Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/03/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>>.....anyone got a list of >do's and don'ts besides the obvious don't get them wet or take them underwater ? My current Leica is an M6 bought about a year ago, and it hasn't yet been exposed to the elements in any serious way. I simply try and keep it under my coat in bad weather, taking it out to shoot. I've had success using a heavy duty large size plastic zip-lock bag, with the opening facing down, and cutting a whole in the side for the lens to peak through. Tie a rubber band around the lens to hold the bag in place and then screw on a filter, such as a KR 1.5. This will protect the front element and add a little warming, which usually helps in inclement weather. Now, reach up into the bag when you need to shoot. Back in the late 60's and early 70's though, I was a working photojournalist and used an M2 and an M3 extensively. They equipment belonged to my employer (The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) and their regime was to have the equipment serviced once a year, whether it needed it of not <g>. (It always needed it)! I never mistreated the cameras, but I always put getting the shot above caring about the equipment. The thought was, cameras and lenses can be replaced, but lost moments can't. (Not a bad philosophy in other regards, now that I think about it). Anyhow, these cameras were dropped in snow banks and frozen, used in driving rain storms, baked in desert conditions, and never once in 5 years let me down. One time I was shooting the opening ceremonies of the Commenwealth Games in Winnipeg and a torrential rain came down for about 45 minutes. I was unprotected and during that time shot about 8 rolls, having to change film and lenses while walking in the open -- rain getting inside the cameras! The pictures all came out fine, and that night I opened up the bodies and probably could have filled a shot glass with the water that came out of them. I just left everything open overnight on the windowsill of my hotel room and then continued to shoot for the next 2 weeks. Everything worked like a charm. When I got back to Toronto and brought them in for service I was told that the saving graces had been that it was rain water -- that I had allowed them to dry out, and that I had then used them extensively right afterward. All they needed was a cleaning and relubrication. The lenses, by the way, had no water incursion at all. Ever since then, when shooting either as a professional or an amature, if I absolutely positively have to get the shot, I use an M Leica. This is the camera I'd take without thinking if I had 10 minutes to pack and head for parts unknown. Don't leave home without one! Michael