Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/03/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi I was shooting with one of my M4-P's yesterday in fairly humid, rainy weather when my shutter failed to close. I was using 1/15th of a sec shutter speed. I could only reset the camera by setting the shutter speed to Bulb. On further investigation after removing the film I found that all speeds from 1sec to 1/30th sec had the same problem while faster speeds were OK. Later in the day when I was back indoors (less humid) I again tested the camera and found no problem. The camera had had time to acclimatise to the indoor conditions. A few years ago in cold and wet weather when shooting in New Mexico I had a similar problem with another M4-P. I had the camera serviced and it's been fine ever since. What I'd like to know is : Have any other M4-P (or any M series) users had a similar problem ? What could be the cause of this ? Is humidity a possibility - how can this be overcome ? What are the practical weather extremes of using Leica rangefinder cameras and how do these compare to other manual and electronic cameras ? Am I overreacting when I feel that my expensive, well maintained equipment is not up to (moderately) extreme conditions (unlike my Nikon F2 or F4 which have performed under similar conditions without a single problem.) Or have I just had a bad run of luck ? I guess the 'decisive moment' turning so quickly into one of disappointment causes me to question the ruggedness of these cameras which I choose to use for the majority of my photography and would hate to set aside because I lose faith in them. Regards Antony Soicher asoicher@aztec.co.za Johannesburg, South Africa