Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nice to see someone daring to ask such an obviously good question. I think it's mostly due to a certain "retro" style the Rapidwinder offers: sort of a "Son of Leicavit" thing. The Rapidwinder also serves the interesting purpose of giving you something like the Leicavit at 1/5 the price. In terms of performance, other than the need for battery power, the M-Winder is probably a better idea. I think the last M-Winders work nicely and are quite quiet. Sure, they're taller than Tom's winder, but offer smoother fast-wind than the Rapidwinder. I think the attachment lever on the M-Winders, modelled on the Leicavit design, is better than the Rapidwinder bottom type (faster to put on and take off for reloading, easier with gloves, etc.). M-Winders are also easier when shooting verticals (hard to crank the Leicavit-type lever sideways!). I understand, however, that no more M-Winder parts are being made and they're now assembling the end of the run. Tom is to be congratulated for his ingenuity and imagination. But I'd still like to see an improved M-Winder that offers a second vertical shutter release and, possibly, power rewind. These days, it could probably be made smaller. Remember, the M-Winders were first introduced 20 years ago (M4-2 times). And some people suggest (maybe true) that Leica Ms don't really need this stuff at all - except maybe for left-eye users (but that's a bad habit if you shoot Ms. Learn to use the right eye. With the viewfinder eyepiece all the way on the left, the cameras were clearly designed for the right eye.)