Here comes the Sun.

Ko.Fe.

Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
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Jul 14, 2013
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Today nine thousand homes were out of power. In Toronto. Trees were falling on outdated power lines. They were falling yesterday while we were watching on our backyard how clouds were coming from the other side of the house at the speed of airplane and disappearing within one minute. I guess this is how hot the Sun is.
Day before this I was walking on Lockee street in Hamilton and the top plate of M4-2 became too hot after one hour (I'm taking sunny sides of the streets).
I have to take the cover in the bar and pay eight dollars for beer which is two dollars in the beer store.
Where is believe in climate change and tax in the name of it. Will it fix climate change here, I don't know how.
But my down to earth question; is how to prevent top plate of M4-2 to get hot?
It is yellow/gold metal under black paint. If I remove the black paint, I know how to plate it in silver.
 
I think your post is going to leave most of us lost for words lol... but the solution to your dilemma is obvious! Chrome - not sexy. Black paint - sexy. Must. Keep. Black. Paint. Soooo.... avoid the sun entirely!

Remove that slow 35mm lens, attach a 35mm f1.2 or f1.4 lens (there, I've given you a reason to buy a new lens!), load ISO400 or faster film, and go shooting available darkness in the wee hours of the morning! You'll save money too as the bars will be closed ;)

Seriously though, for a dose of reality on climate change, have a listen to Kevin Anderson - Beyond Nebulous Arm Waving
 
Walk around with it on your shoulder under an arm. Or if you want to wear it around your neck, shield it from the Sun by draping your hand over it when exposed. This worked for me when I was deployed to Guam, Kuwait and Iraq. I dont think anywhere in Canada has been as hot as Kuwait any time during the existence of homosapiens so you're probably good to go there. Many photographers carry black cameras in hotter areas so have faith in the gear and keep shooting.

Phil Forrest
 
Walk around with it on your shoulder under an arm. Or if you want to wear it around your neck, shield it from the Sun by draping your hand over it when exposed. This worked for me when I was deployed to Guam, Kuwait and Iraq. I dont think anywhere in Canada has been as hot as Kuwait any time during the existence of homosapiens so you're probably good to go there. Many photographers carry black cameras in hotter areas so have faith in the gear and keep shooting.

Phil Forrest

I was working in Tashkent during chilya weeks, it is 50+C. Nice and dry.
But back then, I had something silver and plastic with me. :)

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I wouldn't worry about it. When I lived in Las Cruces, NM, I routinely rode my bike with a camera slung over my shoulder during the oven-like 105+ summer days. Once I got a burn mark on my back from the camera. It had gotten red hot when my back was to the sun on a ling ride. It never hurt any of the cameras though, nor the film in them.
 
Similar experiences in very hot countries in the Middle East, South-East Asia and Africa. The heat was not an issue but humidity and dust were. This said, the only time a camera went completely dead on me was in ... Canada during mid-winter on the shores of Lake Ontario at -24C (-11F).
 
The hottest Ive been, crossing the Greater Karoo in daylight,
Hudson 47 had no A/c. Mmm.
Next horrible time was a job in "Indian Wells" So-Cal.
The Windex was visibly evaporating in the bottle!
Leave camera paint alone, find a silver-chrome one..
 
I’ve been living in South / South East Asia for the last 12 years and I worry more about my film getting too hot or exposing it to hot conditions. On some of the old ricketey buses that I sometimes take out here to get to remote areas, the floor will get very hot and I’m mindful to keep my film off the floor. My backpack with clothes and stuff doesn’t matter much, but my film and camera bag are what I worry about. Another thing that I worry about is burning a hole in my cloth shutter because of direct light entering my lens for a period of time. That happened to me once back in Berkeley, California around 17 years ago and I’ve been mindful of it ever since.

As far as my camera getting too hot, honestly, I’ve never noticed it before.

Cheers,
Michael
 
I think I would carry the Leica in a small light-colored bag on such hot days. A tan Domke F-5XB, for instance. I would take it out to shoot and return it to the bag.

And the suggestion to pick up a chrome body is worth considering, I believe.
 
I can recall having a Canon DSLR set up on a tripod one afternoon while I photographed birds in the back yard. The body got so hot it was uncomfortable to touch. I learned why Canon made some of their long lenses off-white that day.

I don't think the heat will damage the camera. It's also unlikely to damage the film inside either. You can always carry a small white towel and drape it over the camera while you're carrying it out in the bright sun. Remove it when you're shooting, replace it when you're not. That's my solution anyway.
 
Walk around with it on your shoulder under an arm...

So I do. Works very well since decades. For sun and rain.
Simple and easy.
And I am a sun junkie, sun goes down before I consider to avoid it.

In the old days there was a rule to never put cameras in straight sunlight.
No difference between silver and black ones ;)
 
Well, I try to keep the camera out of the sun! Maybe not so simple in your case but let me offer a couple of ideas.

I don’t use a camera strap. Even when I was doing a gig with my digital Canon stuff, same story, no camera strap. For me the strap got in the way and I got so the camera became an extension of my hand, always ready and I could keep it pretty well out of the sun.

Maybe use a tripod a little more? The one fellow here with the little umbrella looks like a good idea.

Now I pretty much keep my camera in my bag and take it out when I see the need to use it.

If it were my camera I wouldn’t remove the paint. On my M4-2 I believe the top is zinc. I don’t like the look of zinc.

Oops it’s the M4-P with the zinc top!
 
Just a Leica M is such an ideal in-hand-camera.
Although my beloved M6 has gone years ago I still prefer cameras that fit in one hand when
not living on my shoulder as described above.
Another way to keep the camera from collecting to much sunlight and have instant control
over its temperature.
 
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