Hi,

I remember when I lived in Chicago from 1978-80 and took pictures with a Pentax MX in minus 30 deg F weather (minus 34 deg C), only to find that the film had crumbled in the camera. Fortunately I was able to blow out the pieces of film and the camera is still working today.

I routinely find myself in the cold outdoors, but in temperatures of zero deg F (minus 18 deg C) to 20 deg F (minus 7 deg C), when visiting friends in Minnesota, where they have a strange pastime of ice fishing, fueled by copious quantities of liquor.

The Leica-M has a rubber coated cloth shutter. Is that less durable than titanium leaf shutters?

Question: To what extreme can I take the Leica-M without worrying about damaging the camera? (Please answer Hot and Cold temperatures.)

Also, what is the coldest (and hottest) temperature for film to function normally.

Tangential question: Has any enterprising photographer ever taken a Leica-M underwater (in a water-tight housing of course)? Is there such a housing available anywhere?

Thanks,

-- Vikram Singh (VSingh493@aol.com), January 24, 2002

Answers

a fully manual camera underwater? very brave! you would probbly need a casse for the lightmeter too.

how did the pentax perform in -30°? as i understood, the problem was due to the film, not the camera

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), January 24, 2002.

Last year about this time I traveled up to the Hudson Bay in Quebec. The temperature was around -30F to -40F the week I was there. The M6 functioned flawlessly although I was careful to advance the film slowly and keep the camera under my parka when not in use. Once the camera was exposed to the cold for more than 10 minutes the battery would die. I had the best luck with the lithium battery.

Hope this helps.

-- Steve Belden (otterpond@tds.net), January 24, 2002.

The problem isn't the shutter. Preparing a Leica for Artic conditions consists simply of removing all the lubricant from it. The largest underwater housings ever made were for Leicas and Contaxes -- they were called U-Boats.

-- (bmitch@home.com), January 24, 2002.

Vikram,I have used Nikon F5's down to minus 20 degrees c in Bolivia.I taped one of those chemical hand warmers to the battery packs and kept one in my pockets to stop the film from going brittle.I'm sure you could do the same with your M6 by taping one to the back or baseplate.

-- Phill Kneen (philkneen@manx.net), January 24, 2002.

Stefan,

Given the clarity of land pictures I thought the Leica would be astounding while scubadiving. The colors of fish in the tropics are Leica quality!

The Pentax performed perfectly in the cold, and that particular camera is a favorite from those days, a small, manual camera with a good feeling of its action, very German, Leica-like (dare I say!). It works till today. Good quality stuff, and it had a compact size with smaller lenses than Nikons or Canons, plus the price was in my range. I keep hearing about how good the Nikon FM3a is as a manual SLR, one of the few manual ones in production today. Now with the end of the R6.2 I wonder if that signals the end of manual-only SLR's.

My father had a Contax rangefinder, the one with the little ridged dial that stuck out vertically, near the shutter button. You could adjust the focus with your right hand index finger. Good for fine focussing. I forget the model number, but it was late 1950's early 1960's. I remember not liking that camera and wanting SLR's ever since I was 11, because through the lens viewing gave me a look at how the picture would actually turn out, and now it is ironic that I drift back to the rangefinder. Sometimes one has to go far away to appreciate what one had in the first place. Thank goodness Leica is still around to fulfill that dream. I am still amazed at the fine quality of the equipment.

-- Vikram Singh (VSingh493@aol.com), January 24, 2002.

A more urgent problem involving cold weather is static discharges across the film. If it gets cold enough and dry enough the surface of the film will actually build a static charge and when you wind the film it arcs. I've noticed this on my previous Nikon F2 shots taken in extreme cold (-15 ambient/ -40 with windchill). I use an old trick to get around this problem. Go to an electronics house and buy a velcro wrist collar ground. Now run the lead to a standard tripod screw and screw into a POLISHED tripod socket. Attatch the velcro to your wrist. Presto, you've just grounded your camera to yourself. Should take care of the arcing.

Standard disclaimer: Results may vary.

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), January 24, 2002.

"How much cold (and heat)can the M handle?"

Well, at temperatures lower than 50F or higher than 90F this photographer ceases to function and my Leica's can't take pictures by themselves, so.... :>)

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 24, 2002.

> Well, at temperatures lower than 50F or higher than 90F this > photographer ceases to function and my Leica's can't take > pictures by themselves, so....

Jay,

My own range of functionality is narrowing, and is now between 55F and 75F. The only problem is that women look more attractive, photographically speaking, above 85F. Some of the photography shown here proves that point. :)

-- Vikram (VSingh493@aol.com), January 24, 2002.

Sounds like your father had a Contax IIa (or IIIa if it had a meter), look here & see if the pictures look familiar--I have several (as well as a pre-WWII Contax II, another magnificant machine & I've used them regularly @ temperatures (to stay sort of on-topic) as low as the high teens F. The worst problem w/the Contax @ low temperatures is that the metal shutter will bind up--the worst that could happen w/a Leica is that shutter curtains may actually shred if forced (something that happened to some of the photographers covering the Korean War). During WWII, I think both Zeiss Ikon & Leitz made special winterized versions (minimal lubrication, etc.) of the Contax & Leica for service on the Eastern Front.

"My father had a Contax rangefinder, the one with the little ridged dial that stuck out vertically, near the shutter button. You could adjust the focus with your right hand index finger. Good for fine focussing. I forget the model number, but it was late 1950's early 1960's. I remember not liking that camera and wanting SLR's ever since I was 11, because through the lens viewing gave me a look at how the picture would actually turn out, and now it is ironic that I drift back to the rangefinder. Sometimes one has to go far away to appreciate what one had in the first place. Thank goodness Leica is still around to fulfill that dream. I am still amazed at the fine quality of the equipment."

-- Chris Chen (Washington, DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), January 24, 2002.

I think we had this discussion before. From the Leicas, I have used a IIIf and an M3 at temperatures as low as -56F. They worked fine [although if I were doing this on a regular basis, I would have them winterized; particularly the lenses]. The problems are more peripheral. John has mentioned one. Static discharge. I am not sure that I would like his grounding option during a lightening storm or during cloud formation on a peak. One time at 14,000 ft with my hair standing up on end was enough for me. ;o)). Move the film slow. Another is to remember not to exhale on the finder; it not only fogs but it ices. If you have batteries you will need to keep them warm. Little things like this you learn.

In answer to another question, everything I do is art. ;o]

Art

-- Art (AKarr9075@aol.com), January 24, 2002.

Vikram: I used a pair of M3's to shoot ice racing here in Alaska in the 70's. It was about -30f outside. I would keep the cameras outside of my coat and shoot. When I went in to warm up, I hung the cameras on the door mirror, outside of the car. I advanced, and rewound the film slowly. I rewound too fast one time and wound up with static discharge on the film. It looked like the letter "Y". I found if film is warmed up and cooled (-10f or colder) too many times the film gets brittle. A time or two is okay, but when the film breaks in the camera at -30f, ooooopppps.... Both of my M3's were winterized as previously mentioned by removing the lubricants from them. I have since had a CLA on them. Dress warm and let the Leica take care of itself. Be sure to wear gloves changing film outdoors, the case can frostbite you in a hurry.

:)

-- M.A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), January 25, 2002.

Vikram: I used a Leica RE, ( an R5 sister ) at the Himalayas at minus 20 C. I had the camera inside my jacket most of the time, except at night, and the camera and Fuji film worked perfectly for the three weeks on the mountains. Not winterized or any aid to the camera. Now I own an M6 and think the camera is better suited for cold than the R.

-- Marco Hidalgo (marco_hidalgo@hotmail.com), January 30, 2002.