Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/05/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Andrew, My imediate sources for clarification on this question are: Leica R Compendium, Jonathan Eastland, 1995 ( limited explanation pp51-52) Leica - The Leica Lens Book , Brian Bower, 1998 ( Chapter 6, Lens Camming pp 80-81,85 ) Although criticized upon publication (I believe for being generally 'light-weight') by one or two members of the LUG, Bower's book gives the clearest explanation, and probably best summarized outline of the 'cam' development. Bower explains there were five stages of camming up to the present time: 1. Single Cam -- for Leicaflex I/II only 2. Twin Cam -- for Leicaflex SL, SL2 and Leicaflex I/II 3. Triple Cam -- twin cam with additional R Cam -- suitable for all Leica SLR's 4. R Cam only -- for R3 and later (not suitable for for Leicaflex or SL cameras) 5. R8 Electrical contacts -- fitted in the position originally held by 'single cam'. Cannot be used on Leicaflex or SL series (as they can apparently cause damage ) Bower illustrates the the different camming for easy identification, and explains the reasons for the developments in terms of metering requirements and changes (TTL etc) You will also find some useful discussion of these things within the LUG archives. Best regards, Ross - ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Nemeth <azn@nemeng.com> Subject: [Leica] 1,2,3 Cams on R lenses? > a Q arose about all the different cams (1,2,3) available on the R > series Leica lenses. > As both my Leica books are pretty vague about this, could > someone explain what the differences are? > All I know is that a 2nd cam was introduced with the SL > series SLRs, then a 3rd one was added with the Rs. > Andrew Nemeth > www.nemeng.com