Abrahamsson Soft Release Hangup on Leica M7

Hello, everyone. I just picked up a M7 .58 due to a great price and

am totally delighted with it, except for one thing. I have become

accustomed to using a Tom Abramsson soft release, but it hangs up

slightly on my M7, just before the shutter is triggered. Is this

perhaps due to the design of the on-off switch. It is moderately

annoying, but I am concerned it could introduce a small amount of

shake, which of course defeats its purpose in the first place.

Anyone else have this problem or can you offer advice? Thanks, and

happy holidays.

Same happens to me. I haven't noticed shake, but I end up not using the softie

because of the sticking.

I used a softie for about 6 months on my M7 until the increased pressure and notchy-ness forced me to abandon it. It's much smoother without the softie. I don't think it's due to the design of the on-off switch, but the internal switch that does the AE lock halfway through the shutter release cycle.

i stopped using the softie because i heard about someone who had it on a M and it got caught/hit and messed up the shutter mechanism. in reality i works just as well w/o one.

two things: (1) the m7 release is quite notchy and IMO not suitable for use with the softie. to release the m7 smoothly i find i have to squeeze my finger into the gap between release and cup and then roll toward the center. this makes for quite a jerk-free release. (2) the comment about ptential shutter damage is quite accurate. i have personally seen a camera (not mine thank goodness) damaged in precisely the way described. remember the nikon soft release (the stovepipe) for the f/f2?? that was a real accident waiting to happen. fortunately the inevitable damage was generally cosmetic as the soft release screwed onto the collar around the shutter release and not the shutter release itself.

I don't have the Abramsson softie for my M7 but one made by Steve Belden, who gave them away as a trial freebie on the forum about a year ago. I subsequently ordered 2 more from him, but the new ones he sent me had a top surface that was larger, probably about the size of Abramsson's, I'm guessing. These had exactly the problem you're referring to, so I don't use them. The original one he sent me, however, being quite a bit smaller, works perfectly.

 

It would be nice if someone would market something like Steve's original. Actually I should email him, if he's still around.

I wouldn't say the release is notchy (not smooth), just takes more force than the other M's. I guess this allows for the AE lock function without accidently tripping the shutter. Well engineered IMHO.

I found the regular soft release �notchy� or sticky with my M6TTLs,

compared to the shutter release without the soft release. But the

standard/Leica shutter button seems to have too much travel

before it fires for my preference.

 

When using the regular/large soft release, I thought I was

exerting some sideways pressure with the bend of my finger

while pressing the release, causing the Leica button to bind a

little.

 

I changed to the mini soft release and don�t have the same

experience/problem with the mini.

You must apply pressure in the middle of the softie (and not at the edge) to avoid snagging.

Say some more about the dangers of the "stovepipe" Nikon softrease. My two F and my new S3 each have one.

Remember that when Leica came out with the M7, they gave away around 100 small soft-releases / lapel pins (!) marked with "M7". These then became collectors' items and sold for many hundreds of $ on E**y. FWIW these are exactly the same size as Tom's mini softie. While I personally have only tried a large softie on the M7 which LHSA sent me for evaluation (with the same problems as mentioned in this thread); someone needs to report on the smaller softie's use. I don't have an M7 to try it on myself.

Ed. Read my post above.

I've been using an Abahamsson Softie on my M7, without any apparent problems, since I got the camera last August. Before that, I used it on an M6TTL. I have gotten accustomed to the Softie and I'm sure it has helped me hold the camera steady. However, having just read this thread, I'm going to take the Softie off the M7 and see how I get along without it.

Four months later, I can tell you it's better without the Softie.

I've been using the Mini-Softy for well over a year and think it improves performance. The

regular Softie was no problem either, except that it kept falling off, a problem of turning the

meter on and off.

 

I got my M7 in August 2005, a year after the last posting. It has had a Softie on it from the

beginning and the shutter button operates very well. It is quite notchy without the Softie and

very comfortable with it.