the unofficial Cosina-Voigtlander User Community

Also called the "Rapid Winder" on occasion, this is an almost unique accessory in the modern photographic world. I say "almost" as I only know of one other trigger winder line available new in the market, the Abrahamsson Rapidwinders, which are produced in limited production runs to fit various Leica bodies. I guess that makes the Voigtlander Trigger Winder the only modern mass-produced accessory of this type? Anyway, the trigger winder will fit all Cosina-Voigtlander bodies currently in production as well as the out-of-production Bessa Telemetro (Bessa T) and Bessa R2/R2S/R2C. Yes, this means that the Bessa L and R can't make use of this interesting piece of mechanical technology...but there's still the side grip .

What can the trigger winder do for you, exactly? Well, the marketing claims that, with practice, you can reach a "blistering" 3 frames-per-second. Considering that with a standard thumb winder you can hit 2-3 fps with practice (the marketing pamphlet I got with my Nikon FM3a states a consistant 2.5fps is possible) this isn't really a big deal to me. So what else can it do? Well, with it you can...

• Hang your camera vertically. I don't do this. I tried with a neck strap and actually found it a little more clumsy to grab and shoot in a hurry.
• An alternative way to wind your film. Well yes, it is. Actually, I prefer winding my camera with the trigger winder over the thumb winder.
• Ergonomics. The trigger winder definately makes the camera more "holdable".
• Tripod sockets. This is something sorely lacking with the standard side grip. The trigger winder makes up for it by having two.
• Baseplate protection. I'm more shooter then collector, so this doesn't matter to me so much.
• Stability. This is actually the biggest selling point for me and not one that I have seen pushed or even mentioned elsewhere. With the trigger winder extended and held the proper way, your left hand becomes somewhat of a stable platform. I've been able to shoot sucessfully a stop slower with it. It's almost like being able to lean against a wall.

Of course, with the good comes the bad and I do have some minor gripes about the trigger winder. One of them is the price. Do the benefits of some extra stability, an alternate winding method, and a couple of tripod holes equal a price just under 4x that of a standard Voigtlander side grip? Yes, compared to US$400-600 for an Abrahamsson Rapidwinder, US$159 is cheap...but we're not talking a Leica accessory, here. Yes, I did find the price fair enough to have bought one for both my R2 and R2a, but the pricing still makes me feel a little uncomfortable. My second and last complaint is that of frame spacing. On my R2 if I don't wind smoothly enough the spacing between frames becomes inconsistant, sometimes to the point where in a 36 shot roll 2 shots may overlap slightly. Interestingly enough, this doesn't happen with my R2a, so may just be some sort of quirk in the R2-trigger winder pairing.

All things considered, I like having the Voigtlander Trigger Winder attached to my Bessas. Maybe by the time Cosina comes out with that non-limited edition mechanical R2a I'm waiting for the price will have come down a little so that I can buy another one to match it.