The COVID-19 pandemic and the related limitations, as it were, naturally generate a tendency to memories. Unfortunately, this year, I did not go on a regular ski trip to the Alps, and I only have to look at photos from previous years.
In 2018 I was skiing with my friends in Bormio, Italy. A charming place in itself and not very crowded for the season and Italy itself. We had good ski conditions and pleasant weather. There was also a tiny, five-year-old child with us, which contributes to this story.
I do not take my camera too often for skiing, especially since the photo can be taken with the iPhone as a last resort. But sometimes I can't stand without a real camera and wear a backpack. The Leica M10 with lenses is not a lightweight accessory. Besides, due to the price, any damage can be a costly loss. Well, careful skiing and proper protection in the backpack have not hurt so far. The truth is that having a camera with me, I ski more carefully and perform "photography" skiing - slow and with frequent stops. The conditions for the downhill skiing and photos were excellent.
We stopped for lunch with the whole group in one of the ski restaurants, and as usual, we ate something good. A child, a boy named Leon, as his vital peers at this age, did not sit still for too long. I put the backpack on the shelf with the camera on it, and it was done! A moving object, not knowing how, in a second, traveled 2m and was near the camera, hit it, and it fell, to my horror, from a height of about 1.8m. I picked up the camera from the ground with trembling hands and was sure I had damaged equipment in my hands. But no! The camera hit the floor with a lens downwards equipped with a ventilated shade for lens purchased from Thorsten's online store. This small tool - ventilated shade - saved my camera and lens (lightweight Summicron-M 1: 2/50). The cover took the force of the fall. It bent itself and cushioned the impact. I am convinced that another shade without a ribbed structure would not deform and transfer the force of the fall to the lens and camera. What if I had no cover at all? I don't even want to think.
Is this an advertisement? Oh no! This is rather a tip - use anti-sun shades for lenses, because they protect against reflections and mechanical damage, and if you want to buy what I recommend, visit, for example, https://www.overgaard.dk/Thorsten-von-Overgaard-Gallery- Store-Hardware-for-Photography-and-Leica-Lenses-and-Cameras.html (http://bityl.pl/fjzvU).