OT: plastic cameras are better

[jean_.]

OK, perhaps not better but more convenient sometimes, e.g. when you

drop the camera and it hits your bare foot.

 

Today I walk out with my M (the one that's jammed now, but that's

another story). Winter has come back. I have gloves on, after some

20mins walking see something, rise the camera to my eye, and - whoa,

that metal is icy cold now and almost hurts on the skin. Now how do

they handle this in cold regions, I wonder.. skin frozen to the camera

a regular accident?

 

Never again a M in the winter! plastic disposable digicams from now on!

 

 

Just kidding ;-)

[rj]

"Plastic cameras are better"

 

Not when your using it to defend yourself by swinging it like a medieval mace. Just kidding.

[icuneko]

<Is Leica in big financial trouble? Is this the end?>

 

 

If the info in this post (2/17) turns out to be foreboding, Leica may not even be making plastic cameras anymore. Let's hope not.

[dennis_couvillion]

LOL... Jean you need to sell that piece of crap Leica and buy a Holga. ;>)

[max_fun]

Jean, once your fingers get cold enough, they get numb. And if they get so cold that they hurt, just be thankful that this means your fingers aren't frostbitten :P

 

But seriously, you should consider getting a half-case. The Leica one has a nice little finger hitch in the leather to help with handholding and the only metal you get in contact with is the shutter release.

[Rob F.]

One word: Gloves

[vlad_chapkin]

As someone who used - and observed others use - cameras in 20 or so winters (let's say, -5 to -25 Celsius) before moving to warmer climes, Here's how I see the procedure: <br>

-- the camera stays UNDER YOUR COAT at all times hanging off your neck. You open your coat, raise the camera, take a few shots, them let it go and close the coat. It's not necessary to zip/button, just close and walk on. Wrap some scarf aroundthe neck and let its ends cover your chest.<br>

-- the camera (at all times, actually, not just in winter) stays in a leather half-case; you can put some sticking phototape over its one or two metallic rivets on its back. Neither leather not paper hurt your skin.<br>

-- Leicas are especially unsuited for photography in real winter (i.e. unlike that in southern countries that lie on the latitude of North Africa and Southern Europe), because their shutters loose elasticity. Good cameras for winter use metal leaf or bayonet shutters. Bessa R2, old mechanical Nikon SLR, or Contax will be a much better choice for winter than Leica. <br>

However, if you keep your Leica under the coat, it might just, barely do.

[edmo]

Suck it up and deal with it....what do you think the NG guys do? "Ooooh, my digits are cold pass me my holga"?....pain is life affirming.

[dan flanders]

--"Leicas are especially unsuited for photography in real winter (i.e. unlike that in southern countries that lie on the latitude of North Africa and Southern Europe), because their shutters loose elasticity." <p> Tell that to Tony Rowlett. Someone should have told me forty years ago. It's not the shutter curtain that gives trouble -- it's advancing and rewinding film that is stiff from the cold and shatters on the sprockets an gets wound up in the shutter. That happens to just about any camera that uses a sprocket advance system. My old Rollei didn't have sprockets, but every once in a while the film would split as it bent over the rollers.

[billsr]

Up here in the Great White North we have a saying in the winter. It goes "Don't lick the pump handle", referring to the old fashioned well pumps. Suggestions already given will aid your dilemma, like keep your camera under your coat, wear gloves, apply tape etc. Also, if it's really frigid, obtain a knitted yarn or suede leather face mask from a ski shop or outdoor supply store. best wishes, Bill

[dan flanders]

It was my intention for this pic to go with my previous posting.<div></div>

[stephen_w.]

I worked in Edmonton during three seasons including one winter, and went to Banff, Jasper, etc. Over a period of 42 days it never got above -20C. I kept my camera in a small pouch with the strap over my right shoulder and hung on my left side under my coat. Just unzip the coat take the camera out and shoot a few, then back in.

[Brad_]

<I>OK, perhaps not better but more convenient sometimes, e.g. when you drop the

camera and it hits your bare foot.</I><P>

 

Is that after the strap lug pulls out of the body? Have never had a plastic camera do

that....

[jason]

My first year in Canada's winter had my Pentax Spotmatic stuck to my face! Yes it was a John Candy moment.I learned about taping metal bits, never carrying a tripod, unless it was Heavy insulated. I also got to know a skin doctor for personal repairs on my face..

[unohuu]

Balaclava for your face...works well here in Minnesota. A balmly 2 F today.

[joel_matherson]

Cameras stuck to you face? I may need some superglue to replicate that, it doesnt even snow here in Sydney, not even in Winter!

[eliot_rosen]

M Leicas are actually pretty good cameras for extreme cold because of the lack of or limited battery dependence (I don't know if this is true of the M7, but certainly the others). You can have the camera "winterized" by replacing the normal lubricants with special cold-resistant lubricants. If it is really cold, AF SLRs that are battery-dependent are problematic, and may require these huge battery packs (you still have to keep the battery pack warm). You still need to keep the camera as warm as possible because the film may become brittle and break, even if the camera is mechanical and continues to work.

[eliot_rosen]

I should mention I have used an M4-P in some pretty cold situations and it performed flawlessly. However, this usage was limited because I couldn't tolerate the extreme cold, the camera did just fine.

[EricM]

Maybe plastic cameras are better? Blimey this was a cold shoot. Five days in the artic at minus 40 to minus 60 Celsius (-76F) with an F100 and F90x. Undoing all my jackets every 20 mins to get a half frozen battery pack out from underneath my arm pits and putting a completely frozen one in its place. T-bar burn across my eye brows and down my nose for three weeks after...horrible. All that white is from my breath and caught on my eye lashes too. Great images though.<br><br>

 

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