I understand from Leica's website that the new Motor M for the M6 is also compatible with the M4-P and the M4-2. I'm seriously considering getting one to my old M4-P for action shots, but I wonder if the motor will increase the wear and tear of an almost twenty-year-old and fairly well-used camera? Has anyone in this forum tried the motor on a M4-P or a M4-2? I would appreciate very much your users' comments.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), April 23, 2001

Answers

I have not tried it myself but it should work fine (well, at least as fine as the old Winder). There is no mechancal linkage between the Motor/Winder and the camera. The Motor/Winder has a "sensor" system that turns the main Motor/Winder power off but keeps a "low" power circuit engaged. Once the shutter is released and the camera wind mechanism is again free to turn, the intial movement of the "low" power circuit triggers the main circuit until the wind mechanism stops. The stopped wind mechanism causes the Motor/Winder's motor to shift slightly again disengaging the main circut and keeping power in the "low" power circuit until the wind mechanism is free again.

If the sensor circuit is not adjusted correctly, the Motor/Winder "kicks". Other problems occur if the wind mechanism is released before the shutter timing mechanism has completed its cycle (this is why jamming problems occur mainly with the medium and slow shutter speeds). Regardless of what Leica recommends, I would not use the Motor/Winder at shutter speeds slower than 1/50. Old Nikons used to have similar problems and Nikon did not recommend the use of shutter speeds slower than the sync speed.

Here is a web page that explains the adjustment of the Winder:

http://www2.bitstream.net/~campbell/

In my opinion Leica needs to add an electric switch in the camera that will not allow the Motor/Winder to work unless the shutter mechanism has finished its cycle. I have a Winder-M4-P and, at first, it was very noisy and jerked the camera at every wind cycle. I had it overhauled by Kindermann Canada and it is now quite and vibration free.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), April 23, 2001.

There are only two wearable items in the camera, related to the motor winder: the pin from the shutter button that pokes the winder switch, and the coupling pawl. Both of these were designed to be used with a winder, and your camera sounds as if it has never been used with one so those parts should be "like new". They are the same parts in the M6, so Leica has plenty of them should they ever need replacing. Otherwise, at 2-3 fps, the film transport and shutter mechanism in the M4-P shouldn't die much quicker as a result of being motorized, unless you suddenly begin to burn a lot more film than before...a sometimes phenomenon that occurs with the aquisition of a motor winder ; )

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 23, 2001.

John and Jay, I can't thank you enough for your detailed insight into the Motor M. I'll be heading towards my regular camera shop soon!

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), April 25, 2001.