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Thursday, July 18, 2024

CAN A LEICA SURVIVE BEING DROPPED?




By heinz Richter

The short answer to the above question is “yes!”

During a recent trip to Germany, we also visited the Kehlstein mountain by Berchtesgaden.  There is short walkway which leads to the very top.  To make things easier, it has many steps.

I have no idea how this happened, but on one of the first steps I slipped and fell.  I was carrying my Leica M240 in my hand. Instinctively trying to brace my fall with both hand resulted in the camera flying…

As is often the case in such situations, the entire scenario appeared to be happening in slow motion.  I clearly recall my camera gracefully flying through the air, landing with a very ugly sounding thud.

I immediately picked it up to observe any damage that might have occurred.  Initially it appeared as pristine as it was when I purchased it.  To my surprise it seemed to operate without a flaw.

The viewfinder worked as did the rangefinder.  Shutter speeds and the rear display seemed in equally good condition.  Other than some dust, the lens had survived equally well.


I decided to keep on shooting and I am happy to report that there were no ill side effects. As a matter of fact, the photograph below the title of this article was taken shortly after the camera had been dropped.  Only a while later did I notice a slight scratch/dent at the corner above the main viewfinder window.

That seems quite surprising because the camera fell from a height of about 4 feet.  I have no idea what g-forces that created, but judging by the ugly thud I heard when it hit the ground, that was not insignificant.

Taken several days after the mishap
Image cropped to 1/2 of total image area

Cropped section the above image
Not only does this show that the camera survived without any visible shortcomings,
it also shows the incredible lens performance

Thanks Leica for not only making your cameras and lenses incredibly well working instruments, but also making them tough enough to survive even the most rough treatment with no more than a tiny scratch.


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4 comments:

  1. Good article but I’m sure if you asked any combat photographer of the fifties I’m sure you’d get some great responses ✅📸

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am well aware of the performance of Leica cameras during combat. But the answer to my question is based on my own experience as explained in the article.

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  2. You don't say what the camera fell on. A Leica -- or any camera -- that falls on concrete is going to have a rough time of it. One that falls on hard dirt is going to be worse off than one that falls on grass.

    The SL2 that fell out of a jet at 30,000 feet and survived the fall (sort of--Leitz claimed they could fix it but instead gave the guy a replacement and put it in their museum) was fortunate in that it didn't hit a boulder. A few years ago my CL fell out of a cheap Chinese case and hit cement from a distance of two feet and survived with only a badly knicked corner, fortunately on the bottom where it did no harm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is indeed an oversight. The camera fell onto compacted, coarse gravel. I also should have mentined that several years ago, one of my other Leicas, a Digilux 2, fell from about 4 feet hight onto a concrete floor. I picked it up, checked it out and continued to finish the job at hand. The camera still performs flawlessly.
      I saw the camera that fell out of the fighter jet at Leica. However, I was told told that the camera could not have been repaired because the lens mount was pushed into the camera body which had actually a pice broken off the rest of the body. But the camera did not open and when it was found about a year later, the film was retrieved and developed. The images were used to determine the original owner who, as you mentioned, got a replacement from Leica.

      Delete