RE: [Leica] sailing & photography

[Jim Laurel <jplaurel@microsoft.com>]

Hi Thomas,
I spent a good bit of time shooting sailing regattas in the Chesapeake Bay
some years back.  I would suggest that you take a good, weatherproofed SLR
like a Canon EOS1n.  That camera can take being splashed with salt water
without malfunctioning or getting too gunked up.  Just be sure to wipe it
down with a damp (with fresh water) towel as soon as you can.  I don't think
the M6 is very well sealed, and there are lots of places for water to get
in.  Imagine getting some salt crystals in your viewfinder or rangefinder
mechanism.

If you'll be shooting landscapes from the boat, the stabilized telephoto
lenses would come in very handy.  I'd reserve the M6 for shooting on land
when you are in port for a while, and on board, keep it in a Pelican case
with some silica gel packs.  Actually, you might want to do this with
whatever cameras you take.  A good idea we used to use on long trips is to
keep a large Pelican case reserved as a "dry box".  When you're not using
your cameras, you put them in the dry box, which contains a bunch of silica
gel.  Keep this box closed as much as possible to keep the silica gel from
getting saturated with moisture.  Periodically, you can "renew" it by
placing it in a low temp oven or any other warm dry environment.

- --Jim Laurel

- -----Original Message-----
From: thomas boehm [mailto:toboehm@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 3:03 AM
To: leica users group
Subject: [Leica] sailing & photography


hello leica-friends,

as here in austrias mountains i'm more common with snow & rocks, maybe
some of you may help me and share theyre experiences.

in comming september, i have the great possibility to join with some
friends a sailboat-trip in the mediteranean sea from athens to rhodos for
two weeks. whe will be 6 people, the boat is about 11 m long; since i'm
young i'm very attracted by nice ships and marine things, but the only
photography of sailing i've done yet was while standing with both feet on
the earth... ;-) my friends (all much more experienced in sailing than me)
expect from me, that i will make nice and also some "dramatic" photographs
of this journey.

so what to think & worry about, when i do photography on a sailboat?

i think, a super-wide-angle will be very usefull for photographs on the
boat while sailing; i think also, that there will come nice pictures from
landscapes and available-light scenes at night with people in the
harbours;
 
do you recommend some special protection for the camera? i think,
salt-water is one of the worst enemies of cameras & lenses (also sand); is
there danger from small salt-water-particles "flying" in the strong wind?
i know about some special "plastic bags" like from ewa-marine for the
protection of cameras - are they really usefull? i think, it is maybe
uncomfortable to do photographs with a "plastic bag" arround the camera...
would it be better to use an older camera for the "wet stuff" instead of
my nice leica M6?

i welcome all suggestions from the "marine people"....

thanks and regards,
thomas böhm
imst, austria





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