Any trouble with M leicas on long flights

Same as all the posts above, I've traveled with my Leicas in fairly well padded bags without a problem. I was lucky in that never was I asked to show if they were cameras or just paperweights. :)
 
Paul I stow my camera bag under the seat in front (Domke F-2). If you put it in the overhead some big bloke will come along with something with a large mass and crush it... :eek:

Enjoy your trip to the U.S. :)

 
Rf adjustment

Rf adjustment

I ride to work on a bicycle over streets that have a lot of potholes. I usually carry a camera in a camera bag on my back. My mountain bike was stolen and I bought a new bike that has a stiff ride and has high pressure tires. One day, up in a skyscraper, I noticed that my infinity focus was off. I had it adjusted but I have to presume that the problem is getting bumped around on my back ride.

The body is an M4.

Ed
 
I had Delta 3200 loaded on a Canon body the last time I flew to France. The same combo was also was X-rayed when I went to the Louvre. The roll, to my surprise, was not fogged. Not that I could tell.
 
I had all my film (including plenty of Neopan 1600) X-rayed at Barajas in Madrid earlier this year. To my great relief everything was OK too. :)

 
I flew back from London and arrived late last night after delays caused by the police taking a couple of drunks off the aircraft (very much against their will). The M2 & lenses were fine on the floor in an old army surplus bag with a Billingham insert and shoulder pad. But ... a Summitar 50 had arrived in the post while I was away so I just had to try it out when I finally got home tired and unco-ordinated


... and managed to drop an M3 and the newly-acquired lens onto a wooden floor.

But, this being vintage Leica gear, no obvious harm was done. It fell onto its front - with the lens in its collaped state and covered by a metal lens-cap and made a helluva bang. I'll develop some test shots I took today later on, but I will be surprised (and dismayed) if there is any problem with them.

Last week - during another London trip - I dropped an M2 in leather ever-ready case when the check-in girl wanted to tag another bag. I slipped the other bag off my shoulder and the camera-case tumbled to the floor. This partially undid the 50mm Summicron lens and brought up the 35mm frame, but it clicked back with no difficulty and subsequent photographs were fine.

So, the problem with me isn't flying per se but tiredness and consequent carelessness that travel can cause. Just as well that the Leica M cameras and lenses seem able to take a bit of abuse.

Cheers,

Seán.
 
Nikon Bob said:
We may be making a long flight and I was wondering if anyone had had problems with their M leicas, or lenses for that matter, getting out of whack on long duration flights. I am trying to decide between taking my FM2n, which has done long flights with no ill effects, and an M4 which is an unknown quantity in that reguard. I seem to recall trouble with rangefinder alignment due to vibrations.

Bob
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..............................
I've carryed my Bessa R in a backpack with me from Sea/Tac to Baltimore and back several times with no ill effects.
 
Phew!

Developed the test film (see earlier post in this thread about post-flight clumsiness leading to gravitationally-compromised Leica M2 & Summitar) and I'm delighted to report first-rate results. That Summitar is amazing! The difference between it and a rigid Summicron is minimal under a loupe. My hamfistedness has done no harm.

I'll try not to bash my Leicas any more, but if I do it's good to know that they have a high pain threshold.

Cheers,

Seán.
 
peter_n said:
Paul I stow my camera bag under the seat in front (Domke F-2). If you put it in the overhead some big bloke will come along with something with a large mass and crush it... :eek:

Enjoy your trip to the U.S. :)

Click to expand...


How would one crush it? I once had a city bus run over a M6 -three wheels, it had a double rear axle, and it still worked no problem. Even the dent was limited... Anyway, Leica's have been built to military specifications and are tested to 100G.
It is rather rare for any aicraft to pull more that 100 G ;) It has obviously been tested for vibrations as well. Basically this means Leica's have been built to withstand about anything you can do to them. The Leica Museum has a charming collection of Leica's that have been in extreme situations and survived, more or less. One of the most spectacular ones is a Leica III that emerged from a glacier, having been dropped into a fissure decades before. The camera looks like a bunch of scrap, but they were able to develop the film, so the camera-frame managed to protect the cassette against geological forces.
 
Well maybe crush is a little excessive as an adjective. But I did have a Nikon damaged in an overhead when someone slung a heavy case against my camera bag up there. It was certainly enough to knock an RF viewfinder out of alignment.

 
Nikon Bob said:
We may be making a long flight and I was wondering if anyone had had problems with their M leicas, or lenses for that matter, getting out of whack on long duration flights. I am trying to decide between taking my FM2n, which has done long flights with no ill effects, and an M4 which is an unknown quantity in that reguard. I seem to recall trouble with rangefinder alignment due to vibrations.

Bob
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You are kidding with this query - aren't you?

I mean - how did the Leicas and the lenses get to you here in the US from Germany?

Transmorgifcation?

Oh, BTW, why would a long duration "flight" matter from a quick domestic "hop"?

Maybe it is YOU who is afraid of flying - not your Leica (or Nikon)? :angel:
 
jaapv said:
How would one crush it? I once had a city bus run over a M6 -three wheels, it had a double rear axle, and it still worked no problem. Even the dent was limited
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Ooch!

It hurts, even thinking about it.
 
copake_ham said:
You are kidding with this query - aren't you?

I mean - how did the Leicas and the lenses get to you here in the US from Germany?

Transmorgifcation?

Oh, BTW, why would a long duration "flight" matter from a quick domestic "hop"?

Maybe it is YOU who is afraid of flying - not your Leica (or Nikon)? :angel:
Click to expand...

1) No
2) Container ship perhaps
3) as above
4) good question, why would it?
5) could be.

Bob
 
There is one disadvantage of taking a camera on a long flight --- you don;t get many photo ops for several hours.
 
Oh I don't know, I have found several good photo ops on flights http://www.pentax-manuals.com/gallery/gallery.htm :D

Seriously though, most of these were taken from a Shackleton and the Old Grey Lady was known for being "40,000 rivets flying in loose formation". Never went flying with a Leica (I wish!) but of all the cameras carried, nobody ever had a problem with vibration.

Kim

JohnL said:
There is one disadvantage of taking a camera on a long flight --- you don;t get many photo ops for several hours.
Click to expand...
 
Kim Coxon said:
Oh I don't know, I have found several good photo ops on flights http://www.pentax-manuals.com/gallery/gallery.htm :D

Seriously though, most of these were taken from a Shackleton and the Old Grey Lady was known for being "40,000 rivets flying in loose formation". Never went flying with a Leica (I wish!) but of all the cameras carried, nobody ever had a problem with vibration.

Kim
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Never flew in a Snackleton but I can believe it vibrated. I had to look it up to be sure that it was a direct decendant of the Lanc. I have had the pleasure of seeing a Lanc fly on several ocassions here. I have had a flip in an Argus on A/S exercise. Thanks for the link to your gallery.

Bob
 
Nikon Bob said:
Never flew in a Snackleton but I can believe it vibrated. I had to look it up to be sure that it was a direct decendant of the Lanc. I have had the pleasure of seeing a Lanc fly on several ocassions here. I have had a flip in an Argus on A/S exercise. Thanks for the link to your gallery.

Bob
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We used to train the pilots for the Lanc on the BBMF. Take a Lanc and put slightly bigger wings and bigger engines on and you have a Lincoln. Slice it down the middle front to back and pull the 2 halves apart by 18" and you have the Shack. That's why the top and bottom is so flat! Great photo platform though, especially with the window open.

Kim
 
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