[Leica] Chiangmai

[D Khong <dkhong@pacific.net.sg>]

Friends

I just got back from Chiangmai, Thailand where I spent three days with a
hill tribe which live about three hours drive away from the city.
Throughout the three days it was dry and dusty and I was sitting at the
back of an open 4WD whenever we travelled from village to village.  

I had with me an M3 with only one lens - a 50 Summilux (which I think is
the best focal length to carry around if you have to choose just one lens).
 The 4 wheeler kicked up a lot of dust from the dirt road and whenever it
slowed down the dust would catch up with us. We were covered with fine dust
most of the time. In no time the M3 and lens (slung around my neck) was
also covered with a fine layer of brown dirt and dust.  Ditto with the UV
filter.  While I would agree that under clean controlled conditions, there
is doubtful reason  in using a UV filter on the lens, but under the
circumstances that the summilux was subjected to, I think it made perfect
sense to have a filter on all the time.  Photographic opportunities abound
in the midst of the friendly Karen tribespeople and I had, on numerous
occasions, just wipe the front of the filter with my hanky to clear the
dust before an exposure.  I just did not have any time to bring out my
trusty blower brush or lens cleaning fluid to do a better job.  I would
have missed too many good shots.  On the other hand I would hate to wipe
with such abandon if the dust had settled on the front element.  These fine
dust make excellent abrasives.

I also discovered that the M3s dust proofing qualities are perfect.  At the
end of the trip when I removed the lens to look into the innards of the
camera, I could hardly see any trace of the fine dust.  Ruggedness?  The M3
was banging around throughout the three days, with nary a blemish.

Was the filter scratched?  Yes, slightly. There was lots of wiping. Better
on the filter than the lens.  

Dan K.