Does anyone use the "new" Motor M? If you do, what are your thoughts?

The relative silence of the standard M is important to the kind of work I do so if the Motor is loud, it's no good to me. It's also massively expensive - no surprises there - so it'd have to be pretty damn good to be worth the imvestment.

Should I buy o

-- Paul Hardy Carter (carterph@wanadoo.es), February 10, 2002

Answers

Last line should have read "Should I buy one?".

Bloody technology...

-- Paul (carterph@wanadoo.es), February 10, 2002.

It's pretty quiet, I've handled one recently. And a lot smaller than the older motor. But noise is a subjective thing. I don't consider the M particularly quiet to begin with. The motor does add *some* noise. Considering the cost, my suggestion would be not to trust this one to hearsay (no pun intended). Try one yourself, or get a MBG period if you buy mail-order.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), February 10, 2002.

I got one only a couple of days ago Paul.£400 is very steep!

They are no way near as loud as an SLR drive,I would say about as loud as an Olympus OM1....without motor.

My theory is that if I need to be very quiet I just turn it off.

Take out that second mortgage Paul and buy one!

-- Virgil (leicavirgin@hotmail.com), February 10, 2002.

I have the M Motor and like it. I use it only when I need the added speed. The motor does add to the noise. If quiet is important I reckon I would not use the motor. I would consider a rapidwinder. You really should try it before you buy it. To me it feels great in the hand.

-- David Enzel (dhenzel@vei.net), February 10, 2002.

Seems to me that in many respects the motor is just an expensive hand-grip

-- Paul (carterph@wanadoo.es), February 10, 2002.

Strangely enough, Virgil, I do actually have my old OM1 on my desk right now and I've been trying the experiment - M6 verses OM1. I'd forgotten how quiet the old OMs were.

What a great little camera it was. I must use it mor

-- Paul (carterph@wanadoo.es), February 10, 2002.

"Seems to me that in many respects the motor is just an expensive hand- grip"

...and an uncomfortable one (IMHO) at that. My hand ached for a day after using it for an afternoon.

Plus it is apparently not perfectly compatible with pre-M6 bodies, despite the fact that Leica claimed it was - at least originally.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), February 11, 2002.

Paul,

I understand that the noisiness can vary from motor to motor and, possibly, from camera to camera. My M6 TTL makes a loud "CLACK!" when the shutter is released after the film has been advanced by the motor, even if the motor is switched off after advancing the film. However, if the film is then advanced manually, the next shot is quiet as usual. It was explained to me by someone that there is some tension in the motor, after it has advanced the film, which is relaxed when the shutter is released, hence the noise.

Advancing the film manually, with the motor attached but switched off, does produce a clickety-click sound but, in my case, it's so quiet as to be virtually unnoticeable. It's definitely quiter than using the motor to advance the film, even at the slower speed setting. Of course, it's not practical to attach/detach the motor when there's a film in the camera, unless you're prepared to rewind the film into its cassette or to carry out the operation in total darkness or in a changing bag.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), February 11, 2002.

Paul,

I bought a Motor M in January and don't find that it adds a lot of noice to my M6's operation.

Just for fun, I pulled out my Radio Shack sound level meter (C weighting used). Measurements were made with the meter about 1 ft from the front of the M6. I put the camera on a pad on my desk and took a few measurements. Shutter speed was set to 1/60 second.

Without the motor, the sound level measured approximately 62dB. With the motor set on single, the sound level measured approximately 65dB. On continuous, the sound level measured approximately 70dB.

Whether using the motor or not, it seems that most of the noise is generated when advancing the film.

Ah well. Anyhow, I like the Motor M a whole lot. Being "left eyed," use of the motor allows me to photograph without having to move the viewfinder from my eye.

-Nick

-- Nicholas Wybolt (nwybolt@earthlink.net), February 11, 2002.

See also the detailed remarks I have on the compact motor M at:

nemeng.com/leica/#033b

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), February 11, 2002.

Now that, Nick, is what I *call* research!

Fabulous, thanks very much. I'm now trying to find a dealer who has one in stock so I can try for myself - no easy thing in Spain.

Thanks one and all

-- Paul (carterph@wanadoo.es), February 11, 2002.

Paul,

Thanks for your kind words. The "research" wasn't conducted in an anechoic chamber, but I figured a room with low ambient noise was representative of situations where the camera / drive combination might be used and camera noise could be a problem.

By the way, the ambient noise level in the room measured around 60dB.

If you can find a dealer, I think that you'll be pleased.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

-Nick

-- Nicholas Wybolt (nwybolt@earthlink.net), February 11, 2002.

Hi Paul:

I put one of these on one M, fell in love with it and almost immediately acquired another for my second body. They are pretty darn quiet in the slow (I) mode, and still reasonable quiet in the high (II) mode. Get one!

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), February 12, 2002.

"I'm now trying to find a dealer who has one in stock so I can try for myself - no easy thing in Spain."

Paul, not sure where you are in Spain, but nip over the border to Portugal - they make them there!

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), February 12, 2002.

Dear Paul--

We've been through this before, but it's good to go through it again-- we do get fresh thoughts. What impresses me in this discussion is the degree of praise for the new Leica motor.

As a Rapidwinder fan, I vowed I'd not get one. Well I did and I love it. These days I use it only a II and only at speeds at 1/60th and above (see previous discussions). I am surprised how fairly quiet and solid it is. (I got mine on Sept. 13, 2001; maybe it was some kind of therapy after 9/11). In street shooting, it's noise isn't bothersome.

The motor is not cheap but it certainly not hideously expensive either. You can probably get one at a discount.

Give up my Rapidwinders? Never! But I do love me motor.

One thing that I've said before, Paul. Make sure your M body is well adjusted before using it with the motor. You might have firing or other problems with a camera that needs adjustment. IMHO you're best off with an out of the box M6 TTL or mint M6 classic when using the motor.

I'm still a bit careful. I use my motor on only the M6 TTL and never on my mint M6 classic.

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@suma.kobe-wu.ac.jp), February 13, 2002.