Do Motor Drives damage cameras?

[Jeff Kubach]

You just use more film!

Jeff

[Wade D]

I wonder if the cameras with a built in drive and no wind lever are any different?

[daleeman]

I wonder if the cameras with a built in drive and no wind lever are any different?

Strong point. I feel it is all about applied torque and a consistently applied torque is far more sparing to internal parts than a sweaty excited thumb trying to pound away at a subject.

If your camera would normally go 400,000 exposures before internal failures need attention I bet the motorized one would go there and more over a thumb driven camera.

So a winder only camera is no different it just keeps the "thumb print" off the winder system.

But there are pro, consumer and just dirt cheap cameras out there so please take the 400,000 frames as a hypothetical number. I can not expect a cheapo camera to have the sustainability of a pro level camera.

This is a good discussion, hopefully we will get more responses like those from our Nikon service man.

[budrichard]

'Urban Legend'!
Stems from the fact that cameras used by Professionals shoot a LOT more frames than a camera used by an amateur which leads to wear which is confused with damage.
The "with a motor drive, one tends to shoot more frames faster than without" is not true as Motor Drives all have single shot selectors and if not shooting sports or other venues where it is critical to capture the 'defining moment', they can be normally used in single shot mode.-Dick

[George2010]

I always thought the motor drive was a technological advance over manual levers, albeit initially at the "price" of increased weight. Once drives became incorporated into camera bodies, as opposed to attachments, the manual lever disappeared. Since manual levers were prone to damage and jamming if misused -- I would think that a motor drive would probably increase a camera's overall useful life rather than detract from it.

[Axle]

I've used Motor Drives on Minoltas (X-7a with the MotorDrive MD-1), Pentax (ME and ME Super), and my Nikon F3, without any issues. The trick is (as mentioned early) is to match the drive to the camera.

The F3 is the tricky one because Nikon released two versions of the drive, the Regular drive (MD-4) and a High Speed (MD-4H). If you put the MD-4H onto a regular F3, that would cause damage.

[CGW]

I've used Motor Drives on Minoltas (X-7a with the MotorDrive MD-1), Pentax (ME and ME Super), and my Nikon F3, without any issues. The trick is (as mentioned early) is to match the drive to the camera.

The F3 is the tricky one because Nikon released two versions of the drive, the Regular drive (MD-4) and a High Speed (MD-4H). If you put the MD-4H onto a regular F3, that would cause damage.

Low-end aftermarket drives for Minolta and Nikon did occasionally cause jam problems. Otherwise, no issues. Amusing to note some here believe motor drives work only on "full auto," whizzing thru an entire roll in seconds. They allowed photographers to keep a constant frame on a subject without a break to lever advance the film. Rarely, if ever, shoot my F3+MD4 on anything but "S."

MD-4Hs are pretty rare, Axle! Have only seen one that was bolted to a hi-speed F3 body at Nikon.ca about ten years ago.

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I used to use a motor drive on my F1(n) and never had problems with the camera. I shot more sports back then. The motor drive also rewound my film which was cool. I could load and unload quickly. However, carrying a camera with a motor drive got too heavy. For me, cocking the shutter manually is a better alternative. Motor drives aren't good for people with itchy trigger fingers.

[MattKing]

Detachable motor drives require a connection port (usually on the bottom of the camera). When no drive is attached, there often is a cover that is supposed to be installed to close that port.

Somewhat obviously, to use the drives they also require that the photographer actually attach the drive to the camera.

I've certainly seen a fair number of cameras that don't have the motor drive attached, but are also missing the cover for the port.

And I've also seen people who are awkward when they try to install the drives.

So in the first case (missing port covers) the cameras can be more vulnerable to dirt and moisture.

And in the second case, every camera is vulnerable to operator error.

[SafetyBob]

I was scared Sunday that I broke my new to me FE with the I think MD-12 that goes with it. I did around 6 shots on single, then inorder to get fast action and hopefully a winner shot of kid going down water slide I went to continuous. Did around three bursts. It simply stopped and had a nice humming sound. Turned it off, it read 24 on the counter and no it's never been off before but I have never ran it on "C" before either.

Changed batteries, took it off and on a couple of times, still nothing even after unloading fully exposed roll. The way I accidentally got it to work again was to move the motor actuator on the top of the drive back and forth a half turn or so, put it back on and I was back in business. Scared the crap out of me. First motor drive incident for me.

Bob E.