So how real is the chance of burning pinholes in my shutter curtains if I don't use a lens cap?

[pico]

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I simply developed the habit of carrying the camera under my arm with the lens pointed towards my body, or down. It is habit now, so no hassle and not really necessary with late metallic shutters.

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[skucera]

I simply developed the habit of carrying the camera under my arm with the lens pointed towards my body, or down. It is habit now, so no hassle and not really necessary with late metallic shutters.

 

That's a good idea.  I'll have to remember that.

 

Thanks,

Scott

[250swb]

I simply developed the habit of carrying the camera under my arm with the lens pointed towards my body, or down. It is habit now, so no hassle and not really necessary with late metallic shutters.

 

I was taught that at college many years ago, and it would help here if there was a risk of being still in exactly the right spot for long enough. But the reason given was far more practical, if the lens is pointed towards your body should the camera swing out perhaps when turning quickly or bending down the back of the camera body will hit anything that could otherwise destroy a lens. It also goes some way towards keeping raindrops off the front element.

[sblitz]

I always hold lens down, raindrops are bigger issue than walking around with the lens pointed to the sun. That would mean walking around with the lens point straight up into sky for a long time, hard to envision that occurring. As for resting the camera, not sure its a good idea to keep a camera stitting in the direct hot sun for a lot of reasons (film being among them), especially with the lens pointed at the sun.

[pop]

There have been reports in the German part of the forum by members who managed to burn holes into their curtains within just a few seconds. The successful recipe involves: fully open the aperture, set the focus to a near distance (the lens should be about 2 to 4 mm extracted from the infinity position), place the camera where it will make a picture of the sun on the curtain. One member reported a funny smell after two seconds:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/22267-m6-classic-tuchverschluss-gelöchert-selbst-reparieren/

 

I seem to remember one member doing some experimentation with a russian Leica copy and the result was very similar: a few seconds suffice, you don't need much patience to adorn your curtain with a circular hole.

[arno_nyhm]

i tried it on an already used-up FED4 with an Industar 26M 50/2,8 lens. its been a while since but as far as i remember it was easy to burn holes into the cloth.

 

so better be carefull!

[Stealth3kpl]

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If I've no cap on I keep the lens aperture wide open and focused at near so that any light coming through the lens is spread over a wide area

pete

[250swb]

i tried it on an already used-up FED4 with an Industar 26M 50/2,8 lens. its been a while since but as far as i remember it was easy to burn holes into the cloth.

 

so better be carefull!

If you set out to do it. Don't feed the 'Leica fear' syndrome where every damned thing becomes a threat. There are enough threads on LUF where owners are paralysed with anxiety over anything from half cases to not being able to clean a sensor for themselves and the hysteria shouldn't be added to. If you made a pin hole happen, or even if it's happened to you in normal use, look to see how many other people have reported the same thing and put it into the perspective of the tiny percentage sun burnt pin holes belong in.

 

 

Steve

[jaapv]

He just responded to Pop's post, Steve. Though I agree that we sometimes see some over-anxiety here, I do not think that this post will cause mass-hysteria.

[david strachan]

I managed to do it. Felt a total dufus!

 

With my Canon V1-T about 15 years ago.  It is (was) a very beautiful rangefinder camera which I got for about $100 with the three lenses, all mint.  Case etc.

At the time it had the Canon f1.4 ltm lens attached.  Some time later ( a couple of days) I was looking at the cloth shutter and noticed some marks...on further examination...pinholes. Luckily there was a nearby town with an excellent and famous camera repair man, who fixed the cloth.  Sold, regretfully (now have a v beautiful Canon P...metal shutters   )

 

Nowadays, I always keep my cameras shaded if possible, or turned sideways..as the sun moves.  People wonder why I go and move my camera a fraction of an inch...

Particularly my M8 as I suspect the coffee stain problem might be associated with LCD delamination due to heat (?).

 

Lesson learned.

 

cheers  Dave S

[wattsy]

Particularly my M8 as I suspect the coffee stain problem might be associated with LCD delamination due to heat (?).

 

 

If it is, it is probably a consequence of heat from inside the camera.

[friedeye]

If your camera is moving - it's slung over your shoulder and you're walking, for example - you will not burn a hole in your shutter.  Yes… keep it at f16, if you're worried - that will do it. BUT and this is a big but - be very careful when you set your camera down. Most shutter burns occur at lunch or at a nice outside table where the photographer puts his camera down with the lens facing the sun. So easy to do. Or on the shelf at home facing a window. That's why you see photogs putting their cameras on the table with the lens down. That's precisely why this practice started. Burning a hole in the curtain is easy in the right circumstance. Just be aware and be smart.