Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The Copal square shutter in Nikomat/Nikkormat/FM/FE/FM2/FE2/FA cameras is charged via a bar that is pulled out of the unit, then reinserted, as opposed to a one-way circular motion. This requires the motor drive to provide a 120 degrees motion one way and 120 degrees motion the other way. This complicates the mechanism. F3, whose shutter mechanism is more or less unchanged from Barnack's UR-Leica is not constrained by this, and needs to provide only one direction, simplifying the mechanism. Nikon's EM/FG/FG-20 which also use a similar shutter unit to FE, circumvent this problem inside the camera body, so the motor drive/winder (MD-E and MD-14) provide a unidirectional motion only. Eric Welch wrote: > At 02:34 PM 3/1/99 -0300, you wrote: > > They were a bad design from the beginning. Nikon got it right with > >the F3/MD-4 combination so I don't know why it was so hard to make the > >FM/MD-12 work > > Bean counters? > > Eric Welch > St. Joseph, MO > http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch > > He who laughs last thinks slowest!