Well......many of the suggestions here were to attempt to construct a switching contrivance of my own. This is almost completely contrary to what I need. I really need a solution that does not incur any engineering or extra repeatative manufacturing cost.

I kind of like Erik's idea of using a single switch with a short and a long press. That sounds practical if I can convince my client of liking the idea. It's only issue is the usage awkawrdness of possibly having to press the switch again to stop whatever is going on. With the multilevel pushbutton stopping is the simple action of removing the press on the button.

My scheme of use does not care how fast the switch is pressed. There is even the desire to hover at the first level and then subsequently engage the second level for a moment and then return to the first level.

I know Jose Orlando suggested that the desired switch is very similar to the trigger switch on a camera. This is exactly the thing that the client said in trying to describe the way he wanted the controls on this part of his product to work!! ;-)

I spent a long time doing more web searches and came up with just one ready made switch. You can see its Spec sheet here:
The OTTO P2 TwoStep^TMPush Button
This switch is on the right track, but it looks expensive being that it is in an all metal cylindrical package. I also feel that the 3.5 lb and 6 lb operating forces are rather high for my application.

So......the search continues.

If these are indeed used on cameras it seems likely that somewhere there is a supplier.....but where??

Michael Karas