Heat got you down? MP goes to the edge of the earth

[dave lackey]

Talk about an adventure...😀

http://blog.leica-camera.com/interviews/martin-hartley-takes-his-mp-to-the-edge-of-the-earth/

And check out his website for cool, really "cool", photos:

http://www.martinhartley.com/portfolio/expeditions/arctic/AE06_DIG_1633/

 

[huntjump]

ha i enjoyed this comment: "the photos of the camera and photographer were taken with the teams second MP camera?"

thanks for sharing

 

[tjh]

Superb pictures - looks like a lot of shots with wide lenses.

 

[Moriturii]

"I carried the Leica MP around my neck in a thin waterproof bag to stop the moisture from my breath landing and then freezing on the viewfinder. The camera was instantly accessible all day every day, no matter how cold it got. Every time I wanted the camera to work, it did. The focusing was fast and the shutter never failed – not once – during the entire expedition. Missing a shot because of camera failure due to severe cold was never a worry, no matter how low the temperature reached."

I think that says it all. More than a Canon 5D can hope to do. 😉

I am sure a lot of mechanical cameras could do that, not to mention Nikon F, and remember, you need to service it and give it special lubricants that don't freeze in -50 degree weather, and that costs a fair bit, it doesn't work like that out of the box.

And modern pro DSLR's have no problen in arctic weather either, it's like the MP, you have to prepare you camera for it, in fact you can't even bring it inside once it's specialized for cold weather so one usualy puts in in a box outside of where you would live.

http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-1-weather-sealing/

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_nikon_d300_antartica.php

Two links i fished up from google in a minute. This is nothing unique to Leicas.

 

[dave lackey]

Superb pictures - looks like a lot of shots with wide lenses.

Yes, very nice work he did on all the expeditions! I can only imagine the difficulty in doing that!🙂

 

[dave lackey]

I am sure a lot of mechanical cameras could do that, not to mention Nikon F, and remember, you need to service it and give it special lubricants that don't freeze in -50 degree weather, and that costs a fair bit, it doesn't work like that out of the box.

And modern pro DSLR's have no problen in arctic weather either, it's like the MP, you have to prepare you camera for it, in fact you can't even bring it inside once it's specialized for cold weather so one usualy puts in in a box outside of where you would live.

http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-1-weather-sealing/

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_nikon_d300_antartica.php

Two links i fished up from google in a minute. This is nothing unique to Leicas.

And your point is? Enjoy the photos if you are in a high heat area!😉

 

[ironhorse]

I seem to remember from years ago that the film freezing and becoming brittle as well as static electricity were significant problems. Changing film is probably no easy task either.

 

[karlori]

That's all fine and dandy and the pictures are great but is there a worry of film just breaking off while winding for the next shot ?

 

[dave lackey]

I seem to remember from years ago that the film freezing and becoming brittle as well as static electricity were significant problems. Changing film is probably no easy task either.

Who was the guy on NPR radio that has all the funny stories about cold weather up in Minnesota or somewhere? Something about a "polar bear club" or equivalent where they had to run cross-country in 20 below weather, and when they stopped to relieve themselves, they left a forest of yellow candy canes behind.😛

My hats off to anyone who can photograph under extreme conditions, regardless of what camera!😀

 

[dave lackey]

That's all fine and dandy and the pictures are great but is there a worry of film just breaking off while winding for the next shot ?

Evidently not...evidenced by the gallery.🙂 I swear that I would have a few more worries about things breaking off!

 

[karlori]

Like fingers, and teeth etc 😀 and not to start talking about the gear 😀 but the MP really did good and some of the photographs are just breathtaking.

 

[rogerzilla]

Did the meter work, or did he have to use sunny 16 (probably sunny 22 with all that snow)?

 

[nobbylon]

And your point is? Enjoy the photos if you are in a high heat area!😉

I think the point Dave is that Leica MP's don't have a monopoly on cold weather use as much as some fanboys like to think they do.
I know this is a rangefinder site but at times it starts to sound like Leica forum which I find a little crazy at times so I don't go there.
I remember Chris Bonington swore by Olympus OM1's for his high altitude photography due to being light and the camera's resistance to the cold.
Reinhold Messner used Leica R4's to record his cold weather high altitude expeditions.
I'll bet that plenty of pro Nikon and Canon's have been everywhere on this planet in all the different extremes of temperature and wet or dry weather, Digital as well as film.
I think it's probably the excitement of hearing that an MP actually got used to photograph something rather than being fondled that started this yet again distasteful Leica appreciation 😀

Very nice pics on his site.

 

[Traut]

What camera took the fisheye photo? My M's can't do that.

 

[Roger Hicks]

What camera took the fisheye photo? My M's can't do that.

Funny. Mine can. All you need is an X-to-M adapter, where X is pretty much whatever you like.

Cheers,

R.

 

[nobbylon]

Here's a nice article on mainly climbing photography but there's some good info on cold weather stuff. Seems like Canon's suffer in the cold though.

http://www.gdargaud.net/Photo/ClimbingPhotoTips.html

 

[MikeL]

I think the point Dave is that Leica MP's don't have a monopoly on cold weather use as much as some fanboys like to think they do.
I know this is a rangefinder site but at times it starts to sound like Leica forum which I find a little crazy at times so I don't go there.

For some reason I don't see 'fanboys' in this post. From some of your posts on Leica you seem to have a chip on your shoulder. What's worse, starry-eyed fanboys or haters of fanboys that can't ignore then and see them everywhere?

And I agree lotsa cameras could work if prepared.

 

[Thardy]

That location looks absolutely refreshing considering the near 100 degree weather we have here in the US.

 

[nobbylon]

For some reason I don't see 'fanboys' in this post. From some of your posts on Leica you seem to have a chip on your shoulder. What's worse, starry-eyed fanboys or haters of fanboys that can't ignore then and see them everywhere?

And I agree lotsa cameras could work if prepared.

Really. You obviously haven't read enough of my posts.
I still have and use, albeit occasionally Leica M2 and M6. Summicrons and Summilux's. I just don't go on forums and post about how wonderfull an MP is.
I've had one, it was ok, nothing special and I'm very happy for anyone who gets enjoyment from theirs however posts regarding MP's by starry eyed fanboys do get a rise from me. I just don't get it and feel that having been fortunate enough to have had most of the mechanical M's in varying quantities 'am qualified to be able to give an honest and realistic view of said cameras.
I hereby apologise to all MP lovers and Leica fanboys. Fondle away, I'll say no more about them as I've obviously touched someones Leica nerve. I wondered how long it would take. Not long 😱

As far as preparation goes I think and not just Leica in particular but most old school mechanical cameras that they run them dry for very cold temps.
Out of the box new generation D3's and F5's as far as i'm aware don't need anything done because they use different lubes with a greater temp range.

 

[KM-25]

Dave: I like you man, was glad to see you on the Kodachrome forums now and then, but my friend, what is up with all the gear centric posts lately? You know for a fact that gear has very little to do with a making a great image. That is why I am always scratching my head when someone posts "M9 does Paris" when it is the photographer who brought the camera to France and to his or her eye in order to make the image.

I shoot over 100 days a year in the dead of Winter in temps ranging from a balmy 40 degrees to -30 plus a massive windchill, usually associated with helicopter downdraft. The range of altitudes are 8,000-19,000 feet. Case in point, last year the temp was -82.

I have used Leica, Hasselblad, XPan, Nikon, Canon all in these conditions without fail due to a professional approach to using them. A good friend of mine who I did a New York Times piece on this year used his 5D-II, 24-105 and 14 2.8 without fail on Everest back in May, again, a professional using professional approaches in out of the ordinary climates...

I used my M6 when doing a very cold vertical ice climb of Mt. Rainier in 2008. I used a Nikon FM3A when doing the last 4 climbs of the 54 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks in 2007. I used a D3 on that day in the helicopter with the door off at 16,000 feet at -82 windchill.

It's not the gear at all man, it is the photographer and only the photographer and the title should read "Heat got you down? Photographer goes to the edge of the of the earth", not a camera....

And I feel bad for the rest of the country, I live and work at 8,000++ feet and have not even seen 90 degrees this year, that climate would kill me like it would a polar bear...