ismon Posted November 20, 2006 Share #1 Posted November 20, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 20, 2006 Posted November 20, 2006 Hi ismon, Take a look here M8 with Low-tech Design Flaw?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
stunsworth Posted November 20, 2006 Share #2 Posted November 20, 2006 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted November 20, 2006 Share #3 Posted November 20, 2006 True there's no PC socket, so as Steve says, you just buy an adapter. Not exactly rocket science! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted November 20, 2006 Share #4 Posted November 20, 2006 I think Stephen Gandy @ CameraQuest has a 'doo dacky' that does such a job. A double shoe bracket that fits the camera hot shoe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogopix Posted November 20, 2006 Share #5 Posted November 20, 2006 I think Wein has one with a surge protector for the camera might be a wise investment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grober Posted November 20, 2006 Share #6 Posted November 20, 2006 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted November 20, 2006 Share #7 Posted November 20, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) A Wein safe sync has a hot shoe and a pc connector. - C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismon Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share #8 Posted November 20, 2006 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted November 21, 2006 Share #9 Posted November 21, 2006 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted November 21, 2006 Share #10 Posted November 21, 2006 Quarter inch drill bit, a knowledge of circuitry, a jack and a rubber plug. I kind of missed the absence of a socket amonst all the diatribe. Thanks for heads up. No one else mentioned it that I saw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
afineman Posted July 4, 2007 Share #11 Posted July 4, 2007 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 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/9711-m8-with-low-tech-design-flaw/?do=findComment&comment=298383'>More sharing options...
ho_co Posted July 4, 2007 Share #12 Posted July 4, 2007 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... --HC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 5, 2007 Share #13 Posted July 5, 2007 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankg Posted July 5, 2007 Share #14 Posted July 5, 2007 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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