antonioxrosa Posted April 21 Share #1 Posted April 21 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am afraid this is a silly question but I do not know the answer. I had a M10 and I have now a M11M but thing about to get a real classic M. Two in my radar: the MA and the M4. My question is about the Leica MA and the hot shoe. If the camera has no electronics how does work the "electronic" connection of the hot shoe? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 21 Posted April 21 Hi antonioxrosa, Take a look here Leica MA "hotshot" . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
LocalHero1953 Posted April 21 Share #2 Posted April 21 I can't answer your question for certain; however you may want to edit the title of your post! I believe the answer is that the only action the camera performs is to mechanically close an electrical circuit created by the flash: it doesn't actually need electrical power to do that. The MA should be able to do that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotoklaus Posted April 21 Share #3 Posted April 21 It just closes a mechanical circuit. This "short circuit" let the flash fire. One Contact is the middle of the hot shoe, the other is the guide where you put your flash in. You can also use the PC- Socket of he camera, they are connected in parallel. So even a professional studio flash system could be connected. But of course the camera can´t control the flash intensity. Therefore you have to use a flash with has an "Auto"- Mode (flash controls the intensity bey a photo cell) or measure the flash manually with a flashmeter. The name "PC- Socket" comes from the old shutter manufacturers "Prontor" and "Compur". They set the standard connection for flashes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted April 21 Share #4 Posted April 21 The flash houses the control circuit and the camera merely closes the circuit via a mechanical "switch" linked to the shutter....just like the thousands of previous mechanical cameras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonioxrosa Posted April 22 Author Share #5 Posted April 22 Thank you all for your input. It is clear now...and sorry for the mistake in the heading...( not sure I can amend it) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonioxrosa Posted April 30 Author Share #6 Posted April 30 On 4/21/2025 at 5:34 PM, Fotoklaus said: It just closes a mechanical circuit. This "short circuit" let the flash fire. One Contact is the middle of the hot shoe, the other is the guide where you put your flash in. You can also use the PC- Socket of he camera, they are connected in parallel. So even a professional studio flash system could be connected. But of course the camera can´t control the flash intensity. Therefore you have to use a flash with has an "Auto"- Mode (flash controls the intensity bey a photo cell) measure the flash manually with a flashmeter. The name "PC- Socket" comes from the old shutter manufacturers "Prontor" and "Compur". They set the standard connection for flashes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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