[rollei_list] Re: On the Drop-Testing of Camera Gear
- From: Frédéric Fichter <ffichter@xxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:50:35 -0700
I was holding a 2-years old child in my arms when the strap of my Rollei 35
went loose, preventing any commando move such as the one you reported.
Congrats on you shielding your 2.8F and M4 !
Fred
On Wednesday, October 03, 2007, at 09:56AM, "Marc James Small"
<marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>At 03:09 AM 10/3/2007, Frédéric Fichter wrote:
> >I dropped mine, and most of the Rollei 35 I've seen have been dropped
> >(but I never dropped any other camera). These cameras are especially
> >attracted to the ground. Bad balance, bad karma, who knows ?
>
>Shucks, folks, I ALWAYS drop-test my cameras,
>generally onto concrete or rocks. Heck, I even
>drop-tested my Questar 3.5 Quartz Standard
>telescope. These guys are REMARKABLY
>tough. Rolleiflex TLR's are a bit disappointing,
>as they just "thud" and sit there, but the Leica
>M3's bounce wonderfully, especially the early
>(DS) models -- the single-stroke ones only bounce
>about half as high. With one exception, none of
>this drop-testing ever damaged a bit of optical
>gear though it has caused some dents and dings.
>
>There is a nice story in LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY (not
>that glitzo-schlock LEICA PHOTGRAPHIE) about a
>sky-diver in the 1950's who lost his M3 at about
>a thousand feet when he deployed his 'chute. He
>landed and found the camera. The rangefinder was
>broken but the camera was otherwise functional,
>so he finished off the roll by zone-focusing. As
>John Cameron Swayze taught us back in the
>Longago, "it takes a licking, but keeps on ticking!"
>
>Now, lenses are a different story. Those heavy
>Soviet metal telephotos make a wonderful
>ballistic arc but they will break. The later
>plastic mount Japanese lenses are better: the
>plastic will generally crack before the glass
>does. I recommend Canon for this: you can throw
>Canon lenses at your domestic partner while he or
>she throws pots and pans and the kitchen sink at
>you without much of a worry for the morrow.
>
>The only camera I've ever seriously damaged was
>my Rollei 35S, when a dog on a lead went on a
>wild-goose chase and hauled me over a ten-foot (3
>meters to the Canadians in our midst) cliff. I
>didn't drop it, but I gave it a hard whack and it
>did have to go to Harry for overhaul. (Five
>years earlier, I had fallen over the same cliff,
>this time holding a 2.8F 12/24 and a Leica M4: I
>was able to shield both cameras from damage but
>sprained the hell out of my ankle in doing
>so. Oh, well!) The 35S works well today and I used it last week.
>
>Drop-test those cameras! Trust God and Dread
>Nought, or however that saying goes.
>
>Marc
>
>
>msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
>
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