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

[larry.k at rcn.com (larry.k@rcn.com)]

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!

  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