Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/22

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Sunlight in the lens
From: Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 10:57:18 -0700

Anthony Atkielski wrote:
> 
> I was reading a book by Jim Zuckerman on natural-light photography, and he says
> that there's no harm in shooting directly into the sun. ><Snip> 
> And, for that matter, how _does_ one shoot directly into the sun with a Leica,
> given this risk of damaging the interior of the camera?
>   -- Anthony

I drove west from Columbus Ohio last May with my Leica and lenses following the
Lewis and Clark trail fairly closely and did dozens of shots often with the 135
3.4 APO with the suns disk (Ra) in the image.
The prospect of doing this I had worried about and asked the question here how
many shutters had gotten burnt through and so on. The answers I had found
encouraging. 
These were not tripod shots. My camera and I were not staring at the sun for
minutes at a time. The whole time  your are driving across the open plains the
sun is slowly going down. Hours of sunsets. 
I didn't have to get the camera fixed (M6) when I got home to Portland. I used
it last night. 
I've used it for 6.5 years, dropped it off several things, abused it terribly it
takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. 
Having laid out all that money and just looking at it there is a tendency to
think the Leica M is a more delicate camera than an SLR. In some ways it might
be but I think it all evens out. 
IT's a tool that can be reliably used without excessive coddling.
Mark Rabiner