[Leica] R8 Motor Driver versus Winder anatomy

["gbicket" <gbicket@email.msn.com>]

Martin,

The winder's lines do blend with the form of the camera.  The winder body's
lines descend within the contour established by the body itself.   Indeed,
it looks like part of the original R8 body, only taller.  I tried a motor
drive at the Ted Grant/Park Square Camera seminar out on Cape Cod, fully
expecting to buy it.

I put it on, "wore" it on my R8 for an hour or so, found it a good deal
heavier than the winder, faster, but not enough faster, and it has a "chin"
sticking out right where I do, and so gladly returned to my winder.  The
weight and shape of the back of the motor drive were not to my personal
liking.  I like to carry my camera over my shoulder or around my neck on its
strap, and the weight increase would make this practice less fun.  While I
expect one would get used to it, the balance of winder and lenses that I
enjoy so much with the R8-winder combination would be different, and the
package of R8-motor drive-and some of the heavier lenses would be more
unwieldy.  The motor drive does offer convenient hor/vert shutter releases
and capacities that my winder does not, and I expect its batteries are
superior, but no features critically important to me.

It is important to note that my winder use is more as an electric thumb.
The drive's speed, while faster than the winder, is less than half the speed
of my old MD-4 winder on my F3HP...which preceeded the R8's design by more
than a decade.  I am glad that the Leica designers put the winder and the
drive outside the body, so as to give the user the option of using one, and
carrying that weight at all.

The performance characteristics of the motor drive seem to me well short of
what they should have been.  I tend to think with the miniturization
progress and battery improvements realized since the MD-4, we should have
gotten 4-5 frames mirror down, 6+ frames up, for our R8s in a package no
larger, nor heavier than the winder is.  I recognize that this may be an
internal function of the R8, and less a function of the winder or drive. The
rare times I want to go mirror up and burn some film in rapid multi-frame
sequences, the R8 motor drive isn't fast enough to suit me, anyway.

If you are sitting on the fence, by all means, try both.

Lots of LUGgers are crazy about their drives, and they had winders before.
But if, as your post suggests, body ergonomics [including weight] are
important to you, I think you might prefer the winder.  I like my winder
even better since trying the drive.

Hope that helps.  Enjoy the light.

Greg