Anyone dropped their M8?

T

Tikerz

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I carry my M8 (wrapped in a Luigi case) in the sideways "shooters" position in my Domke FX5B bag, . The bottom of the bag is throughly padded, but the top is not except for the zipper and the flap of the bag.

I was walking into my house last night carrying my infant in his carrier in one arm, trying to open the door with the other and my bag over my right shoulder. The bag slipped off my right shoulder and hit the pavement, top of the bag first, with a solid thud. My heart sank and both my Wife and I gasped that I'm sure all my neighbors could hear. 😱 I opened my bag and could immediately see the imprint that the zipper made on the side of the Luigi case. I immeditately started to examine and test. Focus and rangefinder alignment seemed fine. I think the M8 pulled through unscathed.

Has anyone else had a simliar experience they'd like to share?
 
I don't have that experience (probably I would be in the CICU if I had 😱 ) but I also use an F5XB with the camera in the same orientation and also in a Luigi case. I have 2 inserts in my F5XB, one on either side of the camera so that I have 2 smaller compartments before and after the camera for lenses etc. Those inserts, leftovers from some Lowepro backpack, have padded flaps that fold over the top, which effectively pads the bag against upside-down impacts like you had. Just a suggestion for the future.
 
So - the learning? Never carry a baby when juggling a Leica? Imagine the gasp if you had dropped the baby ........... 🙂

There's a hilarious OT story on LUG, similar irony of a wife returning to her house after her M8 screen malfunctions....
 
Not with an M8 but with an M4-P. I was sitting at a bus stop waiting for a bus with the camera in a camera bag. The bag slipped off the bench seat somehow (personally I blame my girlfriend of the time as she was closest to it...grrrrr.) onto the ground. A distance of no more than perhaps 18 inches to 2 feet. The camera came out of it with a small but noticeable dent in one corner right besides the wind lever but no apparent damge to the rangefinder. (This was 10 years ago so I think I would know by now.) I think the problem is that the bag landed on its corner edge (its least padded part) and the camera inside the bag of course did likewise as its movement inside the bag was unrestrained. It still detracted from its otherwise almost pristine beauty. The sad fact is that these beautiful metal shrouded cameras are prone to dings. I have so far managed to ding my M4-p, an M3 (another story -another time) a Pentax MX and a Spotmatic. All were from very very minor bumps. And that is when I am being careful. Sheesh!
 
Back in the days when I was assisting, I once saw a Contax 645 with a Phase One P25 back take a dive. It was teathered to a computer and another assistant tripped on the cable and took the whole tripod down on a concrete floor. I think everybody in the studio that day had their heart skip a few beats. Camere did not survive, don't know about the back.
 
Down She Went

Down She Went

I had my M8 on a tripod and tripped the shutter with the 12 sec. timer. After a few seconds I turned to put a lens I was holding in my bag on the ground and heard the thud behind me. Like you I expected to pick it up and hear parts rattling around. Almost 1000 shots later no problems and there wasn't even a scratch on it. The M8 seems to be built with the same quality as any other M camera so if your not experiencing any problems I wouldn't worry over it, at least you didn't drop the baby.
 
M. Valdemar said:
Remember all these stories next time you buy a camera on eBay.
Click to expand...

i second that 🙂

i dropped the camera, actually, i fell on my face on to the sidewalk with my M8 and 50lux asph on my neck. camera dinged all over with brass showing. 50 lux with a dented hood. thank goodness for locking hood, because only hood was damanged and lens elements were ok. M8, had to get focus calibration and alittle adjust ment on the CCD (it got nudged off its spot). but considering how much brass is showing on my camera, i'm surprised the camer is even in one piece.

my shop charged me $150 for the adjustment, and it works perfectly. metal is way better than plastic 🙂
 
usccharles said:
i second that 🙂

i dropped the camera, actually, i fell on my face on to the sidewalk with my M8 and 50lux asph on my neck. camera dinged all over with brass showing. 50 lux with a dented hood. thank goodness for locking hood, because only hood was damanged and lens elements were ok. M8, had to get focus calibration and alittle adjust ment on the CCD (it got nudged off its spot). but considering how much brass is showing on my camera, i'm surprised the camer is even in one piece.

my shop charged me $150 for the adjustment, and it works perfectly. metal is way better than plastic 🙂
Click to expand...

Wow, I think you win. These cameras are tough. 😉
 
rogue_designer said:
There is a thread here on RFF about a tripod fall with an M8 and the baseplate breaking off - I think it's still in reparo.

link here: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50734
Click to expand...
Hi yes that would be me.
Replacing the base plate is fairly easy. In my case a piece of the body also came away.
I heard from Leica UK it can be repaired under the passport scheme (eventually).
Glad to hear that a umber of you have been a little luckier than I was.
It is reasonably strong, but the base plate is certainly not as good as the original design and goodnes only knows why it got changed. Im lucky to have mine repaired on the passport scheme, but I have all risks insurance and would certainly rely on this more than build quality!

Richard
 
After a close call and another camera taking a dive I have inacted a Don't shoot while drinking rule without a strap around one part of my body at all times.
My M8 luckily has never taken a dive.
 
a long time ago i dropped a contax tvs from the back seat of a truck out onto the street. i had just unloaded it before dropping it, so i opened it up to check the insides. when i did a piece fell out and rolled into the gutter. the camera continued working happily for years without whatever the piece was...
just the other day my m8 hit the ground for the first time- i was packing a bag with the m8 next to it on the floor, went to pick up the camera (had a thermos in the other hand) but the neck strap snagged on something as i was standing up, jerking the camera back down. i managed to get my foot under it to soften the blow but while trying to grab for the camera i also managed to throw the thermos on top of the m8- dented the metal top of the thermos and got two long scratches across the top of the camera from the thermos, but everything works just fine.
 
I feel your pain! I once had my M8 with a 50 Cron and 75 Lux in my small camera bag which I put inside my backpack (no..not a camera backpack!). When I was going downstairs, one of the straps got loose and the whole backpack dropped to the corners of the stone steps. The camera bag headed right on! :bang: :bang: It was quite scary!
I checked the camera and the lenses right away. There was no damage to the camera and it worked perfectly fine. However, the filters of both lenses got a big dent. I could not remove the filters...
When I got back home, I had to cut a groove across the filters in order to take them off. It took me more than an hour. Luckily, both lenses worked fine without single problem and they got no scratch on the body.. :angel: But it is already expensive lesson coz I have to replace the UV/IR filters.
 
M8 ouch!

M8 ouch!

Yep. I stopped at a lake in Canada to take some shots and unzipped my Lowepro Rover backpack containing my M8 that was wearing a tasteful 35 'cron outfit, cracked the backpack in half ready to fish cameraphernalia out and put it down on a picnic table. I surveyed the grand scene in front of me - snow-capped mountains, clear-blue sky and sun clambering below the horizon only for my pleasure to be interrupted by the sound that can reduce grown men to tears.

The cracked-in-two backpack had decided that it was too uncomfortable and had started to spring straight again, during which, the top end had made it past the edge of the picnic table and vengefully flung my M8 down onto the concrete apron beneath the picnic table. Gulp.

The camera was hidden from view by the picnic table so my mind immediately warped into overdrive horror-mode and conjured up images of hideously twisted, dented metal and broken glass. Heart in mouth, I rounded the table to find the M8 lying on its head on the concrete and if cameras could show dazed expressions it would have had one.

I picked it up but no tinkling sounds came from inside. Still unconsciously holding my breath I examined the camera and lens and to my amazement couldn't find a mark on them. I noticed that the lens cap was cracked and bruised and immediately feared the worst but there were no marks on the front element either!

I've taken more than 5,000 shots with the M8 since, of which perhaps 25% were with the 'cron and I haven't noticed any negative effects. Phew. My only regret now is that I didn't buy a lottery ticket on the day.

I don't put my backpack on picnic tables anymore. 😱

Pete.
 
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