Jump to content

Heart Attack Time-Almost!


ktmrider2

Recommended Posts

As I get older I wonder at the wisdom of having an expensive digital camera like the MP240 or M10.

 

Somehow in my 72 years-old my focus of life is set far beyond our years which makes our temporal concerns insignificant.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Insurance is an 'out fielder'. I use insurance and see it as a cost of ownership. Being sensible is the 'in field'. Try to make sure you always have your equipment close to you and with a strap around your arm or leg. An old bag is great. A bag with a camera name on it is an invitation to thieves. Be sensible and think ahead.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I got mine insured for $65 a year, and includes theft, loss, or user error.

My insurance is 550€ per year (M and five lenses). I believe insurance is available in the UK for a similar price to yours. This kind of disparity is probably why the single market in services in the EU is taking so long to arrive.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

You don’t have to be old to do dumb stuff.  While I’m 70 now and still shooting Leicas when I was on my honeymoon 45 years ago I left my brand new Leica M4-P (wedding present from my new wife) in the first hotel stop in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I didn’t discover it missing until 400 miles later!  I called the hotel and they said no one turned it in but the maid that cleaned my room was off until later. So 400 miles later in the opposite direction getting very “ helpful” feedback from my little dumpling we arrived at the hotel. The camera was there and so was the maid. I gave her $300 as a reward but she insisted not to take it.  Different times, different folks in those days. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I left my Apo-Summicron-M 50 and Summilux-M 35 FLE in a hotel safe in Agra last autumn (I'd taken them on holiday to use with the CL but hardly touched them). Full marks to our agent (Audley Travel) for tracking them down and taking them to their own local office safe; they declined to courier them to me or to the UK (said they would 'disappear' en route), but hand carried them all the way back to the UK a month or so later. Great service, and I didn't have to call on my insurance.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Forgot I posted this.  I have not had any "incidents" in the past year.  I am leaving in a few days for a six month trip around the world taking the MP240.  Hopefully, I won't leave it in a bar or similar.  It was fun rereading the posts here.  

Thinking about upgrading to an M10 before I leave but don't see a reason to do so.  I have also been thinking about just taking the M2 with a 35.  Has anyone noticed an increasing tendency to waffle on decisions as they get older?  

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/21/2018 at 2:57 AM, ktmrider2 said:

So, has anything similar happened to others on this forum or am I unique.  I suspect most Leica user's are in their prime like I consider myself to be.  Perhaps I should find a memory enhancing pill?  And since I did not have a heart attack, I must have a pretty good ticker.

No you are not unique.

I hankered after a new, up to date Leica rangefinder ever since I bought a very ancient Leica IIIa as a student in 1980. I finally managed to get a new M262 and a selection of 3 lenses in October 2016.

In July this year I had a bit more spare cash and decided to get another body and bought one of the new ME240s.

I August I spent a few days in Snowdonia, Wales. Headed off to the Welsh Highland Railway and parked up near a crossing which offered a good vantage point for a train that was due. 

Leant into the back of the car and into my Billingham 445. This was a fairly recent acquisition last Christmas having been bought in a Black Friday sale at half the usual price. 

At this point I should explain I have several Billinghams of varying sizes bought this without realising just how big it was.

For several months I had not used it.

But thought it was great as a car based bag and thus started using it during the summer.

Anyway, put my hand in the bag the three year old M262 was there but not the almost new ME240! 

PANIC!!!!

I had checked out of one hotel and was heading for another - had I left it at the hotel? I had used it that morning and was almost certain I had put it in the bag. The hotel was by now almost an hours drive away. Should I ring? 

I pulled everything out of my car. - I use my car as a bit of a shed with stuff stored under the seats. Nothing!

By now I was swearing - I am not a person that swears so I must have been stressed.

My poor Mum who is in her early 90s and who I had brought on the trip became distressed.

I demanded of her what she had seen me do with the camera.

She insisted I had put it back in the bag. Looked again still no ME240!

By now I was totally stressed out and decided I would go back to the hotel. Just could not understand where the camera had gone.

By now my specs had steamed up as well

I knew I had a pack of lens cleaning wipes in the front zip pocket and thought I had better clean my glasses before setting off.

Unzipped the front section and in there was the ME240! I just hadn't realised the zip section was big enough to take a camera.

PHEW!  Found! - Blind panic over.

However, I then had to spend two hours trying to calm my Mother down. 

So that is my recent experience of thinking I had lost a Leica!

John

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Everyone at any age can misplace things from time to time - even possessions of high value that they care deeply about. When I was on an early date with my now lovely wife, I lost my Leica C11 compact APS camera. I am not one for being forgetful or careless as a rule (ask my long suffering family at how fastidious I am), but on this particular day, my beloved C11 and I parted company forever when I left it on a ledge by a cashpoint machine at a bank. After retrieving my money from the hole in the wall I turned and walked off without the camera. When I realised what I had stupidly done shortly afterwards and returned to retrieve it, the C11 had vanished. The most painful part of this experience was that my father had given me the camera shortly before he died a year earlier. He was a Leica fan and passed on the love to me. So, I was naturally devastated and furious with my carelessness. I suppose being in the first flush of love with my future wife, my mind was all over the place. But it still hurts today. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, maybe memory improves with age (it is to be hoped) but I have not had any incidents since I posted and started a six month trip last week.  And I am still riding the motorcycle.  It was fun rereading this thread.  I have attached a flip to my keys as it beeps if I key the iPhone.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I once left a rucksack containing an M 262, a Q, and some other items in the back seat of a rental car I'd just turned in.   Luckily I remembered and retrieved the gear before leaving the lot.  I got to the car before they started to prep it for next customer.

I never forget my cameras when on my motorcycle.   Maybe it's the bike that enhances the memory.

Marc (also a KTM rider)

Link to post
Share on other sites

The "ktmrider2" comes from a time when they were my only motorcycle.  I still feel that KTM makes the best of the big enduros but presently on a BMW and a Kawasaki.  My biggest issue with KTM is the lack of dealer support in US.  I have not been in my automobile in four months but using the bikes and it does concentrate the mind greatly.  And have not left the camera anywhere so far on this trip.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...