Can anyone tell me how the rewind knob works on the older M3 or preferably the "M3 like" rewind knob on the M6 Millenium Edition? Having never handled one, is there a crank that pops up, or do you actually turn the knurled knob to rewind the film? Many thanks from a newer Leicaphile!

-- Stephen Dominick (info@stephendominick.com), March 05, 2002

Answers

Just pull it up and turn it. No crank.

Not too much fun, but nostalgic, eh? :^0

-- Steve Hoffman (shoffman2@socal.rr.com), March 05, 2002.

Lift and twist, NO crank. There are after-market cranks that mount over the knurled knob ("knurled knob" -- I like that!) and speed the process up though...

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 05, 2002.

It is much faster to hold the rewind knob steady and twirl the camera body around. Make sure to take the strap off your neck first.

;>)

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 06, 2002.

Right, Jay!

In fact if you attach the knob to an electric can opener it's like having auto rewind. Just ask any of the great Leica photogs. Always had their electric can openers with them in the field. In fact--who was it?--had special solar pannels built into his Domke bag to keep his rapid rewinder electric can open ready when he needed it.

Seriously, Stephan. the old M3, M2, M1, MP and the new funny Black Paint M6 rewind knobs work the same way. Lift up and turn in the direction of the arrow. The trick--no joke--is to get the right torque in your finger tips to turn it rapidly. There are various handles you can screw on to the knob to make turning it faster and easier. I have one on my M3. The only problem is that they tend to scratch the top plate.

I like Jay's idea best.

Cheers,

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@pp.iij4-u.or.jp), March 06, 2002.

FWIW the knob turns the fastest advance camera sans motor, into the worlds slowest!i have M6 and M3.Love the rewind crank,but still take better and more careful photos with the M3.Probably the knowlege of the problem of rewind and load....i also use 24 exp to stop more thinking with shutter finger!

-- jason gold (leeu72@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

people have referred to cranks that can be attached to the knurled knob to make rewind faster. best known of these aftermarket cranks is probably the wasserman product (which now, sadly, seems to be a thing of the past -- wasserman's site is gone!!). i have wasserman cranks on my m2 and m3. HOWEVER, due to a spacing differntial, none of my cranks will fit on my millenium m6. the knurled knob is just a smidgen closer to the top plate on the m6 than on the older m cameras. whether this is due to the top plate design or the knob diameter, i don't know. all i do know is that the wasserman crank (as well as another, older style crank i tried at hansen's) will not work on the millenium camera. PS DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A SOURCE FOR THE WASSERMAN CRANKS OR ANY OTHER AFTERMARKET CRANKS??

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), March 06, 2002.

Wasserman Cranks - see the FAQ entry at: nemeng.com/leica /005b.shtml

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), March 06, 2002.

M3 rewind maybe slower, but it is for sure more knoks resistant than newer M4-M6 rewind lever, I still like both.

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 07, 2002.