[Leica] Don't sweat the small stuff (i.e. the M9)

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> Nathan wrote:
> 
> "The main switch sticks and is corroded due to penetration of a sticky
> liquid. Below the top cover the housing is also corroded. Electronic parts
> seem to be O.K"
> 
> They then offer to repair it for ? 267.30.
> 
> What's wrong with this picture?
> 
> Firstly, I know for a fact that during the 1 year I have had this M8, I 
> have
> not spilled any "sticky" or other liquid on it. The only liquid I can think
> of is...sweat. It gets hot in Alicante in the summer, and it has probably
> happened that a drop of sweat would fall from my face down onto the camera
> around my neck.
> 
> 
> - - - - - -
> 
> I recall that quite a few Luggers commented unfavorably on Leica's
> reluctance to include any provision for waterproofing on the Leica M8. It 
> is
> unforgivable that a company that prides itself on providing cameras to
> adventurers and explorers not take the most rudimentary provisions for
> sealing its cameras against predictable environmental hazards. What would a
> few strips of foam or a gasket or two cost? Certainly less than $100 or 
> 1.4%
> of the cost of the camera body. As they say "don't sweat the small stuff."
> But 267.30 is a lot of small stuff for a drop of sweat. I guess I will 
> defer
> buying an M9 for my next sailboat excursion.
> 
> Larry Z
> 


I do remember when the Pentax came out with its new L camera system in the
80's, gorgeous! and it was notable because it was sealed.
It was a failed pro level system. Only one person ever bought one and I knew
him.
You'd assume you spent enough money on a high end Canon or Nikon F that it
would be sealed.
Arf!
Not the case. 
Turned out having a camera sealed was a big new thing no one ever thought of
before.
A Hasselblad is the most unsealed breathable camera you could have bought
for thousands.
Nobody ever complained that when you poured water on it some of it get in
the camera.

Because of the "sealed" feature of the Pentax in order to get the most minor
thing done to the camera it cost big bucks and  took a lot of time.
You had to get the camera open first which in a sealed camera is not all
that easy. Nor closing it up again in the end.
Very popular.
Turned out when people ran through waterfalls with their cameras they were
more in the mood to have themselves a wet camera then a camera in which it
cost 333 dollars to check a connection.
The article stated there were plus factors in letting a camera in its
design: breathe.  That's stuck with me through the decades.
My cameras have all breathed I think. None of them have turned blue.
They've all gotten a little damp from time to time as sometimes there is
this thing called "rain". And its great for the streets making them shiny
like mirrors. And makes the carrots grow.
I suggest to the people on the lug that we stop obsessing on it.
Things get wet.
They dry off.
Its the miracle of evaporation.

Same with snow.
Leave it alone long enough; it all disappears.



Mark William Rabiner