How to avoid burning a hole in your shutter curtain??

How careful must I be in replacing the lens cap after taking a shot? It would seem very annoying to have to remove the lens shade and then replace the lens cap (35mm f/2 Summicron) for every shot? How do others contend with this?

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Jim

A friend of mine told me back in the 1970's when he first got a Leica,

he was so excited and he was marveling at the beautiful lens when he

was outside. While he was looking at the lens,(pointing at the sky)

he burned a whole in the shutter. I haven't had a problem and I do

not use the lens cap while I am walking around. The lens has to point

right at the sun for an extended period of time, like sitting open on

a desk in bright sun aimed at the sun. What I have had some problems

with is changing lenses in very bright sun where the light goes right

into the camera mount. I have gotten a few light streaks this way.

Leica expert Bill Maxwell told me the Leica shutter is not 100% light

tight, and unlike an SLR, ther is no mirror to deflect the direct

bright light. I now turn away from the sun when changing lenses, and

have had no trouble since.

Just be careful. That will get you farther than anything else. The

most likely scenario is that you put your camera down somewhere at

night, not realizing that it's going to be pointed at the sun in the

morning--if you keep moving you probably won't have much of a

problem, but let it sit unmoving on a table pointed at the sun and

you might have to call the fire department. I've never used lens caps

much (just a UV filter--that won't start a LUG-type flame war here, I

hope) and have never had a problem.

As from very sunny part of world,South Africa,have such experiences.Now in Southern California.I like the sun!

I have burned shutter on few occassions.Always had caps.Have regular checks.I use lens caps mostly.I MUST use UV filter.I have old Summicron 50mm.Very soft glass.Leave at nearest focus,smallest f-stop.Wide angle even more so.Be very careful of sunsets.They are not safe,esp for people with long lenses and slr.Friend burned inside eye...When you can look at sun without cringing its OK.Use dark red filter(eye protection) at eyepiece for direct shots at sun.

This subject has been discussed in a lot of Leica literature, and in

my beginner days of Leica use, gave me great concern. I feel that in

use, the lens cap must stay off... the very nature of the

famous "Leica speed" demands it.

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I guess there is a possibility of this problem, and I'm sure it has

in fact happened, but I don't believe it is the problem that it is

made out to be. First of all, not all lenses are created equal.

Take for example a 35mm and 90mm lens... go outside on a bright sunny

day and try to condense the sun into a pin point on the ground. Each

lens must be held at a different length from the surface to achieve

this, and a lot further than the plane that the shutter curtain would

occupy. If you want to be assured for your camera / lens combo, try

this the next time you have an unloaded camera.

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Open the back, set the camera to the "B" setting and trip the

shutter. Point the lens straight to the sun, while placing your

finger at the plane that the shutter curtain would occupy if it

weren't open. Try different f-stops also. I can't generate the pin

point that would be required to burn a hole... and that is while I'm

trying, pointing right at the sun. Indirect ambient light just can't

burn the curtain.

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There may have been some older lens designs, more simple optical

configurations, possibly the first collapsible types, that could have

been a problem. I have an old book by Alfred Eisenstaedt that warns

of this problem, and states that it happened to him. The picture in

the book shows an M3 with collapsible 50mm Summicron. I shoot for

hours in the bright sunny weather of Florida, and my lens cap is in

my pocket until I'm finished for the day. I have had many cameras

for over 11 years and never experienced this Phenomenon.

Common sense. Don't point the camera at the sun except when shooting

it, and keep the lens capped except when shooting. It's not just

rangefinders. I've heard stories of SLRs left in the sun with f/1.4

lenses on them that melted their plastic viewfinder screens as well.

I have never seen a camera like this, so it might be an "urban

legend". Personally, I've never had a problem, and I've always kept

the uncapped lens away from the sun.

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FWIW, I once took a shot of a glorious sunburst in the clouds,

positioning the sun at the edge of the frame. The light was so strong

that it overexposed the shot of the sunburst, and light leaked into

the next frame.

How to burn a hole? Easy! Focus the lens to infinity, set the

aperture to f16 and then set the camera down on the ground and

let nature do its work. Any focal length will do this and UV filters

will not prevent it. If you are a multicamera

outdoor/sports/wedding/street/etc photographer, then it is easy

to do if you are not careful. If you only have one camera and are

walking with it around your neck, I would not worry about it at all.

When I stop at outdoor coffee shops, I am always careful not to

lay my cameras on their backs. My major worry is keeping my

two year old's fingers off the front element.!! I have, when looking

at used M cameras, noticed quite a few with little pinholes in the

shutter curtains and on the LUG many have sheepishly

confessed to being a little careless.

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Cheers

I must confess I have burnt a hole in a curtin. I was photgrahing one

of my Nikon Rangefinder cameras an S3 for insurance. Out in the sun

lens pointing up ....woops! Its been fixed now, the simple solution

is dont leave the camera at infinity and the light never concentrates

enough to burn through.