Have you dropped your M? Tell your story..

[pico]

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I never dropped a camera or lens until after I sawed my thumb the long way in a table saw all the way into the bone about inch and a half long. Did not loose the thumb but it is about 3/8 inch shorted because of the massive loose of tissue near the tip. Drove my self to the hospital got sewed up 6 hour later, lol

Any way now theres no feeling in my thumb so can't tell how hard I am holding a lens so dropped a leica 65mm - trashed it and a 135mm also was trashed also and a c 90 that survived now I sit down and change lenses over something soft like carpet or grass not over cement just don't trust my self anymore.

 

Jan

 

Left thumb? Mine was amputated in an accident, but I was lucky that the Mayo Clinic is just up the road. Their hand surgeons put it back on, however it is numb and immobile. Had the pins removed after one worked to the surface and I got osteomyelitis.

 

Yes, I have to be exceptionally careful with the camera.

 

Recently I got ulnar neuropathy which took out my 3rd and 4th fingers of the same hand. It is also called 'handlebar palsy', a fairly common injury for bicyclists and the right hand is moderately effected. I can hardly focus at all now. Hate to admit it, but recently I've been using the little Pana G1 and autofocus until I can find a mechanical solution to help me hold and work the M cameras.

[eleskin]

I had my M8 on a tripod while shooting interiors of a rental property I own and I tripped over the tripod. The tripod fell with the M8 and 15mm Super Wide Heliar on it. the M8 fell flat onto the stone floor. I picked up the camera, and for a moment a black screen. I took the battery out and replaced it. Everything was fine, even the rangefinder! The Super Wide Heliar was bent a little inside , but that was fixed by taking the lens mount apart and bending the threads back to normal inside the focus mount. Now everything is like new!

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[leicanut2]

Left thumb? Mine was amputated in an accident, but I was lucky that the Mayo Clinic is just up the road. Their hand surgeons put it back on, however it is numb and immobile. Had the pins removed after one worked to the surface and I got osteomyelitis.

 

Yes, I have to be exceptionally careful with the camera.

 

Recently I got ulnar neuropathy which took out my 3rd and 4th fingers of the same hand. It is also called 'handlebar palsy', a fairly common injury for bicyclists and the right hand is moderately effected. I can hardly focus at all now. Hate to admit it, but recently I've been using the little Pana G1 and autofocus until I can find a mechanical solution to help me hold and work the M cameras.

 

Ouch, put it back on thats good sorry it don't work. Hows the thing in the winter? Cold weather is murder on mine. And yes Left thumb. I am alway working remodeling my house build furniture moving walls drywall etc. and things happen when you work. Building a 300 gallon plywood reef aquarium now too. Busy hardly have time to go out and take pictures. Don't feel bad on the GF1.... I have the GX1 and the OM-D on order between the thumb and the eyes getting worse auto focus is a good thing for me.

Never heard of neuropathy is there any cure or therapy for it?

Cheers and keep taking pics no matter what camera you use.

Jan

Edited April 11, 2012 by leicanut2
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[aesop]

...here's my story. The rebuilt MP was delivered as good as new - in my view, it feels sturdier than my other MP.

[leicanut2]

...here's my story. The rebuilt MP was delivered as good as new - in my view, it feels sturdier than my other MP.

 

Man I hope some of it was under warranty, that had to be a big bill. I miss my MP sometimes.

 

 

Jan

[pico]

Ouch, put it back on thats good sorry it don't work. Hows the thing in the winter? Cold weather is murder on mine. And yes Left thumb. I am alway working remodeling my house build furniture moving walls drywall etc. and things happen when you work. Building a 300 gallon plywood reef aquarium now too. Busy hardly have time to go out and take pictures. Don't feel bad on the GF1.... I have the GX1 and the OM-D on order between the thumb and the eyes getting worse auto focus is a good thing for me.

Never heard of neuropathy is there any cure or therapy for it?

Cheers and keep taking pics no matter what camera you use.

Jan

 

Good observation, Jan! The re-attached thumb is insensitive to heat, but hurts like the devil in the Winter! What's with that? Regarding the neuropathy, the only treatment is time and ceasing what caused it. To that end, I've installed flat handlebars on my bike and got new riding gloves with gel-padding over the traumatized area. I brake using only one finger now. It is a very common injury among bicycle riders. A friend of mine who rides year-around like I do has almost no feeling at all left in his 3rd and 4th fingers of both hands.

 

Take care!

.

[ph.]

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Off topic perhaps. I have not dropped a Leica, but did once expose one to service beyond the call of duty.

 

My wife and I were out recording a Viking age "kettle factory"when the rains came down. Quite unexpected and very intense.

 

Her Olympus OM light meter died, and the shutter and the prism did not like it either, so that camera went to wherever old cameras go when they are recycled.

 

I assumed that my M3 must have noticed the deluge (in spite of it still working), so I took it to the Leitz workshop. They checked everything. No deviation from factory specs.

 

Some years later I got a Nikonos to use in the wet, so as to let the Leitz products stay dry.

 

p.

[Paul Verrips]

Luckily, id did not dropped my M9, but in 2006 my Nikon D70 made a crash.

 

We were o a honeymoon trip in Norway, arrived in Bergen by ferry, parked in a parking garage to have some breakfast. My Nikon D70 was in my Lowepro backpack. I swung my backpack over my shoulder, but the zipper wasn't closed. The D70 hit the concrete ceiling and then the concrete floor. The camera was heavily damaged and dead, but within 2 hours i bought a new Nikon D70s. No holiday in beautiful Norway without a DSLR!!

 

The honeymoon trip changed into a horror trip, but still married:D

[Symeon]

Yep. Dropped an M8 in 2007 (2 months after I bought it) on a soft carpet (!) from waist high and the shutter mechanism blocked up. Had to sent it to Sohms - $200 repair fees despite the guarantee. But, when I got it back they had re-aligned the RF prism as well and it somehow worked much better. Dropped the same camera in 2009 on the pavement (including myself as I slipped on the wet) and nothing happened to it, except for a small scratch on the body covering on one corner. I was bruised on hands and knees quite badly but the M8 went on shooting. Amazing stuff.

[Lord Fluff]

I'm not sure 'amazing stuff' is right when you consider the shutter died after a small carpet-dive the first time, which is pretty poor really.

 

Not sure if it's down the Leica's digital M's being more delicate, but I'm sold on them being 'pro' grade in terms of resilience, in comparison say to the Japanese SLRs. My joke with my 1-series Canons (one of which is always on a belt holster when I'm working) is that if I bang one into a door-frame I check the door-frame for damage.

 

Don't get me wrong - still love my M9 - but I don't have the confidence in its toughness that I do with my Canons.

[Fotofanatiker]

On new year's eve, we had a lovely dinner with friends on the Austrian countryside, but before that we had to run some errands and I was carrying the roast ("Schweinebraten", for the connoisseur, which means I was also carrying a lot of responsibility), had my M9 with 24mm Summilux around my neck. On my way to the house I slipped on snow and almost dropped the roast - caught it a few cm before it hit the ground. But what did hit the ground was the camera on the strap around my neck, and it did so with a very nasty sound (it was on a staircase), leaving a nice dent in the hood. But no other damages, still works properly (but will go to Solms for service when I'm in Germany in May).

 

Oh, and I have a thumb story, too.., Years ago I split my left thumb in two with an electric bread cutter... Nice V-shape, luckily missed the bone by a couple of mm, had to drive to the hospital on my own in my mom's VW Polo as I was alone at home (and too stupid to call the ambulance, you would only do that for serious stuff, right?)... They fixed it but a part of the thumb was numb for years...

 

Michael

[buranca]

This feels like a jinx...

 

Have not dropped an M yet, or any other camera for that matter.

 

However, ~20 years ago, I drove off and heard a "screech" and a thump. Tumbling in the rearview mirror at about 30mph was my newish Konica I had left on the roof of the car.

 

Lots of cosmetic damage, but everything worked and I still have the camera today!

[leicanut2]

On new year's eve, we had a lovely dinner with friends on the Austrian countryside, but before that we had to run some errands and I was carrying the roast ("Schweinebraten", for the connoisseur, which means I was also carrying a lot of responsibility), had my M9 with 24mm Summilux around my neck. On my way to the house I slipped on snow and almost dropped the roast - caught it a few cm before it hit the ground. But what did hit the ground was the camera on the strap around my neck, and it did so with a very nasty sound (it was on a staircase), leaving a nice dent in the hood. But no other damages, still works properly (but will go to Solms for service when I'm in Germany in May).

 

Oh, and I have a thumb story, too.., Years ago I split my left thumb in two with an electric bread cutter... Nice V-shape, luckily missed the bone by a couple of mm, had to drive to the hospital on my own in my mom's VW Polo as I was alone at home (and too stupid to call the ambulance, you would only do that for serious stuff, right?)... They fixed it but a part of the thumb was numb for years...

 

Michael

 

 

Ha, I drove my self to the hospital too, What was bad was I got there at 3pm did not get home till almost 11 pm.

I don't think feeling will ever com back on mine to much missing.

Good thing shutter finger did not get messed up.

 

Cheers Jan

Camera straps are a god send too, lol.

[Double Negative]

This thread just makes me cringe on so many levels.

[jdlaing]

This thread just makes me cringe on so many levels.

 

I have a novel idea.

Leica could put an accelerometer and an impact detection sensor in the camera.

When dropped it makes a record and $1,000.00 is deducted from the resale price whether repaired or not. Like driver check or Carfax. All you have to do is look at amenu item.

[leicanut2]

In over 30 years I've only ever dropped a piece of camera gear once - a Canon D30 and EF 35mm f/2 lens. Minor scuffs to the camera, lens blew out the AF/MF switch - the latter of which I had repaired.

 

Only lost two items. One was a rubber eyepiece surround from a cheap eBay eyecup, the second a slip-on lens cap from the Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 Nokton. I only replaced the latter.

 

<knocks on wood!>

 

Now theres a good thread, what cameras or camera stuff have you lost. Lens caps have to be a big one along with eye cups maybe camera cases. Filters anyone drop one of them?

 

Cheers Two Thumbs Up, Lol.

[jdsheepdog]

[*]C330f: slipped off shoulder onto stone steps - bent focusing knob and spindle. Fortunately lens board / focusing, film winding and shutter-cocking unaffected. repaired easily.

[*]Contax 159 with 200mm lens: lens hood took the brunt - straightened by local repairer as

Does all this make me a serious photographer?

 

No. All dogs have tails. All tails dont have dogs.

[Messsucherkamera]

Here's mine: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/230541-postmortem-lessons-broken-m4-p.html

 

I sent her off to Sherry Krauter for repair today. Will post the results when she is repaired and back home again.

UPS brought me my newly repaired M4-P this morning. After exposing half a roll of Tri-X it functioned flawlessly and felt right.

 

I cannot recommend Sherry Krauter highly enough - she always goes the extra mile in her efforts to make certain any M she works on is 100% when it gets back home to its owner. Her prices are well within reason, too.

[rick_dykstra]

Worse than me dropping one - my wife dropped my MP.

 

It was in a canvas bag. The weight shifted and pulled the bag from wifey's hand. Hit the concrete. Thunk! Landed on the lens hood of the 35/1.4 Asph. That cracked and took the impact. No damage to body or lens. Had a fun afternoon glueing the hood back together. Eventually found a new one on eBay. Still have the MP, lens and wife.

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[skinnfell]

I was going to start my post with "I´ve never dropped...." but then I realized that I actually did drop my M6 once. I was taking pictures at a waterfall (gooseberry falls, MN) when I actually slipped and fell into the stream. It was mid summer so there was hardly any water. But in a totally irrational fear of getting my leica wet I threw it onto the land (all bedrock) where it landed on the bottom plate.

 

The reason that I forgot about this episode is merely because the dent that the drop caused was so small that it was hard to find it.

 

I also have a friend who dropped his M9 with no problems ( but he had to send it in for a very expensive repair after using it in the rain though! )