Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/16

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Subject: [Leica] RE: Leica Users digest V16 #41
From: BOB KRAMER <BobKramer@COOPERCARRY.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 10:03:44 -0500

Hi Marc,

I don't think my comments are contradictory since, at least in my mind, the
two statements speak to different aspects of the camera.  No. 5 speaks to
the film advance, as well  as a few other operational details while item No.
6 concerns the overall sturdiness of the camera, such as resistance to
damage when used to smack someone up-side the head (I really love your "war
stories" Ted!).

So my brass bearings will give me a million exposures, eh?  That's about 8
rolls of film shot every day of every year for 10 years.  I can live with
that.

Bob Kramer
Atlanta, GA

> -----Original Message-----
> 
> From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: Preferring an M3  was:  M6 as jewelry
> 
> At 11:33 AM 3/15/2000 -0500, BOB KRAMER wrote:
> >5.  There really is a silky smoothness to the operation of an M3 that is
> a
> >true pleasure to experience, that doesn't seem to be there with an M6.
> >
> >6.  The M3 is built like a tank.  I bet it would make an excellent weapon
> if
> >one were attacked on the street.  <g>
> 
> 
> These two statements are actually contradictory.  The reason for the
> smoother film-advance of the M3 and M2 cameras comes from the use of brass
> gears in the film wind-on mechanism.  Leitz found that these wore out with
> time, so they went to steel gears, which are not as smooth -- the brass,
> being relatively soft, "laps in" over time to make a wonderfully fine fit
> of gear-tooth on gear-tooth, while the harder steel takes a LOT longer to
> wear in this way -- but which last indefinitely.
> 
> The difference is probably not of much interest to most of us -- I recall
> the MBTF was something like a million exposures on the brass gears, and 10
> million on the steel gears.  But a professional might well take a million
> exposures in ten years or less, so it did matter to that part of the
> market.
> 
> Marc
>