krisliu77
Kris
I've been quite curios about this question.
Cheers
Kris
Cheers
Kris
How tough can a Leica M be?
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Maxapple88
Established
My M4-p dropped from a meter or so while it was in a very full bag. It got a dent just next to the shutter speed dial about 0.5cm deep. It was nasty. The rangefinder was obviously way off but it still worked. Back at the shop it got a CLA including a rangefinder readjusting and the dent was hammered out with a piece of wood. Works fine again. 🙂
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
Not sure... was standing in the middle of the street when I took this photograph...
Umbrella | Oxford Street | Sydney, Australia 2009
Leica M5 | Voigtländer 35mm f1.2 | Tri-X EI 800 | Rodinal 1:100 Stand
To say the Leica got wet is an understatement.
Umbrella | Oxford Street | Sydney, Australia 2009
Leica M5 | Voigtländer 35mm f1.2 | Tri-X EI 800 | Rodinal 1:100 Stand
To say the Leica got wet is an understatement.
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Holmz
Established
Doesn't look like it is raining that bad.
The news last night made it sound like an ark needed to be built.
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
Actually... I really didn't think about the rain, as I was burning film as fast I could. But I was with a group of photographers and I was only one standing in the middle of the road taking photos. In fact, it turned out they were standing under the awnings taking photos of me standing in the rain taking photos!
Pickett Wilson
Veteran
I'm not sure how tough. I only abuse non-weather sealed cameras if someone is paying me enough to replace the camera. 😉
But, I've seen Leicas covered with mud, soaked in the rain and melting snow and survived. And others that got damp from a little condensation and never worked again. I think it's a crap shoot.
But, I've seen Leicas covered with mud, soaked in the rain and melting snow and survived. And others that got damp from a little condensation and never worked again. I think it's a crap shoot.
Holmz
Established
I can picture that. Surely there must have been something better for them to take picture of ?
But I love pictures at night right after the rain stops.
I have been without a charger for a while and the replacement came in on friday, but I don't think we will be getting rain here (halfway between you and Broome).
What is this thread again?
Oh yeah - tough...
A camera is many instances is a precision instrument like a watch can be.
Tough as in:
a) rugged and taking impacts
b) weather proof,... or
.
.
e) all the above?
I would say tough enough to carry around, so tougher than a studio camera.
Cameras which are bulkier have more surface to take impact.
I think a new plastic camera would be better than an old Nikon or Canon in the respect.
You would be bound to crack plastic, but could probably glue it up.
Many years ago I saw a Nikon that some fell on (inside their coat) while skiing - which looked like a lens-baby with the lens bent (body really).
The brass, aluminium, glass is same all around the world, and the strength is similar everywhere.
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
I honestly do not think my Leica M5 is half as 'tough' as my Nikon D70. Just recently, while riding one-handed on a heavily loaded touring bicycle and taking photos at the same time at about 50klm/h on a curving and bumpy downhill, I dropped the D70 on the road and it skidded along for 50 or so meters. A few scratches and scuffs and it is still happily snapping away.
Somehow, I doubt my M5 would have fared as well...
Somehow, I doubt my M5 would have fared as well...
gavinlg
Veteran
Good quality SLR's are definitely tougher in terms of impact resistance imo. In terms of longevity, the M is pretty good.
Avotius
Some guy
I agree with this. I have used range finders for only a few years but have shot a lot of film through them, still I think they are a lot more delicate then SLR's which seem to take bangs a lot better. Also I am a little surprised how fast I have worn through the black finish on my M6TTL, lots of bare silvery bits showing all over the place, especially on the back around the made in Germany text where a lot of the finish is wearing through from my advance action.
Pickett Wilson
Veteran
I would guess that after dunking an M3 in the sink, the finder would be pretty much useless.
FrankS
Registered User
If your plan is to heavily use the camera and not purposefully abuse it, then a Leica M is tough enough to last a lifetime, while some other cameras would wear out before that.
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
Hmmm...
The rain was the least of my concerns, but sure seemed to bother the Canon DSLR users I was with. They refused to even pull their DSLR's from their bags. There was a puddle under the M5 from where I left it on the café table after coming back inside. The M5 was as happy as fish in water...
The point is... I have no concerns about M5 not performing in very inclement conditions, but I not sure it would take the outright impact abuse that my Nikon D70 will. Tough... yeah, indestructible... no.
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Sparrow
Veteran
As would the rest of the camera a week later
I love these threads, someone should do a "how tough is a carriage-clock" one, they have so much in common
Pickett Wilson
Veteran
Knew a guy back in the 70's who did some great stuff in a rain forest. But he took a dozen or so Nikon F's and just threw them away as they stopped working. Rust is going to kill unsealed cameras that get wet.
gavinlg
Veteran
For an all weather all conditions/chuck it in the mud/drop it in a river and keep shooting camera get either the olympus E1 (cheaper) or the E3. They're really really really well sealed.
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
The only camera that I have personally used and I have come to the conclusion it is literally for all intents and purposes indestructible... is my ancient Nikkormat FTn.
Nothing, I mean nothing seems to bother it. I have had it fully submerged in saltwater(shooting in the surf on the beach) including being buried in the beach(got hit by a rogue wave, and had to dig it and the Nikkor-UD 20mm/3.5 out of the sand),there was so much saltwater in the camera that the film basically turned to mush. I brought the Nikkormat home, pulled film out in the change bag, took it to the shower and washed it out. Then dropped it into a pail of fresh water for a few hours to make sure I had flushed out all the salt, gave it a rinse and let it sit on the kitchen table in the sun to dry. This has happened twice over the years. It has been dropped, banged, smashed, snowed on, frozen, you name it, and it just keeps on happily snapping away. I have done my best to kill it and it just keeps shrugging it off.
In the same time, I have destroyed 2 Nikon F's and a F2.
I do not set out to abuse my gear, but I have no problem pushing my cameras past their comfort zone and mine.
The M5 is in good hands!
feenej
Well-known
I don't know...My buddy V'ron dropped her expensive new Nikon dslr on the pavement on Brady Street in Milwaukee where we had met for coffee. The repair bill was $350. A few weeks later she dropped the sucker at the same location right before my eyes. It bounced off the pavement. The thing was okay that time.
35mmdelux
Veni, vidi, vici
There are lots of M3's from the 1950s still snapping away, some 50 years later. How many slrs do you see from that era?
Pickett Wilson
Veteran
How many SLR's from that era have cult status that keeps people spending money keeping them running? Leicas are precious jewels to many people that magically transforms their photography. We've somehow lost the fact that they were working class tools during their day.
