[Leica] Leica R8 Motor

["David E. Strang" <dstrang@up.net>]

I ordered the R8 motor drive set from Tamarkin on Monday. I received the
package today. Nice service to say the least. I always deal with Eric Bohman
and he's always treated me well.

Well, the motor is beautiful. It fits the R8 form marvelously. The weight
with the battery in place is not much different from the winder and battery
pack. I was immeadiately impressed by the location of the front (top)
release switch which is silver metal in appearence. The button is perfectly
located, especially with the extremely comfortable leather hand strap.

The motor operation is extremely simple t ouse. The mode (S/L/H) switch is
shared with the exposure bracket switch. The exposure bracket is available
with 1/2 and full stop settings, with 0 being off. The R8 exposure
compensation setting can be used to swing the bracking point up or down the
desired amount.

The first thing I did was read the manual. It suggested discharging the
battery and fully recharging it before use. It took more then 4 hours to
discharge the battery and another 2 hours to fully charge it.

I fired a few frames with the camera empty and the motor is rather quiet and
responsive. I'll use it to shoot some volleyball tomorrow night and report
afterwards.

Summary: VERY NICE JOB!

Regards,
Dave Strang
dstrang@up.net