Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/04/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 09:43 PM 4/6/05 -0400, Michael J Herring wrote: >Do you think the wind is smoother on the M3 film advance? >I remember when I bought my first Canon F1 in 1971. It had the smoothest >wind mechanism of any SLR at that time. >I believe the Popular photography lab examined one and stated - >"The gear teeth are made from polished brass". >Perhaps this is what they used in the M3? >Most Leica owners tell me they prefer the M3 winding mechanism to the >M4p thru M7. Mike How many times must we revisit these issues? The winding gears on the M1 through M4 are brass. These easily lap into each other to produce a really silky advance but then wear out earlier than do the steel gears used on later Leica cameras. These steel gears will take a couple of decades to lap in to an equal sort of smoothness but, then, I anticipate being around when my Wetzlar M6 reaches this point in another quarter-century or so, as only the good die young. If I use my M3 as much as I do my M6, its gears will look like the teeth of a West Virginia Homecoming Queen by then. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!