 58ms and the Nikon F3 about 50ms.  The F2 is a manual camera and F3 electronic.  This is interesting because the Leica R3 and R4 are both about 40ms according to each user manual and technical reviews.  Yet, the Leica R6 is also about 40ms.  So, the Leica R3, R4 and R6 (didn’t look at the R5 or R7) are some of the fasters SLR systems in terms of shutter lag.