Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/10/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 12:01 AM 10/3/96 -0700, you wrote: >I have a Leica R6 and am considering the purchase of either a motor drive or >winder. The drive allows 4 frames per second and takes 10 batteries, while >the winder allows 2 fps and takes 6. Anyone have any experience with either >of these add-ons? I'm interested in your experience, especially with regard >to: I've used both professionally for years. >o Reliability The Winder R and Motor R are much more reliable than the Winder R4 and Motor R4 units. The difference is the "R" were beefed up because the "R4" ones broke too often. the newer ones are more quiet because of a different clutch mechanism. The R units also add electric contacts which requires a different hand grip. The botton on the top of the newer grip is electrical and much better to use. They also have a button on the front of the units which makes shooting vertical pictures much easier than holding your elbow way up in the air. >o The usefulness of the winder's 2 fps (vs. 4 with the drive) It depends on what you shoot. If you need the 4 fps, get it. It's much larger and bulkier, but it does help balance bigger lenses better. It also sounds cooler. <g> It's not that noisey. I've had people comment at football games that they don't hear my cameras at all. >o Loudness of one vs. the other Speaking of which, the winder is very quiet, but the motor is not objectionalble. You can always turn them off and leave them on the body when you don't want them making noise. >o The additional need for the hand grip that Leica sells The hand grip is a MUST! It really makes handling the camera/motor much, much better. >o Overall satisfaction I love them. Hardly ever used the cameras without them, except in court. They are very useful for use on a copy stand as well. Less chance of changing the position of the body. They do not add to vibration of the body during exposure. >My understanding is that I can use the same drive or winder on my R6 that is >currently sold for the R6.2 or R7. Thanks. They were actually changed about the time the R5 came out. No changes since then. A few points. The R7 uses the same motors, but needs a different hand grip because the camera is taller. You can't use the old grip on it. Period. The winder and motor both power all R camears except the R7, because the circuits in the R7 were changed from analog to digital, and have different power requirements. Use them with nicad batteries, and you save a lot of money on batteries, and save the environment from useless trash. And, they run in much colder temperatures than alkalines (which when powering the bodies can be a significant help). =========== Eric Welch Grants Pass, OR