How easy is it for the sun to damage curtains?

Juan Valdenebro

Juan Valdenebro

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Hi,

Apart from the lack of 1/2000, the lack of backdoor loading, and the more than half a century old machinery, what constantly makes me forget about buying a Barnack and an M2 every two weeks long ago, is the problems I've read they can have with the sun... So I wonder if hanging them without cap under direct sun for hours (I do it daily with my Bessas) can really burn the curtains, or if this has been magnified and it can happen only if the camera is on a table for hours with the lens up and no cap...

Thanks!

Cheers,

Juan
 
I think it can only be a problem when the lens is focused at infinity and the camera doesn't move for a few seconds, comparable to trying to make a burning hole with a magnifiying glass.

That's one secondary reason why I usually set my lenses somewhere in the middle of the range when walking (mainly to be ready for a snapshot at f8 and enough dof)

Stefan.

Juan Valdenebro said:
Hi,

Apart from the lack of 1/2000, the lack of backdoor loading, and the more than half a century old machinery, what constantly makes me forget about buying a Barnack and an M2 every two weeks long ago, is the problems I've read they can have with the sun... So I wonder if hanging them without cap under direct sun for hours (I do it daily with my Bessas) can really burn the curtains, or if this has been magnified and it can happen only if the camera is on a table for hours with the lens up and no cap...

Thanks!

Cheers,

Juan
Click to expand...
 
Damn easy. Even had it happen to me on an SLR, with a 300mm lens attached.

Pointed it at the sun without noticing, smelled burning rubber but didn't think anything of it at the time. When I looked at my film later, every frame was ruined by a huge "light splash." Looked at the shutter curtains, and lo and behold, there was a nice hole burned through one of them.
 
whats ODD to me
in the past I have spent days on the Beach shooting with an M2 & M4 and NEVER had a Problem...perhaps I'm careful

BUT this past Spring (street shooting ,no Beach) got a Tiny pinhole burn in my M6ttl ....
can't figure out how...sent it to DAG for a quick cheap black paint & tape fix ($35.00)
which was Grand and can possibly Last for Years

now I can afford to replace the Curtain sparkling new for $250.00
so its back at Don's ...he did say it takes only a few seconds
though I do wonder did the older M's have a 'Different ' stronger cloth curtain
 
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If you point your lens focused at infinity and wide open at the sun at midday, and you keep it steady for more than a few seconds, you are done my friend, forget the hours, after a few hours you would have to call the fire brigade.
 
I had never heard of the burned shutter thing until about two years ago and it's now the bane of my existence. I get terrified about bringing the M7 outside. I don't think it's possible with metal shutters though. So I never worry with digital.
 
The risk diminishes as the lenses get longer. I managed to get around it (after a early, expensive encounter during student days) by making a habit out of using the close up rather than the infinity stop as the rest position on my lenses.
 
The shutter curtains are in front of the film plane, so a lens focused closer than infinity presents a bigger problem. The image will be sharp on the front of the curtain somewhere around mid-range focus.
 
I don't use lens caps at all so I need to be careful. So I just make sure I put camera on anything bottom down, and wrap strap around camera over the lens just in case.
 
It happened to my M2, but only because I had the lens wide open pointed directly at the sun trying to see some dust in it. It didn't take long, a few seconds. It's an easy fix, though, you just dab some liquid electrical tape on the hole.
Just don't point the lens directly at the sun, that's the only way it can happen.
 
Heard a lot of hearsay on this in the past. Does anyone know what the actual factors that contribute towards such shutter damage, I mean is it a certain aperture/ specific focus setting/ some other factor(s) also ?
 
I think it happened to my new Nikon S3 2000 the very first day that I had it out. In Austin, in August.

No other explanation since so far as I know the camera had never been far from its box before I received it.
 
I burned holes in the curtains of two of my M cameras while in Mexico a couple years ago. Roger Hicks told me about Optech Hood Hats when I met him in Arles in 2008. They are wonderful to protect your lenses from sunlight, but also from impact damage. Unlike a lens cap, they show up prominently in you viewfinder, so it is virtually Impossible to take a shot without removing them if you are paying attention. They are a must have in my opinion.
 
Brian Sweeney said:
The shutter curtains are in front of the film plane, so a lens focused closer than infinity presents a bigger problem. The image will be sharp on the front of the curtain somewhere around mid-range focus.
Click to expand...

Oops ... sound logical .. I'll have to review my habits .. maybe closest focus as restposition ?
 
It's never happened to me in 40+ years of using Leicas. Like so many things on the internet, it is blown out of all proportion.

It can happen in well under a minute in bright sun at full aperture, but at f/8 it takes minutes and at f/16 it won't happen.

Cheers,

R.
 
Learned about lens magnification and shutters early on with my Nikon S2 around 1961. It took literally just seconds! Since then I carry the lens pointed down AND cover the lens with my hand. I do this through habit even with metal shutters. Haven't been "burned" since then.
 
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