How much abuse can a mechanical-M REALLY take?

[icebear]

Climbing a waterfall w. MP

Climbing a waterfall w. MP

Another experience with a MP. On a visit to Jamaica I climbed Dunn River Falls with a MP and 35/2. Both took quite a splash one time and I didn't have anything to wipe it off immediately. So just shaking it and then back in the bag. I took several pictures during the climb and back in the hotel in the afternoon I put the body and lens in a zip-lock bag with some silica gel pouches. Lens and body still work fine. 😀

 

[Justin Low]

Well, in Singapore, the daytime temperatures can reach 32°C (sometimes more), and the relative humidity stays near 100%. This is pretty much all year round.

 

[bob cole]

How much abuse can a mechanical-M REALLY take?

Have a look at these three Leicas:


http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cach...+Hindenburg&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&ie=UTF-8

 

[sepiareverb]

My M5 had a hard life before it came to me- Sherry gave it a CLA and found it very rusty inside. It worked fine before the CLA (in my not knowing how it could feel) and now is incredibly smooth in every action. I think this speaks volumes about durability- not many modern cameras that bad could even BE repaired if you loved it enough to wanna.

 

[Xmas]

It is taking the camera from cold soak out of doors to indoors that is real bad, the internal condensation is not good. You need to zip bag it outside in cold and leave it to warm up in the low relative humidity of zip bag. Or keep it warm in parka inner pocket.

Noel

 

[Berliner]

I did read in a Leica book, that '...if it is accidently immersed in salt water, all may not be lost, rinse it in fresh water, and allow to dry. Immediately send to Leica for servicing.' That's not a direct quote, but close enough, and very impressive. So far I've been lucky--small drops onto carpet, dented lense hoods, etc.

RE: Plastic/polycarbonate--I did destroy a Nikon F80 AF SLR. About ten years ago. It fell from a mantle onto a granite floor...about 200cm/6feet. I assure you, plastic cracks, breaks, and in this case, shattered. ..into many pieces...

 

[Xmas]

If it is immersed in water shake off and remove the film immediately.

It is was salt or brackish fresh water is needed quickly.

The leitz advice is good but a local service centre that is nearer and will strip the camera more immediately may be better, salt is pretty bad.

Noel

 

[sepiareverb]

Sorry to be a little off topic- Wish I had seen that. Not to be ghoulish- but that's one of those things that must have been amazing to see. I watched a FE2 literally bounce down a whole very long flight of stairs onto a hardwood floor- somehow the camera & lens survived. The lens had a slight wiggle in the front, but was perfectly sharp- I still have it. The FE2 didn't survive a second fall, a tripod mounted tip-over.
I also saw my Pentax LX & 24-50 lens fly from my lap into a parking lot. Thought it was around my neck. Both survived but only after major reconstructive surgery in Denver.

 

[Pablito]

How about this story: My M6 shutter release stopped working for no apparent reason. Fortunately, I had my backup M6. For each amazing survival story i'll bet there's an "unexplained failure" story. I wonder if M Leicas are any more reliable than any other pro-quality camera. In my long photo career I've had only the "best", "most dependable" equipment break in the field. Maybe because that's all I use. Whaddya gonna do?

 

[raid]

My M3 is still in mint- condition after all these years. The M6 was added recently in mint condition. I treat each carfeully and with "affection".


Raid

 

[rpsawin]

i took a picture of a really ugly person and the lens didn't shatter

Child's play...I was abducted by aliens and transported through a wormhole. When I arrived back, 15 minutes before the abduction happened, my M2 worked fine.

Bob
aka boB

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[MISH]

It's impressive because my 20+ year old camera can handle what most new-aged cameras cannot and that gives me piece of mind.

btw, people have dropped Leica's without any damage to the vf.. though it isn't a recommended practice 😉

just so you know dropping one of my M3s caused the 50 year old glue holding the rangefinder elements together to give way leaving me with the dreaded black viewfinder (but the rest of the camera works fine)

 

[John Rountree]

The antecdote about flushing ourt salt water in the toilet is probably pretty good advice. In fact, if you thoroughly soak your camera and intend to have it serviced professionally, you should put the camera in a ziplock bag (or two) and fill the bag with water! Sounds crazy, but by keeping the camera submerged you will prevent any rust from developing before it can be fixed. Rust requires oxygen to form.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[varjag]

Speaking of abuse again, I got a first-hand experience sooner than I hoped for.

Last weekend my M4 experienced a very unlucky fall; you can see the dent at attached photo. The shutter was stuck, rewind crank bent and RF is off at all points and both vertically and horizontally. The camera was totally inoperative.

On the positive side, with some luck, Leitz service guide an 12 hours I managed to get it back into senses. I used to service Contax type cameras myself, but it was my first foray into M series Leica.

Shutter clicks just fine now, the RF seems to be on the spot throughout. I couldn't however remove top plate and straighten the dent: it is jammed deeply into chassis, and am afraid it'll take cutting to remove it now.

So the conclusion, don't bang it hard.

 

[pizzahut88]

Leica M, Nikon N5, Bessa R2.

Leica M, Nikon N5, Bessa R2.

I am not sure about how durable Leica M's are, neither am I willing to find out, but I love this thread.

I've heard lots about how Nikon F5 were banged, dropped by reporter friends. Thumbs up.

On the least of durablility are Bessa. Please baby them, the rubber peels, the windows crack easily (mind cracked, check my older posts). I suppose what u pay is what you get.

 

[MartinP]

The antecdote about flushing out salt water in the toilet is probably pretty good advice. In fact, if you thoroughly soak your camera and intend to have it serviced professionally, you should put the camera in a ziplock bag (or two) and fill the bag with water! Sounds crazy, but by keeping the camera submerged you will prevent any rust from developing before it can be fixed. Rust requires oxygen to form.

In normal fresh-water there is a very large amount of oxygen dissolved. This is how fish survive of course, so no surprise really. To reduce the dissolved gasses you can boil the water as that will drive off a good proportion of the oxygen etc. Obviously the water should then be allowed to cool, before using it for whatever purpose is required (mixing dev etc maybe). Just don't use it to fill your aquarium !

This can be easily demonstrated by the childrens-science experiment with iron nails in two topped-up and sealed jam-jars - one filled with tap-water and the other with freshly boiled and cooled water. The nail in the standard tap-water will rust long before the other one.