[Leica] M8 question

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

Another point: If it is raining and cold out, and 
a camera that is wet on the outside is regularly 
put under a jacket, moisture laden warm air could 
be driven into the camera under the coat, and 
then would condense when it is taken out again. 
This is why one should wrap a camera immediately 
when bringing it in from  outside into a warm 
house when it is very cold outside. A friend's 
Nikon died from corrosion when the moisture laden 
warm air got into his camera after he brought it 
in. It worked fine for about a day apparently and 
then the shutter mechanism seized.



>If I saw moisture condensation in the viewfinder 
>I'd know that the camera was seriously in 
>trouble, and that immediate corrective action 
>was necessary. I'd open it up as much as 
>possible and apply hot wind, even to the point 
>where the hot air might be more than the camera 
>might normally like. 50 to 60?C hot air moving 
>through the camera for a while, then after a 
>couple of hours let it cool down for another 
>hour or two, and then re-insert the battery and 
>hope for the best.
>
>If you get condensation inside a viewfinder, 
>whether Leica M8 or any other digital camera you 
>are only minutes or at the most an hour or two 
>away from a totally dead camera, especially if 
>you still have a battery in it and are trying to 
>turn it on.
>
>It takes a fair bit of moisture to get that kind 
>of condensation. A mechanical camera would also 
>be in trouble, but you would have a bit longer 
>grace period.
>
>
>
>At 3:12 PM +0000 8/20/09, michael at rosenblumtv.com wrote:
>>They say moisture trashed the electonics and 
>>they want to replace all of them. Repair cost 
>>$5000. And they can't guarantee it after that. 
>>I did see condensation in the viewfinder but 
>>that's it. Camera just died.
>>------Original Message------
>>From: Steve Barbour
>>Sender: lug-bounces+michael=rosenblumtv.com at leica-users.org
>>To: Leica Users Group
>>ReplyTo: Leica Users Group
>>Subject: Re: [Leica] M8 question
>>Sent: Aug 20, 2009 11:07
>>
>>
>>On Aug 20, 2009, at 12:20 AM, Michael Rosenblum wrote:
>>
>>>   I used my 2-year old M8 to shoot 4 exposures on a rainy day in
>>>   England.
>>>   Shortly there after, the camera simply died.
>>>   I sent it to Solms and they tell me it is trashed.
>>
>>
>>according to their technical analysis what is wrong with the camera,
>>and why did it happen?
>>
>>
>>Steve
>

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    *            Henning J. Wulff
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