The first camera I was able to use by myself, without my parents or grandfather hovering close by in case I was about to do some inadvertent damage, was a Kodak Retinette, which was a post WWII folder.
This camera was fitted with a winding knob, as opposed to a lever advance. Whilst I had the use of this camera for a number of years, and I was more or less satisfied with it, I yearned for a lever advance.
Eventually I grew up, did a double early morning paper round and bought a Canonet, it was fantastic and it had the all important thumb operated advance lever.
Well I did at times despair about the lever, as opposed to the knob. The lever often caught on clothing, as it was being pulled out of a pocket, or placed in the pocket. Plus the way the lever seemed to move up and down, worried me at first.
The lever never fell off; the camera worked extremely well and as each roll of film was so expensive, I never used the lever advance in anger. So much for wanting a feature so badly, that when I eventually got it, I found I didnt use it!
The ability to fast wind a camera that has only 10 frames on a roll is something that Im sure the designer(s) thought about, then possibly rejected, due maybe for space and/or design parameters.
There is also the possibility that with a lever advance you would need something like 1½ to 2½ goes, to correctly wind the film on. This could mean inexperienced operators may try and expose another frame, before the correct amount of advance has happened. To eliminate these possibilities, the choice of a wind knob combined with a ratchet or click setting, makes some sense.
It also looks incredibly neat!
Mick.