How easy is it for the sun to damage curtains?

Last edited:
johnnygulliver said:
thanks, a little simple empirical evidence at least; I always though close focussing was a good idea (as the sun is at infinity), I was unsure about aperture on the basis that open the coc are larger - and burning glass point less certain, probably wrong because of the above...
Click to expand...
I think close focussing has to mean CLOSE, as in very. The curtains are just in front of the film and a closer-than-infinity could put them at worse risk, as others have pointed out. Best option is a lens-cap I suppose, which I tend not to use. My option is f/16 at least, or hold the camera with the lens at least angled down, if not facing down.

I think it's easy to get paranoid here but enough people have had it happen to warrant some caution.
 
I know both Roger and Stewart have tried to reassure that my case is more of an exception than the rule, but it happened to me. I still have not been able to pin down the exact instant, as in between which exposures, to actually know what I did or did not do to cause it.

The annoyance is that you never know it happened until you develop the roll of film or if you check the shutter each time before loading. Call me paranoid, but I have never had to deal with this problem before. I can hear a problem in my Nikon F's shutter and pull a film mid-roll if I have to.

This whole situation is pushing me away from using my M5... kind of a lack of confidence issue.

The thought has passed through my mind to transplant a set of titanium curtains into the M5 from a parts Nikon F body that has a perfect set of curtains.

I am going to have a long look at a ZI today...
 
P. Lynn Miller said:
I know both Roger and Stewart have tried to reassure that my case is more of an exception than the rule, but it happened to me. I still have not been able to pin down the exact instant, as in between which exposures, to actually know what I did or did not do to cause it.

The annoyance is that you never know it happened until you develop the roll of film or if you check the shutter each time before loading. Call me paranoid, but I have never had to deal with this problem before. I can hear a problem in my Nikon F's shutter and pull a film mid-roll if I have to.

This whole situation is pushing me away from using my M5... kind of a lack of confidence issue.

The thought has passed through my mind to transplant a set of titanium curtains into the M5 from a parts Nikon F body that has a perfect set of curtains.

I am going to have a long look at a ZI today...
Click to expand...

from my experience (lighting cigarettes with my nokton and the like), I found that it is not that easy to burn the curtains. a hole in your M5's cloth BEHIND the metering arm is quite a piece of art. HOW I ask you, HOW!? 😱
 
SimonSawSunlight said:
from my experience (lighting cigarettes with my nokton and the like), I found that it is not that easy to burn the curtains. a hole in your M5's cloth BEHIND the metering arm is quite a piece of art. HOW I ask you, HOW!? 😱
Click to expand...

Simon,

Looking at the back of the camera, the hole was in the lower right quadrant. The hole was large enough that is caught my attention when loading the camera, not a tiny pin-hole. I have a habit of always having the shutter cocked and the hole was on the leading shutter curtain, so I suspect it happened while I was composing the last couple of exposures of the roll which were straight into the sun, the EV17 Aussie-type sun, but I was not close-focusing, but I was shooting at maximum aperture, so who knows.

It is just unnerving since if it had been a paying portrait session I would have been in trouble. Thankfully I caught it and I had my Nikon F's over my shoulder which I pressed into service. It is more the unpredictably that is giving me the jitters about using an M for a paid portrait session at high-noon.

I suppose a simple choice to use the right tool for the job would fix the whole problem. Only problem is that I need to find an Nokton 50/1.1 equivalent lens in the Nikon F mount.
 
Last edited:
ferider said:
You might call this an "opinion" again, but even though the sun is at "infinity", the cloth shutter is about 2-3mm away from the film plane.

More empirical data for instance here: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5909.

Google is your friend, if you like to read.
Click to expand...

that is quite an interesting thread, thanks for sharing it...! No, not just opinion this time, the guy tested it for himself... for him it's infinity and stopped down - that's my zone focussing techniques gone for a Burton...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom