This is probably a silly question, but is leaving your M body and lenses in a car day after day harmfull to the mechanics? I'm sure the film in the camera and any spare film in the bag would suffer tremendously from the heat, but would you be asking for mechanical problems in the camera, lenses, shutter, etc?

The reason I'm asking is that I would like to leave my system in my car so that it's there whenever I need it, but I don't want to take it into work everyday BTW, the car is securely locked up in a garage at night, and is in a very safe, although exposed, spot during the day.

-- David Geddes (d_geddes@pacbell.net), June 03, 2002

Answers

Its not a good thing to do.

The worst of the damage is from lubricants evaporating, then condensing where they don't need to be, like on glass). In that case you get unlubricated parts that need lubrication, and lubricated parts that should be free of lube.

Maybe no so much with Leica M, but in cameras that have foam light/dust traps, the foam will deteriorate much more rapidly.

Maybe with the Leica M, the rubberized cloth on the shutter may start to go sticky (decomposing).

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), June 03, 2002.

I've kept a camera & film in an insulated cooler in the trunk and didn't have any problems. Unless outside temp is above 100 or you own a black car, the camera won't get that hot even without an ice pack, but you could get one of the "blue goo" freezer bags to put in there if needed. The interior of a car is a very bad place to store a Leica on a hot day, besides asking for a broken window. Another option would be to use one of those cheap white Tyvek car covers while exposed to sun all day--they lower the inside temperature in the car dramatically.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), June 03, 2002.

Keeping the camera in a car is much worse for the film in it than the camera itself. The worst thing about keeping the camera in a car all the time (unless you're in the humid tropics) is the inevitable and constant vibration. I would keep the camera in a small well-padded bag, in the trunk, in a cardboard box with a thick piece of foam on the bottom.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 03, 2002.

Agree with most previous responses.

I've heated a Leica-M body in a very slow oven to bake out condensation after an encounter with a fountain's water-jet without problems - but kept the oven at about 100-110 degrees F.

Car interiors and trunks can easily hit 180 F depending on season/ location, which is about the temp inside the canopy top of a hot-ait balloon. And the canopies do age prematurely because of the heat - so think about your silk shutter curtains...!

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), June 04, 2002.

Thank you all for your advice. I guess I won't leave my camera in my car after all.

-- David Geddes (d_geddes@pacbell.net), June 04, 2002.

If you are going to leave gear in your car. Never put in the trunk at your destination. Always stop before you get there and put the gear in the trunk. Then when you get to your destination, no one will see you put expensive looking stuff into your trunk.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@shaw.ca), June 04, 2002.