M9 survives NYC blizzard

[cliffpov]

Another punch will be coming your way from the wild west here. Get ready. Lets hear the field reports for your camera's from the coming storm. Tonight is supposed to get below zero here in the northern rocky mountains. I will compare the Leica CL, M3, and the Konica Autoreflex T3, as well as the Canon FTb. Will let all cameras sit in the garage tonight and get to the outside temp. (while I sip hot chocolate from the warmth of my wood stove). Then go out and have a good ol` wild west shootout.😀

 

[pagpow]

Ditto. In fact I think its a bad idea, where is moisture going to go if its locked inside the bag and getting warmer? I do like you, let air get to the camera and its ready to go again in half an hour.

Steve

Steve,

I think we are talking about two different situations. The camera in the bag trick is not for when the camera is wet, but when it is very much colder than the inside ambient temp. It reduces the volume of air that can condense on the camera because of the temperature difference between the camera (very cold) and the ambient air (much warmer). Same reason people don't unwrap frozen film until it has come to room temp.

Giorgio

 

[afineman]

Not sure what I expected. But people are constantly complaining here about battery life and wondering about cold weather use. So, I figured I would post something positive.

Personally I love shooting in all types of weather and I don't believe that one should have to treat a digital camera any differently than a film one - though the days of my running out in a rainstorm with my Leica unprotected are over since I moved to digital - though I am going to try Phil's advice of wrapping the camera in plastic wrap. Phil, can you please post a pix of how you wrap it? Curious to see how you deal with the RF windows.

As for drying out the camera, I put it on a table by an open window "upside down" with a towel under it (after manually drying it with a towel as well).

 

[cliffpov]

I just finished a fun little un-scientific experiment on a very cold day here in the northern rockies. My subjects were 6 film camera's and one digital camera. The purpose was to see if film camera's function significantally better in very cold weather than digital camera's. (in this case a Panasonic GF-1)

The camera's sat out in the garage for six hours. The temperature at shooting time was a perfect 0 degrees. The warmest temperature the camera's were subjected to was + 3 degrees farenheit (please excuse my bad spelling).

The camera's were Panasonic GF-1 digital, Pentax ME-Super, Konica Autoreflex T-3, Canon FTb, Olympus OM-1n, Leitz-Minolta CL, and Leica M3. I fired two frames (if the camera worked) through each camera and the results were surprising in a few cases. Each shutter was set to 1/1000 second.

Here is the order I shot.

1. Panasonic GF-1. It turned on and fired two frames as if it were 70 degrees outside.
2. Pentax ME-Super Completely dis-functional. Shutter and mirror stuck.
3. Konica Autoreflex T-3. One frame shot. Would not advance film or shoot second frame.
4. Canon FTb. Shot two frames flawlessly.
5. Olympus OM-1 Shot two frames flawlessly.
6. Leitz-Minolta CL Shot two frames flawlessly.
7. Leica M3 Shutter peformed perfectly however the film advance lever was sluggish on the return.

I was most surpirsed by the Panasonic GF 1 turning on and performing so beautifully on such cold weather for a digital cam.

I was most disappointed in the Konica Autoreflex T3. It plainly did not function. And I did not expect the Pentax to perform very well in this cold. All in all it was a fun way to get to know my cameras better.

 

[DerekF]

When talking snow or extremely low temps, there are M2's, M3's, M4's, M5's and M6's; everything else including the M7, M8's and M9 must have a working battery to make an exposure.

Not to (overly) nitpick here, but the MP doesn't require a battery to make an exposure.

 

[250swb]

Steve,

I think we are talking about two different situations. The camera in the bag trick is not for when the camera is wet, but when it is very much colder than the inside ambient temp. It reduces the volume of air that can condense on the camera because of the temperature difference between the camera (very cold) and the ambient air (much warmer). Same reason people don't unwrap frozen film until it has come to room temp.

Giorgio

This supposes that you haven't touched the camera with your warm hand in putting it in the bag, that you haven't breathed near the camera to get a film of condensation on it, or that there isn't snow on it. If you are confident you can tick every box knock yourself out and put it in a bag. It all seems like anal retention to me but Leica's do attract obsessional people.

Steve