[Leica] First impressions of the M2 Rapidwinder

[Alex Hurst <corkflor@iol.ie>]

Hi LUGnuts

We immensely enjoyed our five-week US/Canadian trip, and were delighted to
meet such a varied and thoroughly hospitable crowd of Leica afficionados
and their partners in Vancouver and Boston. We saw some amazing kit and
some excellent Leica photos too. Thanks to you all for the experience.

In Vancouver, Tom A. brought along the M2 chrome version of his winder,
which worked perfectly on the camera from the first frame. This must be
Tom's very special version of inertia selling - once you've got it on the
camera, you're never going to take it off - except to change film.

I'd say it took a couple of rolls to get used to the rather different
camera grip required for the winder. Horizontally it felt very comfortable,
especially as I'm left-eyed. Vertically it took me a bit longer to work out
the best hold for me. There was also a little stiffness in the mechanism
for the first few films, but this quickly settled down into a very smooth
action.

I also found you had to fiddle a bit sometimes to align the winder post
properly with the take-up spool when changing film.

I agree with Tom that the M2/Rapidwinder combination is one of the nicest
of all, especially with a 35mm lens mounted (in my case the early
Summilux). I found that I was able to concentrate much better on what was
happening in that big, bright viewfinder because I didn't have to take the
camera from my eye to wind on.

The slightly heavier baseplate, combined with the winding prong doubling as
a grip, also seems to help holding the camera steadier at slow speeds.

Of the six cameras I brought with me, I found myself using the M2 the most
- - not just because of the novelty of a piece of new kit, but because it was
so comfortable and easy to use. By contrast, my R3 with motor winder got
used relatively little. It felt so heavy and slightly unwieldy after the
M2/Rapidwinder combo, which has the same convenience and is, of course, so
much quieter.

It was also amusing when I got home to put the M2 combo alongside my N****
F2 with motor drive and a ten-battery pack. The latter looks huge in
comparison, weighs about a ton, and sounds like the clap of doom when you
press the button.

Next time I go on holiday, it'll be with the M2 and my two M3s alone. It
makes for a smaller bag and about a third of the weight.

Tom A. tells me that M3s can also be converted for the winder. I'd be
interested to know if people are finding this conversion equally impressive.

Slan

Alex





Alex Hurst
Waterfall
Nr. Cork
Ireland

Tel: +353 21 543 328 (H)
       +353 21 270 907 (W)

Fax: +353 21 271 248
email: corkflor@iol.ie
Also: corkflor.1@virgin.net (when in the UK, which isn't often)
Home website: http://homepages.iol.ie/~corkflor/
Business website: http://www.flowerlink.com/corkflorists