Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I've had an M6 for only four months now (I'm mainly an R and LF photographer.) I had a Rapidwinder and Fred Wards soft release waiting fo= r my M6 delivery last February. I have never used my M6 any way other than with the Rapidwinder and the soft release. I cannot imagine using the M6 any other way. The soft release does indeed allow you to hand hold the M6 at a slower speed than without. I fiddled with the camera without the sof= t release and said "no way." With the soft release and the Rapidwinder, it'= s just one easy flow to photograph. You don't push the release, you squeeze it with various parts of your finger or thumb. Never the end. I don't han= d hold my R cameras. Velvia and polarizers prohibit it. So I'm having a gre= at time with my M6. Tom Abrahamsson and Fred Ward are saints. I try to put m= y M6 back in the bag, uncocked, so I don't get a picture of the inside of m= y lens cap. I am in the habit of checking my soft release's tightness. I'm always sort of turning it in the tighten direction to make sure I don't loose it. It's an unconscious action now (OK... I heard that!). Jim At 05:28 PM 5/18/98 -0400, you wrote: >>butzi@halcyon.com (Paul & Paula Butzi) wrote to leica-users@mejac.palo= - - >alto.ca.us, Date:98-05-18 12:22:35 EDT=20 > >>Hey! What's this about a soft release? Would that be release as in shut= ter >release? >>Tell us more! It's not fair to tease like that.< >------------------------------------------------------------------------= - --- - --- >-------------------------------- >Vancouver, B.C., Canada , May 18, 1998 >Paul & Paula and other LUGgers, >Yes, the long rumored Abrahamsson Softrelease has been prototyped. What= it >means is that the CNC lathe (Computer Numerically Controlled) has spat o= ut a >small amount of my initial design. What remains now is the fine-tuning o= f the >design and the other mundane things like: > >=93How much will they cost to make? Can they be anodized? What is the sh= ipping >and packaging cost? And how much are the users going to have to pay for them?=94 > >My Softrelease screws into the regular cable release thread. It has a sl= ight >dome shape to it, knurled edges, and is the same diameter as the =93cup=94= in >which the regular release button of a M camera sits. >The initial batch is made of a 6000 series alloy (easier to machine and adjust >the machine). The production version will be done in a 7000 series alloy. This >one takes the anodizing better and will also take wear and tear better. >There have been quite a few of different Softreleases done over the year= s. >Leica used to make one; a very complex and a too tall one. There are >Softreleases for Nikon F=92s (very nice), and there is a current crop of >Softreleases from Japan (small diameter and mostly decorated with store = names >or product names). >The Softrelease has certain advantages; you gain about a stop in speed a= nd can >moderate your pressure on the release button better. The dome shape (or >mushroom shape) allows you to release the shutter with the first joint o= f the >finger, rather than with the tip of the finger. This allows you a more >controlled pressure, very much the same principal as used for shooting targets >with a pistol. >There are disadvantages to the Softrelease, too. Everytime you put your camera >in the bag with the shutter cocked you will get a shot of the bags inter= ior. >The cable release thread is notorious for unscrewing whatever is screwed= into >it (it is a steeply tapered thread) and a lot of Softreleases are lost e= very >year! >On my design there is a small shoulder at the bottom of the release and = this >=93locks=94 the Softrelease down on the shutter release button. It can s= till >unscrew itself, but with less frequency than the other ones I have used = (and >lost). >The timeline for a production run is difficult to establish right now. >Probably another month at least. I have decided that the Softrelease mus= t be >able to sell for no more than $10/each - and then I have to count backwards to >see what the various stages of production costs.=20 > If the anodizing can be done I will probably make the Softrelease avail= able >in a variety of colors; Green for the users of Tri-X, Red for LUGgers or >=93chrome=94 users, chrome for those using chrome cameras and black for = the more >formal occasions!=20 >Once the production has proven itself feasible I will let the availability and >the final costs on the LUG. Most likely I will request a minimum order >situation to cut down on mailing costs. I have already had request from >LUGgers to serve as agents and I might take them up on that.=20 >Also, the Softrelease is NOT limited to the Leica M. It will fit any cam= era >that uses a standard cable release fitting in the shutter-release button. >For those of you who like to know why I am doing these; it is the same t= hing >as with the Rapidwinder. I wanted some for myself and once you made one,= you >might as well make a dozen or a thousand of them! >At this writing I will be sending around 30 Abrahamsson Softrelease >Prototypes to various LUGgers and friends for them to try out and commen= t >upon. >To be continued! >Tom A >Tom Abrahamsson >#203-1512 Yew St., Vancouver, B.C., V6K 3E4, Canada, >Phone: 604-731-0036,Fax: 604-731-0868, E-mail:TTAbrahams@aol.com >Rapidwinder Webpage in English: (compliments of Hans Pahlen, Sweden) >http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-24872/rapidw.htm >http://www.komvux.skola.mark.se/rapidw.htm (mirror site) >http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/5799/ (Hans Pahlen=92s Homepage) > >Rapidwinder Webpage in Japanese: (compliments of Jun Nakajima, Japan) >http://www.magicalights.co.jp/decadant/tom/index.html >http://www.magicalights.co.jp/decadant/tom/ctom.html (mirror site) >=20