SteveYork Posted February 15, 2011 Share #1 Posted February 15, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) ... now I'm facing a repair estimate of $640. Sounds excessive since the swim was even less then 6.4 seconds, and the old M was clad in leather swim trunks. But the speeds got real slow thereafter, and the place in NJ says there's rust damage. After the accident, I opened the camera up and let it dry out over night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 15, 2011 Posted February 15, 2011 Hi SteveYork, Take a look here Dropped an old M into the water and .... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Ulrik Posted February 15, 2011 Share #2 Posted February 15, 2011 sweet water or salt water? Ulrik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 15, 2011 Share #3 Posted February 15, 2011 At least it's repairable.... How many seconds does it take for the water to get into the camera? Less than 6.4 seconds, I'd guess. Everything inside will need cleaning and re-lubeing. That quote doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted February 15, 2011 Share #4 Posted February 15, 2011 Are there electronics involved (M6 etc?) Either way, that doesn't sound excessive converted into hours of labour. If dropped into salt water I remember the old advice was to stick the camera in a bucket of fresh water and get it to the repairer still wet Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted February 15, 2011 Share #5 Posted February 15, 2011 Hi Bill The critical thing is to remove the film PDQ, if it is salt water it may be a lost cause whatever you do, but with salt I'd stick it under running faucet, for long interval. Rust is difficult to deal with, insurance company should pay up. Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveYork Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share #6 Posted February 15, 2011 It was an M4. It was literally -- slip, splash, pick up from about two feet of water. Real quick, but it was salt water. Someone on the rangefinder forum explained it was the salt water that did it in. I need to be more careful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 15, 2011 Share #7 Posted February 15, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) The lens is going to be knackered too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alun Posted February 15, 2011 Share #8 Posted February 15, 2011 How do you know it was less than *6.4* seconds....? It sounds expensive to me....but then all sorts of things sound expensive to me, I find. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted February 16, 2011 Share #9 Posted February 16, 2011 Steve, Did you get wet also falling out of the boat? Am I just an old unfashionable fuddy duddy? but a neck strap usually prevents many of these, dropping expensive M cameras on to concrete or in the sea, type accidents? I also wear my strap short so the camera is on my chest rather than lower down where the going is softer and more bouncy. That way even if I bend down to tie my laces (laces -10 trendy points) the camera is no where near the ground and also not likely to swing into the nearest rock or post/gate/wall etc. But if you fell out of a boat then even a strap wouldn't help. Just think if it was an R8 with a big tele on then "you'd be sleeping with the fishes now" as it would have pulled you down into the deep!!! If you haven't sent it back for a CLA before then you may have needed to do so. I'm sure Leica will get it back to you looking like new and operating like new. You'll probably buy another Leica while your M4 is away being fixed. That's what tends to happen to me. Best of luck, Lincoln Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveYork Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted February 16, 2011 Low tide. Out on a sandbar with the dog in a foot of water. Camera in a "never ready" case hanging from the shoulder. Period correct case, of course (I'm such a camera geek). Dog pulled. Camera slipped. Splash. I picked it up immediately. It was such a brief bath, I thought the case may have protected it, but apparently the damage was already done. I don't think the camera is totally trashed, like some salt water dunkings will result in. But my experience with old cameras -- Leicaflex, Contarex, Contaflex, and now this Leica M -- is that repairs bills can be heavy. Like old cars. Either do it yourself, or have deep pockets. But as hobbies go, it's still fairly cheap. Fortunately, I have a couple modern Ms to use while this one is at the spa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted February 16, 2011 Share #11 Posted February 16, 2011 It was such a brief bath, I thought the case may have protected it, but apparently the damage was already done. Salt water leaves residual salt behind which is deliquescent and even if dried out will continue to absorb water and cause corrosion problems. When old, mechanical underwater cameras flooded in seawater, the advice was to rinse them out as thoroughly as possible then ship them to the repairer immediately. If this was done they could be revived (and sometimes a very thorough rinse and dry out was sufficient) but if there is corrosion then I can well understand a hefty bill (silvering can be damaged too). Look on the bright side, if it was an electronic camera it would almost certainly be un-repairable - or at least not economically repairable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintpot Posted February 16, 2011 Share #12 Posted February 16, 2011 Years ago I read a story by Hans Hass, he had taken his (Barnack) Leica in an early underwater housing into the sea and had a leak in the housing. He washed the camera out in clean water and then set about dismantling it, drying it all out and rebuilding it. He said it worked OK after - but he had about 6 screws left over! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bscott Posted February 16, 2011 Share #13 Posted February 16, 2011 Steve, if it is any consolation to you, years ago i did the same thing. Dropped my m3 in a creek and the goggles on my 35mm lens hit a rock and shattered. Sent it back to Leica good as new when it came back but someone said I should have just bought another one instead of the cost incurred for the repairs. I don't know which was best but I still have my camera, lens and the memories. How can I forget, my wife reminds me of the incident from time to time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
400TX Posted February 16, 2011 Share #14 Posted February 16, 2011 Steve, You might want to contact Sherry Krauter for an estimate. She is very highly thought of by many Leica owners. Her website: Sherry Krauter.com -- Home of the Golden Touch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted February 19, 2011 Share #15 Posted February 19, 2011 Steve, Thinking about what others recommend, i.e the buy another one idea. For $640 you could probably get a beat up M4 and swap that insides for your one thus keeping your better outsides. Then you could dismantle and clean to make a replacement. There are some good books on repairing Leica (mainly IIIg etc but insides are very similar). Just an idea. Regards, Lincoln Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveYork Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share #16 Posted March 4, 2011 I just got the M4 back from Essex Camera Repair in NJ. Wow, what great turn around time! And that was with a couple lenses that had sticky apertures. I've used them several times and they have always been speedy. The camera works flawlessly. Much smoother, and the contrast in the viewfinder is much better -- and I'm comparing it to its' pre-dunking state. My best experience with repair people has been with Essex -- by far. And I've used all the big internet names. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted March 4, 2011 Share #17 Posted March 4, 2011 I just got the M4 back from Essex Camera Repair in NJ. Wow, what great turn around time! And that was with a couple lenses that had sticky apertures. I've used them several times and they have always been speedy. The camera works flawlessly. Much smoother, and the contrast in the viewfinder is much better -- and I'm comparing it to its' pre-dunking state. My best experience with repair people has been with Essex -- by far. And I've used all the big internet names. Pics, or it didn't happen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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