Own a Leica M10 or M10-P but always wanted an M10-D? All is now possible: You can turn your bescreened snapper into the ergonomic, blank-backed delight that is the M10-D by adding an advance-lever thumb rest. Retro bliss is now at the tip of your right thumb.
The accessory is on sale in Japan at Mapcamera.com where it costs ¥49,500 (£330, $419, AUS$605, €371). It is made from solid brass and comes in silver chrome and black chrome to match the cameras. The manufacturers claim that it feels substantia and solid and will “brass” in use, just like the camera top plates and more traditional thumb grips made from brass.
According to the web site, the lever opens to 45 degrees to mimic the operation of a traditional advance lever. It has a solid click when opening or closing and it will be “irresistible for Leica fans who in the past have felt lonely in the thumb department”. I know the feeling.
It isn’t clear how the device attaches to the camera but I presume it is by adhesive.
If you are a secret M10-D admirer but go cold-turkey on your screen addiction, this could be just what you have been looking for.
In terms of attachment, it looks like it’s just cantilevered off a hotshoe insert.
But a fake reproduction of an already (arguably) superfluous feature for $600 Australian!? Crikey! I think I’d be buying a lens instead……
It will not be coming to a M10 living in Dorset anytime soon. I would go as far as saying it is downright ugly, IMHO of course.
I agree 100% Keith. I think that the whole ‘thumb rest’ thing is a silly gimmick to extract money from gullible photographers. It may have its origins in the double stroke M3 where having your thumb inside the lever provided a reassurance that you had done the second stroke. With later lever wind cameras having your thumb inside allowed for a further quick wind of the film. Some say that the modern thumb rest on a digital camera helps to keep it steady, but, to me, it seems to function largely in a similar fashion to a baby’s soother.
William
This is the second time this week I have had to confess to extreme gullibility, William. While this article was written tongue in cheek, I do like thumb rests and have used them on a number of cameras. Clearly, not everyone thinks they are silly or they wouldn’t sell. Fortunately, we have a choice of what we buy.
Chacun a son gout, as they say on the other side of the Channel. Or should that be ‘vive la difference’?
William
Or, in Leicasprache, Jedem das Seine. The other side of the Channel is a babelesque sort of place, after all. Fog in Channel, Europe cut off and all that….
Good to see you yesterday at Leica, Keith!
Good to see you too! In truth, I wasn’t sure I could be bothered , but saw you would be there and the chance to catch-up swung it! I thought the session where the tech stripped down the camera in front of us excellent, but think Jason was asking wrong question of wrong audience!