Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/10/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I've used the older winder for the R3 without the grip and liked the balance it lended to the body (the camera became roughly square). 2fps was usually enough for my purposes. I now use the drive with the 5 & 7. The drive will power the 4 & 5, but I believe the 7 draws power from only its own batteries. The handgrip with strap is great, but the shutter release won't lock exposure in (a) mode. So I'm often unlooping my finger and using the normal shutter release. Not a big problem; most people won't be using a drive with spot mode anyway. The grip removed, you have a nice vertical firing button. I still mainly use the drive on 2fps setting, maybe because I dont focus fast enough for true action sports (if these bodies had predictive AF, I might tend to use 4fps and shoot more action shots!) One thing I've heard with motor drives in general is that if the situation is too dark to permit hand held shots; a quick burst (1-2) of a drive at 4 or so fps will give you at least one or two sharp images in the middle of the run. Anyone ever try this with a Leica drive? Have had two mysterious incidences of complete battery drain (checked with a VM, those babies were dead). I suggest removing the battery cartridge for storage. The drives with new style grip should run only $300-400. Good luck! Chris H. cdhoover@pacbell.com