My M6 is a pretty tough cookie!

[Mr G]

Hey,
here's a "funny" story I wanted to share with the rff community:

Yesterday I went for a long walk with the dogs mostly under pouring rain.. when I got back home I walked through the garden and with big surprise I noticed I had left my Leica M6 outside on the garden table the all time!
It basically sat there under pouring rain for a few hours... I think I nearly had a heart attack.

Well, I took it inside and i dried it off as much as I could, I opened the back and it was 100% dry, even the viewfinder was perfectly dry and everything was working as usual.

I left it near the heating all day and night and it's now perfectly fine.
I might take it to get a CLA soon... just in case.


what a great camera! 🙂


g

 

[Roger Hicks]

No, no, you must be mistaken. Everyone knows that Leicas seize up and die as soon as a cloud passes over the sun.

Seriously, after it's taken that sort of soaking, I'd go for an inspection rather than a full CLA. Tell the mechanic what happened, ask them if it needs work, be guided by them. Or you may decide that once they're in there, a bit of a clean-out won't hurt anyway and won't add much to the cost.

Cheers, R.

 

[sc_rufctr]

I'm glad you got a good outcome. I would put some film in it and take some pictures...
If you feel concerned get it inspected and checked as suggested but if it was mine I wouldn't bother unless there was something obviously wrong with it.

 

[pachuco]

I've always been puzzled by the horror stories of water and rain. I've been soaked by monsoon rains with a M3 and later with a M6 and have had no problems at all. The occasional CLA does help for sure.

 

[kshapero]

Oh no, this happened to me with a Nikon FM, about 15 years ago and I just kept using it. One of these days I'll get it checked out.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

I forgot my Nex-3 outside in the rain and it still works 😱

I dont think so 😛 just kidding, but imagine!

 

[_mark__]

Stick it in a Tupperware box with some silica or rice for 24 hours to be on the safe side.

 

[Mr G]

looking through the lens with a flash light i can see some streaks of fog (?) inside the elements... some water must have gotten in I guess.
I hope it will go away just laying next to the heater for a while...

 

[Mr G]

okay i tried with the rice!

I wonder if the rice might fix the fog inside the lens as well...?

 

[Sparrow]

Well, I still think water kills cameras, and given the choice I'll continue to keep mine as dry in the future as I have in the past. Oh, and the one I did get get wet lasted only a few weeks after the event

 

[Keith]

I'd be keeping it away from any heat source if it was mine ... heat turns moisture into vapour or steam which will infiltrate areas of the camera that may currently be dry.

 

[John Elder]

M6 tough cookie

M6 tough cookie

In 1995 I was in Mexico visiting some ruins an hour away from the car. The m6 and 35 cron got totally soaked. I kept shooting based on a priot experience where I shot the same camera in Philly for at least 6 hours in pouring rain with the same 35mm summicron, I simply dried out the camera in a normal enviornment and the camera didn't get a cla until 2005. People really underestimate the Leica M bodies ability to withstand rain. I don't hesitate to use my M6 in the rain

 

[Mr G]

thanks for all your tips!
I am lucky enough to live close to the best leica repair lab here in italy... the guy has been working on leica m bodies and lenses since he was 16.
So this morning I dropped the m6 off at the lab

I had a good chat with this funny old man and he assured me that rain can't kill my camera.
He's going to give it a good check up and replace the meter circuit the was already pretty much dead...

Keith... I totally agree with you, keeping the camera next to the heating wasn't the smartest move... hopefully the steam will go away once the guy opens up the camera in a few days (?)

Is there anything else I should get done while he's working on the m6?

He told me not to bother with the mp viewfinder... unless I had money to blow.. anything else?

Thanks

g

 

[Renzsu]

I was out shooting with my M8 in the pouring rain all day. I didn't have a bag on me and it got really wet. Besides some slight fogging between the glass and lcd, everything was fine. Camera worked like a charm.

 

[joohander]

this thread really inspires me to take my M6 out in the rain, i've always wanted to get photos of people running around.. wonder if it's a good idea to tempt fate that way though =\

 

[Renzsu]

this thread really inspires me to take my M6 out in the rain, i've always wanted to get photos of people running around.. wonder if it's a good idea to tempt fate that way though =\

One of Trent Parke's more well known images, taken in the rain, most likely with his M6 and 28mm lens.

 

[Krosya]

He told me not to bother with the mp viewfinder... unless I had money to blow.. anything else?

Well, I have to disagree with that - back when I had M6 - it had a terrible flare problem and upgrading to MP VF made a HUGE difference.

As far as Leica (or any camera) in a rain - I'm sure some will do just fine. Lenses - not so much. Personally, I'm very careful when it rains when it comes to shooting pictures. I usually have water resistant cameras for those times, even if they are Point and Shoot type.

 

[kipkeston]

The more important question is how in the world did you just forget about your M6 outside??? 😉

 

[Colin Corneau]

Forget leaving it next to a heating vent, etc. -- best advice is to get some silica gel packets and seal them up with the camera inside a plastic bag. That will draw out the moisture...something good to do before taking it in for a full checkup!

 

[Mr G]

I finally sent it off for a CLA a couple of weeks ago.
the guy called me yesterday saying he only found a bit of fogging inside the viewfinder and that's all, nothing to worry about

I'm also getting a new meter cicruit installed... since my previous one was slowly dying anyway.
I'm so impressed by how good this camera is after surviving the rain...

I don't think I will use anything but leica m in the future.

I wonder if my Hexar AF would have handled the same treatment...maybe not.