Re: [Leica] Leicavit (was: Jim Marshall - rock and roll photographer!)

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

On 1 2/13/99 8:05:07 AM  bcaldwell@softcom.net (Bryan Caldwell) wrote:
>The Leicavit was very trouble-prone. Tom A. could give you a more detailed 
explanation than >I can. Another problem is that ordinarily the Leicavit will 
not work with an M4/6. Marshall's >cameras have been modified to work. With 
Tom's Rapidwinder available at a fraction of what >a new Leicavit would cost 
- - and with no modification required for M2, M4-2, M4-P, and M6, it >really 
wouldn't make a lot of sense to bring back the Leicavit.
>Bryan

The original Leicavit started of as the SCNOO rapid winder for the older 
screwmount Leicas and evolved into the SYOOM Leicavit for the IIIG and IIIF. 
The version introduced with the Leica MP in 1957 was for all practical 
purposes a "re-bodied" SYOOM Leicavit. It was later offered as an accessory 
to the M2 and M1 cameras.
 I have had several of these, both in screwmount and in M2/MP combinations. 
It works quite well, but it is extremely complex for what it does. It suffers 
from several problems. The drive is by a chain which is prone to stretching 
with use and also had a very irritating habit of breaking when you used it 
heavily. The clutch was a simple spring-loaded cam type. This meant that if 
you wanted to do multiple stroke advances (handy when you hold the camera 
vertically), it required that you pulled the lever to a halfway point and 
then when you let it go back to start, it would only engage if it is was 
pulled back to were you stopped. The outside shell was made from 0.8mm brass 
(same thickness as the top-plate of a brass top-plate on an M camera) and 
would literally deform by squeezing it hard. The lever had a razor sharp edge 
at the bottom and impromptu appendectomies were always a chance if you fell 
on it! The lever lock was hinged in such a way that the lever tended to be 
sloppy, even when locked down. It had a side-turn lock on it, a small lever 
that stuck out from the side of the housing and that was prone to getting 
stuck in clothing or facial hair (remember this was a late 50's and 60's 
set-up and some of us had lots of hair then). All of these little nagging 
problems notwithstanding, it is still a very jazzy little thing. It is most 
unfortunate that it has taken on a collector status and now costs 
multi-thousands of dollars! My last one croaked on me in the mid-80's. It was 
worn beyond repair, the chain was repaired several times with great effort 
and the clutch was less than reliable. It was a black paint version and it 
was attached to an equally worn M2 in matching brass/black paint. I turned it 
into a couple of M4-Ps and although great cameras, they had to be advanced 
with the regular lever. This started the whole procedure of making my own 
"Leicavit" - little did I know that 13 years later I would still be at it!
 If Leica would make a Leicavit today, very few of the parts in the original 
design would be useful. Modern technology has created stuff like carbon fiber 
reinforced drive belts, multi pin clutches and ultra strong alloys that work 
better and longer than the Leicavit of the 40' and 50'.
 There are improvements that are possible to my own Rapidwinder. The lock can 
be improved maybe with the introduction of a click stop at the locked end 
and/or a similar type of folding key that Leica uses. The spring inside the 
winder is designed for a long life and I could make it slightly softer to the 
touch by reducing the spring wire diameter. This could compromise the life 
span of the spring so I have resisted doing it. The dog-clutch (the part with 
the teeth that engage the cameras winder drive) could be machined out of 
stainless steel and surface hardened. The lever is overly large compared to 
the Leicavit lever, but it is much stronger too and it has a far duller edge 
to it. Less chance of inflicting punctures on you if you misuse it!
 When I work on improvements on the Rapidwinder, I always try to incorporate 
them in such a manner that a/ it does not affect the price and b/it can be 
retrofitted to existing winders. Another design feature that I incorporated 
early on in the Rapidwinder is that by trying to keep the design as simple as 
possible, it allows a user to fix it or install a part supplied by me. The 
Leicavit MP was not very friendly in this aspect. It contained 51 different 
parts, 4 different springs and some truly weird looking parts. I did try 
several time to fix broken Leicavits while on jobs, but in most cases I was 
not that successful with it. For some reason the sliding bar in the drive was 
a magnet for collecting mud and sand and it required several different 
screwdrivers and needle nose pliers to dismantle (this was before Leatherman 
Tools and commonly available Swiss Army knives). There has been many a time 
when I was crawling around in hotel rooms on all four, looking for a 
minuscule screw, essential for re-assembly and trying to explain to fellow 
photographers "No, I haven't had anything to drink, but I am looking for a 
lost screw". You don't say things like that to photographers, particularly to 
the ones coming from competing newspapers. It gives far to much ammunition 
for them in later bar discussions!
 As for adapting a 50's Leicavit MP to a M6. It can be done, but is quite 
expensive and requires the drive parts from an M4-Mot/M4-M to replace the 
current "tulip". It is not a simple matter of installing just a M2 take up 
shaft. If you do that, the filmcounter is rendered useless and you of course 
also have to be prepared to go back to the M2/M3 take-up spool way of 
loading. 
Tom A

Tom Abrahamsson
www.rapidwinder.com