Re: M4-2 winder

[Paul Schliesser <paulsc@eos.net>]

>I have an M4-2 and I am thinking of buying the M4-2 winder.  I know that
>the winder is big , but since I have large hands that does not bother me
>at all, I would be using the 135mm F2.8 mostly.  I was wondering if
>there was any reason other than the size I should not buy the winder. 
>is there any possibility that it will damage the camera.  And has anyone
>ever had their m winder adjusted to the camera I have heard that U
>should send the camera and the winder to Leica to have them balanced. 
>is there any idea what this should cost

John,

I have one of the older M4-2 winders. When I bought it, I was warned that 
the camera and winder would probably need to be adjusted to each other to 
work properly, but they work together fine, as-is. I only use it in a 
studio-type setting, on a tripod, and mostly with a Visoflex.

There is a later M4-2 winder and the "generic" Leica M winder. From what 
I understand, these are less fussy about fit and should not require 
adjustment. They may also be quieter than the one I have. They are also 
capable of continuous shooting, which this one is not. I've heard people 
complain that there is a "jolt" or "kick" on the shutter button with 
continuous shooting. I would definitly try one out before you buy one.

Most of the descriptions I've read of the M winders refer to them as 
being quiet. I don't think mine is especially quiet, and I was initially 
surprised at how violent it seems to be. You can clearly feel the torque 
of the motor as it cranks to the next frame and then jerks to a stop. One 
quirk that it has is that it advances the instant you let up on the 
shutter release, whether the camera is ready or not. You need to 
deliberatly hold the shutter release down until after the second curtain 
closes, when using medium or slow speeds. If you don't, the winder will 
make an unpleasant noise and the winder and camera will jam. You need to 
advance one frame manually to reset it.

It makes the M4-2 larger, noisier and heavier, which, to me, takes away 
some of the reasons to use an M-series camera in the first place, and is 
why I don't use it outside of the studio. It makes the camera awkward to 
use with a small lens like a 35mm, because it transforms the front of the 
camera into large, flat surface with nothing but the lens to hold onto 
while focusing. I need to hook the little finger of my left hand under 
the winder when holding it, instead of resting the camera body on the 
heel of my hand as usual. It's not horrible to use, I just find that I 
don't like it much for hand-held shooting, although I would use it if I 
needed it.

The winder is in two pieces; the winder itself (which replaces the camera 
baseplate) and the battery compartment, which screws into the winder's 
tripod socket. There are two small round electrical contacts between the 
winder and battery case, which are identical to the contacts on the top 
of a 9-volt battery. Although it looks like metal, the winder's case is 
made out of some sort of plastic-like material, I think that if it was 
actually metal, it would be much too heavy.

The battery compartment doesn't have a tripod socket, so you need to take 
it off of the winder and mount the winder and camera on the tripod using 
the winder's socket. This leaves you with a winder with no power source.

The winder originally came with an extension cord, so that you can put 
the batteries in your pocket in cold weather, but mine was used, and 
didn't come with one. Since it has the 9-volt-battery-like contacts, I 
went to Radio Shack (Tandy in the UK) looking for a replacement cable, so 
that I could use the winder on a tripod. I didn't find one, but I found  
a little plastic battery holder which holds 4 AA batteries (the same as 
the battery compartment) and which has the identical small contacts on 
the top. Since the winder has its tripod socket all the way over on one 
side like the camera baseplate, the left edge hangs over the side of the 
tripod's mounting plate and leaves plenty of room so that the little 
Radio Shack battery holder plugs in perfectly. At 99 cents, it's the 
cheapest new or used Leica accessory I've ever seen.

I don't know if there are long term problems with using it, but it is not 
advancing the camera in a gentle fashion, by any means. Once again, my 
comments are all based on the original M4-2 winder.

- - Paul