Leica film camera and rain

[NZDavid]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Ah the Routeburn - is it possible to get good weather all the way across?

I took my M6 for that walk as well - great weather for the flats/falls.

Then rain and cloud over the saddle, finally blazing hot sun for the last hours up to Key Summit and the Divide.

 

Who knows? We went the other way (west to east). Fine and sunny the first day to Lake Mackenzie, snowstorm the next and we had to be helicoptered across the tops. A great walk, though. We have to get used to "four seasons in one day", but the M6 coped just fine. More pictures on the website.

 

Best,

David

 

http://www.nzsoutherntraveller.co.nz

[Knomad]

I shoot in light rain fairly routinely, and have never really worried about it. Check the lens every now and then for drops, since with a rangefinder you won't know if it's degrading image quality otherwise, but with a lenshood that's rarely a problem.

 

What really convinced me that I didn't need to worry was an experience a few years ago. I was on a project site (I'm an environmental consultant, in this case we were doing construction management on a wetland mitigation site) and I had my M4 with me that day. Mid-morning it began to rain, and rain, and rain some more. It turned out to be a 100-year event, and I was out there documenting site hydrology with the camera for more than four hours in a heavy downpour. By the end nothing was dry, the weather had overwhelmed my gore-tex jacket and I was soggy to the skin.

 

I finally had to leave when the small stream adjacent to the site came so far out of bank and so fast flowing that it might soon have been impossible to get out safely, and the M4 viewfinder was getting pretty fogged up anyway, and the rain was turning to snow. The construction crew had packed up and left two hours earlier, and only two of us were still out there.

 

I opened up the camera and let it air dry overnight. The camera was fine, the pictures were fine, I've used them in presentations at scientific conferences. I'm still using that M4 frequently, it's still working flawlessly four years later.

[cheewai_m6]

i've shot in rain quite a few times without problems. keep it under your coat when not shooting and dry it when you can.

 

i read a review on the net ages ago about professional photophrapher who went to get photos of skiers. he had nikons and brought his leica m. in the cold the nikons stopped working (i imagine canons would too) and ended up using his m. he said it got so wet there was water inside the camera from loading film. it just kept working, and the photos were awesome. he said he was going to get it serviced because of the water, but he never got around to it and it just kept working.

 

it was from luminous landscape website.

[rfc]

If bodies would fare out well in the rain, what about the lenses? Just wondering since I've seen lenses with "rusty" aperture blades.

[menos I M6]

It happens, that on Sundays, it always rains in Shanghai.

 

2009

 

Jenson Button | Brawn GP

 

2010

Michael Schumacher | Mercedes

 

Jenson Button | McLaren

 

The F1 shots were made with a Nikon D3 + 17-200 or 300 2.8 VR.

I use the D3 during F1 races unprotected even in the heaviest rain (you are exposed to rain basically for about 2 − 3 hours ). There never has been a flaw with the D3.

 

I would under no circumstances do this with a digital M, while I have no reservations with using a film M in such weather.

My M8.2 sees only light rain with hiding the camera, when not using it.

when I had my first M, a M6 classic new, I was nervous about weather conditions, but soon heard great stories about it's robustness.

 

I usually take big ziplock bags + small dry packs in each with me, when on a trip.

When arriving back home/ in the car or the hotel, I dry everything up with a towel/ T-shirt, take camera straps off and pack each item into individual bags.

 

Make sure, to take lens caps, bottom plates off and open all compartments doors with digital cameras, to let any moisture be taken care off by the dry pack.

 

The biggest issue in rainy weather is not the camera, be it film M or weather sealed digital, but your own health.

[Xmas]

Hi Menos

 

Really like the shot of Michael turning into rumble strip.

 

Noel

[menos I M6]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi Menos

 

Really like the shot of Michael turning into rumble strip.

 

Noel

 

Thanks Noel, to get this, I had to go up to the highest main stand area, opposite of this corner, to get this bird angle + using a 300mm + teleconverter.

This is something, you have to go through great effort with a M.

 

I do enjoy shooting motor sports with the M8.2 though - it is somehow more satisfactory + the file quality is quite ahead of the 12MP Nikon files in good light.

 

My major reservation with the M9 indeed is, that you have a 5.500 EUR camera which is not as weatherproof (and therefore financially at risk, as customer support will neglect warranty work on a water damaged body - understandably).

 

The film bodies just were good in the water, as their innards are not as moisture sensitive with short term water contact, as electronic cameras are.

The digital M clearly needs sealing and a solid backup by customer support, to help users, to use it with trust and not come up with the usual "Can I use my M in the rain ? - threads" as this.

 

I think, it should be Leica's goal, to create an M, where no questions are asked regarding it's solidity.

 

Now there will turn up few voices, showing their M9, having survived a dump in sea water or having regular rain outwork.

Unluckily, these reports are overshadowed by the sour taste of equally unbelievable horror stories.

 

As fr, as I remember, there has been issues with moisture under the LCD cover glass with some of the early Nikon D3 (similar to the issue the M8 had).

Apart from that, I only hear, how solid and reliable these cameras are.

The modern Leica M should be at least on same level - anything else is not up to the standards of a German engineer.

 

I have read in another thread about the M8, that Leica internals have been stated as the M8 not being a technically successful product - I can fully understand that statement.

It is the mindset of a German engineer, only to strive for perfection.

[NZDavid]

I think, it should be Leica's goal, to create an M, where no questions are asked regarding its solidity...

 

Yes. You're talking digital of course, the film Ms already being reassuringly robust and reliable.

[Xmas]

Hi Menos

 

I hear what you say and have been on forum photo outings that went for beer when the rain started, no objection to beer.

 

I only use M2 and Canon P so my vesting interest is keeping Leica going, if it sell it is ok, cause during WWII the Ge engineers could not believe how empty the downed allied aircraft avionic boxes were, - the Ge ones were more efficiently packed...

 

Build it, sell it, survive.

 

Leica have not built a pro camera since the M2, i.e. one that most pros used, some used Nikon S3, or Canon P, some pros hung on longer after M2s. Now all the tourists (and many local kids) also have a DSLR with enormous zooms.

 

I can survive on CV and ZM lenses, Leica are lurching from owner to owner, if they go under there will be an increased availability of M lenses, but less innovation and competition.

 

Noel

P.S. It is Michael's right hand position, you know he has turned in, one can feel him brace for the rumble, he is good subject, he attacks every corner 9/10.