Re: [Leica] Review of Winder M

[John Collier <jbcollier@home.com>]

You are correct to be suspicious as they were never produced even though
they were announced. Leica in Canada could no longer make them profitably as
labour costs rose and demand was very low. Leica Portugal thought they could
do it to a certain price and the machinery was moved and new availability
was announced. Alas talk is cheap, pun intended, and when LP got down to it
they also could not make them profitably. So now the winder was discontinued
again (or still). I like mine as I used to use motorized N****s (F3s and
F2s) and like the idea of the ever-ready camera. The only weak spot is the
sophisticated winder damping mechanism (a little piece of foam) that gets
tired after having had the stuffing beat out of every time you press the
shutter. Supposedly there is a new winder in the works but it may not be
backward compatible if and when it arrives. Do not hold your breath as
producing a motor for the R8 took an embarrassingly long time.

Mr. Williamson wrote:

>....It was bought new - made in Canada. Im not aware if the latest version
>(that I now know to be discontinued AGAIN!) was ever made in Germany or
>Portugal, but I'm curious.....