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M8 with Low-tech Design Flaw?


ismon

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As a professional Leicapath (24 cameras & 28 lenses) I am no stranger to the idiosyncrasies of these always marvelous, sometimes maddening machines. I have made my living using Leicas exclusively for 42 years. I have Digiluxes (3), but before I acquire an M8. I have a simple question. How does one trigger a flash if there is a viewfinder in the hotshoe? Seems Solms forgot that M's are not just for available light. Wide-angle interiors would be great with the new Tri-Elmar, If only we didn't have to choose between flash sync and composition. Is this too obvious a flaw, or did I miss something?

 

ismon

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I tempted to express suprise that you can use flash eith Ms :-)

 

Instead, why not buy one on those hot shoe thingies with a synch socket on the back, and fix the viewfinder on top of that?

 

I'd imagine you'd be using off camera flash as I don't think most on camera flashguns have the coverage for wide angle lenses.

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The available double shoe adapter from CameraQuest turns your hotshoe into a cold shoe. I have one and find it only useful when using an accessory viewfinder and a spirit level, for example. I also used it to hold a viewfinder and small light meter on my M4 even though that looked a little too geeky and cluttered.

 

Remember, the M8 has no PC socket which thereby limits the usefulness of the aforementioned double shoe adapter.

 

-g

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The obvious solution would have been a professional model. A Wein safe sync raises an attached viewfinder by 18mm (almost 3/4"). That's a lot of parallax to contend with. Kinda makes that new $700 viewfinder useless. Maybe the new finder could have a sync connection on it (not another hot shoe). If the M8 is a professional 's camera, it needs to handle more than a 24mm and a shoe mounted SF24D. That's not rocket science.

 

ismon

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The obvious solution would have been a professional model. A Wein safe sync raises an attached viewfinder by 18mm (almost 3/4"). That's a lot of parallax to contend with. Kinda makes that new $700 viewfinder useless. Maybe the new finder could have a sync connection on it (not another hot shoe). If the M8 is a professional 's camera, it needs to handle more than a 24mm and a shoe mounted SF24D. That's not rocket science.

 

ismon

 

You're right about the parallax. We've discussed this on the forum before for that same reason. What's needed is a very low profile insert (with either a jack or a cord) that itself has a cold shoe on top. Perhaps someone will come up with that.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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  • 7 months later...

Michael Bass just modified the Voigtlander Double Shoe adapter for me and turned it into a Hot shoe adapter. You can see photos of his handywork here:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_CRxbBKkoqIY/Rn71zafRN1I/AAAAAAAAASc/V23kNXpaCeA/s1600-h/CustomHotShoe.jpg

 

I don't want to get into a big argument about using a flash with a Leica, there are times that I need to use it for work and this little adapter makes my work that much easier and paralax free.

 

Michael's website is:

http://michaelbass.blogspot.com

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Seems Solms forgot that M's are not just for available light. ... Is this too obvious a flaw, or did I miss something?

Bill--

Others have addressed the 'remedy' issue. As for why Solms may have chosen to drop the external synch contact, see Mark Norton's M8 Anatomy thread: There is a circuit board in the space where we have previously found those contacts.

 

And remember, it has all been downhill since the red-dial IIIf :), which could synch with any flash ever made. Then in the M3 we got only X and FP (as I recall)--though we needed either a proprietary cord or a PC adapter. With the M6 only X synch remained, but Leica had long since switched to standard PC contacts. With the M8 we still have X, but now need an adapter to use a synch cable.

 

Actually, looking at it that way, the only thing different today is that Leica doesn't offer the adapter in its shrunken range of accessories... :rolleyes:

 

--HC

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I'm sure one of the Rube Goldbergs in the Leica world will come up with a fully dedicated adapter. Let's hope it will be low and wide enough (to the left!!!) to accomodate the Visoflex.

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I'm sure one of the Rube Goldbergs in the Leica world will come up with a fully dedicated adapter. Let's hope it will be low and wide enough (to the left!!!) to accomodate the Visoflex.

Michael Bass is making one already that fits under the Viso. The wire spins so it can be placed left, right or straight out. You can have it with any connector you want on the other end.

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