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Vibration and M9 Durability


jklotz

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recently I flew to Bangkok with an M6 carefully packed in an artisan and artist bag- inside another padded bag. However all this was loaded as checked baggage and must have received a big bang somewhere... When I took the camera out at the hotel the RF refused to focus on infinity and was way out... very annoying. took a few shots by focusing off the lens scale... when I got back to Australia I adjusted the RF myself with a jewelers driver... now it is perfect again and touch wood will stay that way.

 

not encouraging I know...

 

so I will say that I have done the same with my M9 on several flight and the RF has stayed put.

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Thank you for the replies. I appreciate all the input.

 

One thing that occurred to me: A bike is going to vibrate a lot more than being on a plane, and 2K miles should be around 40 hours on the bike when all is said and done. I don't know that the comparison is valid.

 

Judging by what I've heard, I am going to go on the assumption that if I take it, it will need a "tune up" when I get back. Therefore, my decision will have to be a) shoot with my favorite camera on my trip and send it to be realigned when I return, or B) take another lesser camera and live with it.

 

Tough call.

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Thank you for the replies. I appreciate all the input.

 

One thing that occurred to me: A bike is going to vibrate a lot more than being on a plane, and 2K miles should be around 40 hours on the bike when all is said and done. I don't know that the comparison is valid.

 

Judging by what I've heard, I am going to go on the assumption that if I take it, it will need a "tune up" when I get back. Therefore, my decision will have to be a) shoot with my favorite camera on my trip and send it to be realigned when I return, or B) take another lesser camera and live with it.

 

Tough call.

 

I'm not sure that's the conclusion I'd draw, James. I'd expect an aircraft fuselage to generate far more vibration than the typical motorcycle (and assuming you carry your camera in a bag in the overhead compartments, that's what you need to consider - not the amount of vibration coming through your seat).

 

In any case, vibration induced damage is unlikely to manifest itself quickly, but is far more likely to emerge over time, after many trips (on an airplane) or many miles (on a motorcycle). It is highly improbable that a single trip would exhibit any problems.

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Planning a 6,000 km on / off road motorcycle trip to Chile and Argentina in January on BMW R1200GSs and plan to take the M9 and my glass. They'll likely ride in the hard bags with some extra egg crate foam or the like. Time will tell, but I'd rather deal with a RF adjustment afterwards than not use this gear during such a trip.

Rich

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If you transport your M9 in 25 year old Cessnas and the like, I can assure you that the vibration is considerable - to put it mildly...

 

Yes, but a motorcycles vibrations are nowhere near a Cessna's.

In short, if what you ride, doesn't drop your teeth fillings, then that RF should be fine.

But riding a Cessna, then it is risky. And I doubt there is anything that can be done against this. Maybe asking Leica service would be a nice idea too. They should know better

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A small Pelican case would do the trick: now whether on a plane, or 4x4 on dirt road in central africa, my M9s sit quietly in Pelican cases. That did not prevent one of my M9 to do a 2 meter high free fall on rocks: well, the camera had no a single dent, the lens was not damaged at all, and everything was working fine. Let's not forget these cameras are rock solid and can withstand heavy shocks.

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