I've used the Match Technical "Thumbs-Up" for years. It's a solid, dependable product. And like many other users, I just accepted that getting poked in the side by it was a way of life. Especially when riding my bike with the camera across my body.
I've decided to give the IDS product a try. I ordered the matte black finish which is designed to brass.
Takeaways:
•It's not as comfortable to hold as the Match Technical grip. But this could also be because it's still new to my hand.
•It seems extremely well built, and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. It opens and closes with just the right amount of resistance, for now.
•My camera has custom Taupe leather from Leica. It's a bit difficult to capture in a cell phone pic, but the brassing with the matte black finish is simply gorgeous.
•No more pokes in the side? Priceless.
At the moment, I'm quite pleased. And I'm actually surprised that Match Technical didn't make a move in this direction.
Wasn't aware of this, very interesting. I like that it is retractable, I don't have a problem with getting poked by my thumbs up, but it does make it slightly more difficult to fit it into a tight bag without taking it off. I don't love the look of this one, but will take a look. There was also something similar being sold by Map Camera in Japan if I remember correctly.
I've used the Match Technical "Thumbs-Up" for years. It's a solid, dependable product. And like many other users, I just accepted that getting poked in the side by it was a way of life. Especially when riding my bike with the camera across my body.
I've decided to give the IDS product a try. I ordered the matte black finish which is designed to brass.
Takeaways:
•It's not as comfortable to hold as the Match Technical grip. But this could also be because it's still new to my hand.
•It seems extremely well built, and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. It opens and closes with just the right amount of resistance, for now.
•My camera has custom Taupe leather from Leica. It's a bit difficult to capture in a cell phone pic, but the brassing with the matte black finish is simply gorgeous.
•No more pokes in the side? Priceless.
At the moment, I'm quite pleased. And I'm actually surprised that Match Technical didn't make a move in this direction.
Thanks for posting some images showing it on the camera.
It seems to match your grayish leather color pretty nicely.. I spoke with IDS, and they are making one in brass or stainless steel. The brass can be acid-washed to look darker; that's the one you got. It looks pretty cool, and I'm happy to hear it functions well too. I was thinking about getting one, but I have an M10-R Black Paint and I'm not sure which finish to get. I wish they would make a black paint version, but I've heard that won't be possible due to pricing reasons.
Yeah, I've only had it for about a week... it's definitely designed to reveal the brass. I do love the way it looks with the Taupe leather and "feu orange" strap on my camera. However, that might be a bit premature with your BP M10-R, which may not begin brassing.for quite some time.
flash wrote:
I quite like this. Thanks for posting the photos. I agree it looks like a step up on the other ones I've seen.
I still can't quite get around giving up the hotshoe though.
Gordon
Yeah, I get it. Most of the time, my hot shoe isn't doing anything but collecting dust. Occasionally I'll use with a wireless trigger, but 90% of my work is available light or constant light. However, I've been thinking about a Visoflex for some waist level shooting... we'll see how that goes.
When I saw this kind of products at the first time, I thought they could make sound like a real advance lever. I still wish there will be a such product in the future...
cypressblend wrote:
When I saw this kind of products at the first time, I thought they could make sound like a real advance lever. I still wish there will be a such product in the future...
That's the joy of using a film Leica M. I love the tactile experience of advancing the film between frames. However, this doesn't translate well to digital cameras, as they lack this functionality.
10D has one of these built in and although it lacks the winder functionality it works as a thumbrest perfectly. It also makes the camera look batter. I do wish Leica would make that an integral part of the digital M.
Fred Miranda wrote:
That's the joy of using a film Leica M. I love the tactile experience of advancing the film between frames. However, this doesn't translate well to digital cameras, as they lack this functionality.
Good old Epson RD-1 if you want that, advance lever cocks the shutter..
Tagging onto this thread. I just received the blackened brass version for my M11-D this week. It got me to thinking about the chemicals used to darken brass to this level and how they are toxic while applying them and also afterward when dried unless thoroughly rinsed. Further research seems to say that if the final product is to be in continual contact with skin (jewelry, etc.), then a final wash in a mixture of baking soda and water is required to neutralize the remaining chemicals in the finish.
I've had some back and forth with the owner, and it sounds like another person ("artist") does the blackening and says it's completely safe. But I couldn't get a straight answer as to what chemicals were used to do the blackening. I did get confirmation that they only used water to rinse off the darkening agent.
So what I did to make myself feel better: I mixed up some baking soda and water in a Ziplock at about 1 parts baking soda three parts water, put the product in there and gave it good shake bath. Outside while wearing vinyl gloves, I opened the bag and scrubbed on the grip with my fingers as best I could while moving the lever back and forth to make sure the bath got into all the cracks. I then gave it a final rinse of water using a water spigot outside.
The resulting finish is the same grey, but the brass surface doesn't have that powdery feel it did when I first received it. The finish is much thinner now. I have a feeling the original "Brass Black" chemicals were lingering in the finish, and the baking soda and water removed them. The felt protective strips didn't seem affected by the bath.
Since there seems to be no downside to the baking soda and water wash, I encourage those that own this product to do so. "Brass Black" chemicals are extremely toxic, we're talking vision loss if it gets rubbed into your eyes, etc.
[Edited to remove reference to the silver grip, which is made of stainless steel.]
So after sitting on my grip for 2 days at the local postal distribution center, USPS finally delivered it today!
The build quality is excellent and functions smoothly. It also looks great on the camera. I will have to get used to folding it out since I have always had fixed thumb grips on my various bodies but I like that when not in use it is flush. The fit on the hot shoe is very precise and tight. I wondered why they included a guitar pick in the packing but I fully understood when I tried to remove it 😂 I think it is worth the price, it is unique and functional.
BruceRH wrote:
So after sitting on my grip for 2 days at the local postal distribution center, USPS finally delivered it today!
The build quality is excellent and functions smoothly. It also looks great on the camera. I will have to get used to folding it out since I have always had fixed thumb grips on my various bodies but I like that when not in use it is flush. The fit on the hot shoe is very precise and tight. I wondered why they included a guitar pick in the packing but I fully understood when I tried to remove it 😂 I think it is worth the price, it is unique and functional. ...Show more →
Thanks for the pictures, Bruce. I thought the top circle was stainless steel instead of brass.
BruceRH wrote:
You are welcome Fred. The top circle is also darker in real life compared to how it looks in the picture.
I wonder if the stainless steel can also be darkened and that's why it looks like that. According to their website, the top circle is made from stainless steel for added rigidity.
If you look at the "original brass version" images on their site it is definitely stainless steel. From the description, they state that it is stainless as you mentioned. Obviously what they use also colors the stainless, but not to the extent of the brass.
