Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/11

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: M and the sun
From: Jiri_Dvorak@idx.com
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 11:57:31 -0800

>...One way to eliminate the risk
>of burning a hole in your shutter is to get in the habit of setting your
>aperture to the smallest f stop when the camera is not in use and doesn't
>have the lens cap on. I've now trained myself to do this.

I think you are better off leaving the aperture wide open, since the
smaller it is, the more pointed the source of light is and the more likely
to burn a hole. You can try it: take off your lens and use it to project an
image on the wall, preferably with sun streaming in thru the window, open
up and close the aperture and you will see the difference.

I have shot with my M6 a scene(s) with sun in it and did not burn a hole in
the shutter. As long as one does it quickly enough, it seem OK. It would
probably take a few minutes to burn a hole.

But the best way: always use the lens cap or shield it somehow from the sun
for all but a really brief moments.

Jiri Dvorak