Taking an M on an Alpine Climb?

[thighslapper]

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Hmm........

 

Several conflicting issues here .........

 

If you want to do scenic snaps from stable viewpoints then a Leica wins hands down in terms of quality and low weight/compactness.

 

If it's 'documentary' stuff in difficult situations then autofocus, the ability to hold in one hand and high ISO may be more sensible ...... manual focussing with frozen fingers is no fun..... Maybe a DSLR are quality Point and Shoot may be better (an X1 or X100)

 

On the numerous trips I spent during my mis-spent youth to the Alps, half of the time spent climbing was in the dark anyway to avoid rockfall and the rest was too bl**dy dangerous to contemplate taking photos ...... all my photos are from meanders between routes, from climbing huts and when we eventually got to the top ....all with an old Nikon FM.

 

Maybe you are made of sterner stuff and have a penchant for dangling off the end of a rope waving a camera about.....

[NZDavid]

Not climbing, just a rugged walk, Routeburn Track, Fiordland, NZ, with an M6 and E100. 35/2 Summicron-ASPH. We had sunshine, freezing rain, wind, and snow. Handled like a dream but I tried not to get the Leica soaking wet. M9 would not be quite so forgiving....

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[IkarusJohn]

Oh, I'm not so sure about that, David. Why would the M9 fare any worse?

 

I appreciate electronics are more sensitive, but the M9 is no less waterproof than a film M. Actually more so as it does not have the rear flap.

 

I'm not planning on immersing mine in water, but I have taken mine mountain biking, I'm taking it skiing tomorrow and I would take it on the Routeburn, Milford or any of the great walks. I will put it in the Billingham Combination to keep the weather off.

 

I hate lack of care, but I intend to use mine as much as I can.

 

Cheers

John

[doug_m]

But unless one of those guys did a spicy route up Vinson Massif at the South Pole, these are not harsh Alpine Style climbs, I would take a Leica on any of these, especially terrain as low in elevation and as comparably tame as the Lake District.

 

Unless the OP has embellished what he is actually doing, Alpine Style climbing is most demanding in it's approach in how one is actually climbing. And trekking even as high as 18,000 feet in Nepal is not climbing, it is trekking.

 

But I digress, the OP now has enough information to make an informed decision....

 

In 1963 Willi Unsoeld took an M3 up the West Ridge of Everest. This was the first Everest traverse. A few years ago Willi's wife,Jolene, told me Willi said the camera performed flawlessly. He also carried it without a case. Many of these photos are in the famous climbing book- Everest: The West Ridge.

[NZDavid]

Oh, I'm not so sure about that, David. Why would the M9 fare any worse?...

 

Electronics and computer componentry. As beautiful as the M9 is, I think film leicas probably have the edge when it comes to ruggedness because there is less to go wrong. M9 manual says don't get it wet. Of course no Leica is waterproof. But I'd want to be more careful with a digital one. D-Lux 5 got just slightly damp and lens fogged up completely, inside and out. It dried out later. The other issue is batteries giving up in the cold.