[Leica] Breaking the tape for Ted, M8 battery woes...

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Jan 22, 2007, at 4:05 PM, <larry.k@rcn.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>   I shot a road race my wife was in a few weeks in Central Park. I  
> had the M8 with
> me as well as my Rolleiflex 2.8F and a little Rollei 35S. You can  
> never have
> enough cameras. Anyway, it was a cold day in the Park. I had  
> checked the M8
> before leaving home and the battery meter showed three bars.
>
>   Well, I took about twenty shots, and positioned myself at the  
> finish line for the
> winners to arrive. I took a shot of the first male finisher,  
> nothing great, arms not
> raised, no shot breaking the tape or anything.
>
>   Then the top female finisher came through and I got this shot:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2vssrs
>
>   (By the way, that "tape" doesn't break, kind of disappointing!)
>
>   As soon as I took this picture, the camera just died. Kerplunk. I  
> couldn't believe
> it! Of course, I had no spare battery. I don't remember seeing  
> anything in the
> viewfinder reminding me that the battery was getting low. So, while  
> I spent the
> next twenty minutes taking the battery out and putting it back in,  
> to no avail, I
> missed the shot of my wife crossing the finish line. Boy, did I  
> hear about that on
> the way home!

what else happened back at home when the camera and battery warmed up?

  Steve



>
>   So the morals of the story are:
>
>    * When the digital fails, throw it on the roadway and pick up a  
> mechanical
> camera to get the shot! I should have whipped the Rolleiflex up to  
> my eye, used
> that amazing clear air sports viewfinder and gotten the shot of my  
> wife! One
> attempt, make it or break it.
>
>   * Carry lots of spare batteries...
>
>   * If I had followed Ted's rules of shooting road races, I would  
> have been in a
> coffee shop after this shot, there is no need to shoot the  
> "losers". ;-)
>
>   I got a note from Leica repair today to send in the camera so  
> I'll be flexing for
> the near future or using the M7 for cold weather shooting when I  
> don't have to
> worry about sudden camera death. Does the M7 suffer sudden battery  
> death? By
> the way, someone told me that 5Ds also go catatonic in the cold, so  
> this is
> nothing new.
>
>   Regards,
>
>   Larry
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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