[Leica] M8 and the WAR-south Libya

[bernardofeio at yahoo.com.br (bernardo feio)]

Hello do all
 
Last summer in August I?ve travelled to south Libya and my M8 went with me.
 
I?ve crossed the desert in a couple of Land Rovers and some days the 
temperature raise to the 50?!!!
 
(not all the photos are mine)
 
http://aventura.ttverde.pt/index.php?itemid=103
 
www.100rumo.com
 
 
The M8 worked OK and also did a 5D that a professional photographer that 
travelled with us take. Lots of dust and sand in the lens and in the CCDs 
but beside that no problems. 
 
B regards

--- Em qui, 12/6/08, Marty Deveney <freakscene@weirdness.com> escreveu:

De: Marty Deveney <freakscene@weirdness.com>
Assunto: [Leica] M8 and the WAR
Para: lug@leica-users.org
Data: Quinta-feira, 12 de Junho de 2008, 2:54

No digital camera will work at extreme temperatures.  Nikon says the upper
operating limit of the D3 is 40 C.  I've photographed in northern South
Australia in summer, where it routinely gets to the kinds of temperatures 
that
a journalist would experience in Iraq.  I have certainly seen both D100 and
D300s fail due to heat and these are both rated to the same temperature as 
the
D3.  What generally happens is that it's say, 45 C and of course the
cameras are black.  If you go out in the sun, which is hard to avoid seeing 
as
it's blindingly bright and there is no shade, the camera heats to 55, 60,
65, or whatever degress quite quickly (too hot to comfortably touch).  First
the LCDs fail and go black.  Then the shutter release becomes unreliable.  
Then
the camera stops working.  At a high enough temperature the lubricants seep 
out
of where they are meant to be and pool in other bits of the camera where they
are not meant to be.  After that the camera sounds funny because it's r!
 unning 'dry'.

In these conditions, two things are essential - temperature tolerance - which
is better with film cameras, but if it's hot enough the emulsion will melt
off the film base and proper sealing which no M camera save, ahem, the KE-7A,
has.  I don't know if the KE-7A has a sealed lens mount or if the 50/2
Elcan lens made for it is properly sealed.  Many cameras will need specific
lubricants to work in these conditions and all will fail without proper care.

In these kinds of conditions I'd _expect_ an M8 to fail almost immediately.
 I'd probably only give a professional DSLR a little longer.  The most
reliable option is a properly sealed film camera.  A film M would probably 
clog
with dust unless the operator took reasonable care to seal the camera (Ewa
Marine Bags are good).  

Most manufacturers are even kind enough to tell us that you shouldn't
expect the camera to work, so why would you expect it to?

Marty

Gallery:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/main.php?g2_itemId=7617



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