Rolo Posted October 10, 2008 Share #1 Posted October 10, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Has anybody got experience of using the motor drive on an M ? I plan to use one on a recently acquired M7. I'm interested to hear how and why you like it, or not and what you used it for. I'm a left-eyed shooter and am wondering whether the auto wind-on will help stay focussed on the subject and composition, rather than interrupting the flow with the manual wind-on. Do you use it at both speeds and does the wind-on influence your ability to avoid camera movement at slow shutter speeds. I'm presuming that driving in continuos mode will indeed do that below 1/100s, but would appreciate your confirmation. Single shot will be unaffected by the motor ? If you didn't get on with please explain why. Thanks for your input. Rolo ps. I tried a RapidWinder for a very short time and didn't take to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 10, 2008 Posted October 10, 2008 Hi Rolo, Take a look here Leica Motor-M experiences. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
rob_x2004 Posted October 10, 2008 Share #2 Posted October 10, 2008 I dont really know how you manage left eye shoot with an M but I found the following wrt to the 14408; It is a different head space and lets you stay a little more in composition mode. Focus tracking and shooting is easier. I can do it easily without the winder but it is less of a panic because you dont get this wrong "youve only got one go" at the back of your mind. You learn to press shutter release and let your finger ride the shutter button action as being all mechanical connections the winder drives the finger back up with the shutter advance, specially if you are shooting a sequence of frames. Reasonably quiet. Adds a heap of weight that you will notice. Definitely not a good shape, tubular battery compartment opens your grip and also means that between the grip and the circular back of the camera the camera now wants to roll out of your palm to the right, so you do tend to hang on a bit with your palm. MP is a bit smooth on the grip so I put elastoplast under the heel of my palm. Actually, finding the right place for some of your fingers takes a bit of getting used to specially for people who have the tip of their shutter finger permanently fixed to the front of the shutter speed dial. Learn to ignore it with respect to film changes and other than a tiny spring press back it is as easy to fit as a normal base plate. Dont "try" to figure it out just push it on it will slip onto the right place, unless you are a take three days to change a film kind of person and like ... fiddling. Battery life seems good. Though I dont know what bad would be. Remember its a change bag if you are mid roll and want it off. I reckon they have plenty of application. Other than the price of the things I dont understand why there arent more about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted October 10, 2008 Share #3 Posted October 10, 2008 Ps....With repect to camera movement/shake, it has absolutely no affect whatsoever, it doesnt bounce the camera at all, in either wind on speed. Vibrationless. Just that it pumps your shutter release finger back up and that moves the camera in your grip if you are used to making the frame and keeping your finger down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerimager Posted October 11, 2008 Share #4 Posted October 11, 2008 I love using the motor M on my M7. For one, as I shoot much more often with an M8, I've found that I occasionally would forget to advance the film and miss a shot, sad but true. But more so, I find it fits the workflow using the automatic metering of the M7, together you get a very rapid acquisition camera that allows you to think only about composition for the most part. On my M5, with manual metering, I kind of slow down everything, and really don't miss a motor wind, but it lives on the M7 As to speed, I leave it on the slower speed, it's quieter and fast enough. As said, it does not contribute at all to camera shake. best......Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boilerdoc Posted October 11, 2008 Share #5 Posted October 11, 2008 Ditto on the above comments. I have the Motor Drive (not winder) on each of my two M7s. Very quiet and even quieter on the 'I" setting. The shutter release pumping up and down with your finger takes some getting used to but no biggy. Batteries (lithiums) last a LONG time! And if they go dead mid roll you DO NOT have to remove the drive to replace them. They drop out of the grip thru a small door. And you could always switch to manula advance at any time. I put some skate board tape on the grip to improve....grip. Works fine! You'll love it if you don't mind the added weight. If you want light weight get the Leicavit or Tom Abrahmson's mechanical winder. Both fabulous! Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted October 11, 2008 Many thanks to all. for this information. Appreciated. My concerns over continuos slow speed use comes from Nemeng's Leica FAQ where he writes - "For one-off photos this is not a problem, but when shooting continuous sequences the motor will jerk the camera between exposures, effectively ruling out s/speeds slower than 1/125th." I'm pleased that your experiences rule this out. Rolo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted October 11, 2008 Share #7 Posted October 11, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've always thought that the Motor-M was a nice complement to the M7 - balances nicely, especially when you are using larger lenses. I've never found the 'bounce' to be intrusive. Incidentally, if you decide to give the motor-M a go, I have an Exc+ one I have no use for which I'll shortly be adding to the buy/sell section here (and which I'll be happy to let go for a song). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
budrichard Posted October 11, 2008 Share #8 Posted October 11, 2008 I have two M7's both with Motor M's and would not have it any other way. Recently I purchased a Leicavit M for comparison purposes and if you are concerned about camera jerk than a Leicavit M is not for you. The Motor M is simply made for the M7 and a match made in heaven! I can echo all the previous positive comments and have done two weddings using K200 available light and simply no intrusion into the ceremonies. The only problem concerns multiple shots in the II mode if you meter off center and hold the exposure with a partial stroke of the shutter. The next exposure will revert to the curently metered scene. In that case simply revert to manual shutter.-Dick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share #9 Posted October 11, 2008 Recently I purchased a Leicavit M for comparison purposes and if you are concerned about camera jerk than a Leicavit M is not for you.The Motor M is simply made for the M7 and a match made in heaven!-Dick Thanks Ian and Dick. I'm only concerned about unnecessary camera shake because someone wrote that it was unavoidable in continuos mode. I have no experience of this myself and am delighted to read here that it's not an issue. That's very pleasing. Accept that you wouldn't have it any other way Dick, but please expand on what difference it makes for you. Rolo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacarape Posted October 12, 2008 Share #10 Posted October 12, 2008 I use the Motor M on an MP, and a common attraction is it provides a nice grip with larger lenses, such as teh 75 Lux. With a lens like the goggled 135, it interefes with installing and removing the lens. I'm really not sure if using a motor will effect shots at < 1/125, that doesn't seem very logical, it's not like it's generating pounds of torque, normal hand holding adds more movement then the motor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share #11 Posted October 12, 2008 HELP !! Just put a test film through with the motor attached and whilst shooting on setting 'II', it ripped the film out of the cassette !! :eek: That would be quite shocking in any circumstances, especially a wedding. Presumably, that's not normal ? What is going wrong, or what have I done ? Rolo ps just read in the manual that there is a 'load control' inside the Motor-M to prevent this from happening. Obviously not working effectively. Bugger. :-( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted October 12, 2008 Share #12 Posted October 12, 2008 ps just read in the manual that there is a 'load control' inside the Motor-M to prevent this from happening. Obviously not working effectively. Bugger. :-( That shouldn't happen. When you get to the end of the roll, the motor mechanism should just 'stall'. I've owned two Motor-Ms over the years and I've never known one to tear the film from the cassette. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
budrichard Posted October 12, 2008 Share #13 Posted October 12, 2008 "Accept that you wouldn't have it any other way Dick, but please expand on what difference it makes for you." After many years of Nikon Ftn and Leica M3, metering manually, composing and focusing and then winding for the next exposure, I now have Nikon FM3a/MD12 and M7's/Motor M's. Now I just have to focus and compose and shoot. It has allowed for continuous composition/focusing with no interuptions to meter and wind film. Did you use a factory film or reload? Take another roll of something cheap factory and run through the exercise again and repeat while not rewinding the whole film into the casette. If its one time thing, then who knows but if it happens consistantly obviously the Motor has a problem. Did you purchase new or used? Good luck, I have never had that happen.-Dick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share #14 Posted October 12, 2008 Dick, It was a Kodak colour film, not a reload. The film split diagonally. I was just running the film through as a test, no images, as I wanted to observe the end of roll halt and the go through the rewind, release tension procedure. The motor was on higher speed and just blew through 36 .... 37 .... 38. At first I thought it was a 4 gig card. The Motor M arrived on Saturday and is used dealer stock in cosmetically mint condition. There's no problem with return. I'll let him know tomorrow and see what his advice is. Thanks, Rolo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted October 12, 2008 Share #15 Posted October 12, 2008 Gee Ive never thought of doing that. Never torn a film out and I reload cannisters, but, I have never let the winder have its head from half way through a roll and run flat out into the stop. Have to give it a go. Shame you werent on the test program for the m8/8.2. Always figured the first (or last?) thing a tester should do is drop the camera to see what happens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share #16 Posted October 13, 2008 Shame you werent on the test program for the m8/8.2. There wasn't one !! Rolo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
budrichard Posted October 13, 2008 Share #17 Posted October 13, 2008 A diagonal split would imply that a sprocket hole had torn versas the film being torn from the spool. In the case of a film tear from a defective sprocket hole, the motor should have kept going as the froces would have decreased as the tear progressed. Although I have never encountered any problem like that in 50 years of using Kodak film, consider having the dealer supply a roll and run it through. Good luck.-Dick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 13, 2008 Share #18 Posted October 13, 2008 FWIW, the Annie Leibowitz documentary - A Life through a Lens, now available on DVD - shows her using a Motor M on an M6 or M7. I would much rather the M8 had been made smaller and required the winder for motorised use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riccis Posted October 13, 2008 Share #19 Posted October 13, 2008 Rolo - I use it on one of my M7s and while it works great, it did rip my film from the cassette one time (Efke film)... Since then, I ensure to never go over 35 frames just in case... I only use it on the first setting and only when I know I will be shooting something in a bit of a sequence with the Noctilux... Regards, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 13, 2008 Share #20 Posted October 13, 2008 If you look at the space taken up by the motor wind, and compare that with a mechanical shutter wind, yes, it would have been smaller. It would also have been smaller and saved battery power. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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