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Isabel- Another reason to keep my M6


chris_david

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Anyone else on the east coast glad they still have a mechanical

Leica? I remember after hurricane Bob, we (on Cape Cod) lost power

for more than a week. Maybe I could find a way to keep my 10D running

for week without charging, but it's nice to still have a camera that

could go on forever even if Isabel knocks us back into the stone age.

Good luck to everyone in it's path.

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Where I live, we were "knocked back to the stone age" twice in the not too distant past. The first time was the great eastern Canada ice storm of 1998, and more recently, the big power failure affecting Ontario and New York. The first time, we had no power for 5 full days. The second time, 24 hours. I can see how a digital camera might be a problem, but local stores had plenty of batteries (not that my film cameras needed any at that particular time). So I don't think a camera necessarily has to be all mechanical. The day something happens to really throw us back to the stone age, we've got bigger problems than just cameras.
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<<Anyone else on the east coast glad they still have a mechanical Leica? I remember after hurricane Bob, we (on Cape Cod) lost power for more than a week. Maybe I could find a way to keep my 10D running for week without charging, but it's nice to still have a camera that could go on forever even if Isabel knocks us back into the stone age>>

 

Every day I read some assinine post on this forum and think it can't be topped, and then someone comes along and does. Well, as a resident of coastal S. Florida I can tell you that faced with the prosepect of a category 5 hurricane making landfall in my front yard the last thing on my mind is whether I can use my camera while the power is out. No refrigerator, no freezer, no hot water (we're all electric down here), no A/C (it's still close to 90F), no TV or radio except those powered by batteries (not many mechanical TV's around),gas pumps inoperative, supermarkets closed, hospitals on emergency generators, no way to recharge cellphones, most likely phone lines knocked out by wind also...the list of real hardships goes on and on. Anyone who lives in this area and has a half an ounce of brain keeps a generous supply of batteries on hand, and most likely has a gasoline-powered generator and a fuel supply in his garage also, and some people have power-inverters that work off their automobile and produce 110 current. So keeping a couple spare packs of batteries for one's cameras is a complete no-brainer--even when a hurricane is not expected. That includes an extra couple BP-511's for the EOS DSLR's, which when fully charged are good for several hundred shots and stay charged quite a while if not used as long as you take them out of the camera. But I doubt if this is going to have any impact on the people who obsess over battery-independent cameras. Just hope one of the little hairsprings doesn't snap, or it's a paperweight too.

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Yes, of course I could keep the 10D going for week with a generator or car charger. My point was is that it's nice to have a camera which basically requires little to no supporting equiptment.

 

"Every day I read some assinine post on this forum and think it can't be topped"

 

Now I remember why I stopped posting.

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I leave in bermuda where hurricane Fabian resulted in severe damage. I posted few pictures (it is teh first time I psot pictures on the net) taken with a Leica and Summicron 50 mm in another tread bellow. Please do not hesiate to provide me with some feedback.

 

Thanks,

 

Arie

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Some cars don't have cigarette lighter sockets that are "hot" unless the car is running, which can be a pain if you want to charge your cell phone for 6 or 8 hours. You can go to any marine supply store and buy a 12 volt "accessory socket", a plastic version of a cigarette lighter socket, not designed to stand up to the heat of a lighter, but accepting the same plug. A length of wire and 2 alligator clips and you can hook up directly to your car battery. Just make sure you don't run positive to negative - reversed polarity can ruin a lot of electronics!
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I live right up the road from Jay, and like him, cameras have been my last worry these last few days watching the news reports on the possible track for the storm. If one of these trees falls on my house, having a working camera will be no comfort.

 

In practical terms, I would rather have an old Nikonis if I were out in the middle of the storm trying to shoot. There will be lots of water, both from the rain and from the ocean, and a soaked camera even one that requires no batteries is no fun.

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I got your point Chris but the way you chose to illustrate it was still assinine. There's just no other way to describe prioritizing a camera anywhere in the vicinity of the basic necessities of life in the face of a serious, potentially lethal natural disaster.
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Well, camera's may not be a necessity but they are very important to me. This is especially true during stressful times. We almost lost our house during Bob, but I went on shooting with my FM-2. It was good way to lose myself in the process of taking pictures rather than sit around and worry. I found the M6 similarly comforting during a trip to southern China during the SARs outbreak last winter. It's fine with me if you don't agree, but I do ask that you keep the personal insults to a minimum.
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Jay,

 

Live and let live, man.

 

What is it to you? What does it matter if Chris kept it short and did not exactly say that he was

glad to not have lost his Leica shooting capabilities on top of all the other worries, and started

listing all those worries, etc...?

 

Funny how there is always someone ready to seize any opportunity to attack a fellow

Leicaphile for an innocent post. Do you really need that badly to be recognized and reckoned?

There's got to be a better way.

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Get out. I lived in Mashpee then. Still have the generator I got for the well pump. You're right about the electric items - they become decorations. The lesson from Bob is the widespread breaking of trees in a rural area. They still have a full head of leaves and haven't been stressed in years.
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I have survived many typhoons and hurricanes both at sea and ashore, including a hurricane in the mid 1960's that hit us in Key West FL going north and than turned around headed south and came back down the keys and hit us again. Since I now live in Virginia Beach VA, the last thing I am concerned about is my camera.
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On a more serious note, I do hope this Hurricane stays out to sea, but I don't think we are going to be that lucky. FYI, State Farm insurance has just been down graded by Lehmans, they have a lot of policy's in the mid atlantic / carolina's region. In NewEngland most people have generators, with lots of gas, houses cool down real quick when it's 0F and no heat!

 

Gerry

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I<<....assinine....There's just no other way to describe prioritizing a camera anywhere in the vicinity of the basic

necessities of life....>>

 

Quick sombody call Nachtwey and theTurnley's! Tell them that when things get potentially lethal they should stop

worrying about their cameras -and we have that straignt from the dentist's mouth! :-)

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<I>have any of you ever run out of battery power in a film (not digital) camera at some important time?</I><P>

Yes. It's one of several reasons I switched back to mechanical cameras. The batteries last a very long time and if they die I can still use sunny 16 and bracket a lot.

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