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Griptac Comes to the GRD

W

Walt

Guest
For those who haven't followed the rash of Leica M8 modifications, one of the problems some people found with the M8 was its slipperiness. One popular solution was to have the camera recovered by Morgan at CameraLeather.com with a synthetic, very grippy material called, appropriately, Griptac. I had my two M8s recovered in it and it is a big improvement. (Morgan actually told me that one customer who was sending a camera in for Griptac dropped it on a table while packaging it up for shipment and knocked out the rangefinder.)

In shooting all day with the GRD II yesterday, I found the one ergonomic problem with it to be that with the thumb in the intended position (2, below), I too often accidently hit the manual focus switch (3). By cutting and placing a small piece of Griptac (lots of materials would work actually) at (1), I have a new thumb position that is very comfortable and keeps me free of the controls.

You could teach youself to habitually relocate the thumb without the Griptac, but the Griptac is a placement reminder and is also surprisingly comfortable. Believe it or not, the high grip in this thumb position is actually a help even on this very light camera. Don't laugh unless you've tried it.

Walt
 

Will

New member
I haven't found grip a problem but I do find that the LCD seems to get covered in unsightly finger prints very quickly. Though they don't seem to affect visibility when the screen is on it just looks really messy and I keep wanting to wipe the screen clean. Today I 'borrowed' a spare screen protector film from my son who uses them on his PSP. It doesn't seem to alter the visibility of the LCD but there are less visible prints on it, and I have no fear of scratching the screen if I wipe it with whatever cloth (usually my jeans) that is handy.
 
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