What is wrong with my M6?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Leica Photography : One Thread

On a recent trip I shot 5 rolls of films. After getting the slides back I noticed some weird light streaks as circled on the accompanied 3 frames. What makes me crazy is they do not appear on all frames, but couple of frames per roll. And it happens with frames in the middle of the roll, not beginning frames nor end frames. And the pattern looked the same.

Could it be light tight problem between the lense and the camera? If so, then all frames would be affected. I just can not figure out. Please help if you have any ideas. I should note that I had only one lense attaches to the camera at all time. Thanks in advance.

Here is the link to the pictures:

http://home.pacbell.net/rby2000/test.htm

-- John Hoang (johnjhng@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000

Answers

Sorry, I should have made the link "clickable"

http://home.pacbell.net/rby2000/test.htm

Fixed. -t

-- John Hoang (johnjhng@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000.


John, I looked at your pictures, and I had the exact same pattern on an old M3 years ago. I was told that the shutter of an M camera, while sufficiently light tight for normal shooting, does have a weakness if extreme light enters the camera. I rechecked my negatives, and the leaks all corresponded to frames that I changed lenses on. I left the lens off of the body too long in bright daylight, and the same pattern that your photos have developed.

You mention that you did not change lenses, and the photos look like you were in consistant light... (if you were going in and out of a building you may have had the aperture wide open, which could have let in too much light when outdoors again). So assuming your lens was closed to a proper f-stop for outdoor shooting, this would be disturbing.

If you have a history with this camera and this just occured, then something may be wrong with the way the shutter is aligning when cocked. If this is a new camera, I'd use the pictures to let Leica know what the problem is... It may speed up the troubleshooting. Let us know what is up when the problem is repaired... It could be useful for the rest of us in the future.

Good Luck!

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), September 15, 2000.


On how many rolls did it occur?

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), September 15, 2000.

Hi Bill,

All of them. It randomly happened to middle frames like 14, 26, 18...

Today, I emailed Leica, told them what had happened. I do not know when I will have their answer. I will let you know...

Thanks to all of you.

-- John Hoang (johnjhng@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000.


I also had light getting in around the shutter, and it looks similar to the streaks you got. Usually it happens when changing lenses in bright sun light, as was previously mentioned. I would do a test-walk around with the camera set on a particular frame for a while with no cap on, and see if the streaks apear on that frame.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), September 15, 2000.


I had the same problem when I bought my beat up very used M2. It was also random negitives (actually the ones which sat in the gate for a while when I carried my camera in the sun). I took it back and they touched up some black paint inside the bottom cover (illogical I know, as the streaks are at the top in the camera), and it has been fine since. Try putting in a fast film like TMZ, and then tape all seams but one, and put in the sun for a while, then wind on (Easier to spot small leak on unexposed/processed film) uncover a different seam and repeat. Hopefully with this method you can isolate it to a certain location.

-- Mark Wrathall (Wrathall@laudaair.com), September 16, 2000.

Yuuk, Hee hee, THe price you pay for owning a Leica. You all enjoy it now. Heeaaa!

-- Trib (linhof6@hotmail.com), September 16, 2000.

I've just received email from Leica asking me to send the camera back. Amazing! What a quick reply! This is what I've paid for: excellent products and excellent service. I AM a proud owner of my Leica!

Thanks to all of your answers. You too, Trib!

I will keep you up to date.

-- John Hoang (johnjhng@hotmail.com), September 16, 2000.


I had similar problems with a M4-2 when using a M winder and slow speeds. It also can occur when the shutter curtain brakes are not working properly. Let us know what Leica says.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), September 17, 2000.

I've received the camera back from Leica about 2 weeks ago. According to the accompanied paper, they said they "repair circuit board". I emailed them to ask what they really did, and so far without answer.

However, they sent me a new warranty card with 90 more days to compensate to the problem.

I have not had time to run some films to test the camera yet. That is also the reason for this late posting. Sorry and best wishes to all of you.

-- John Hoang (johnjhng@hotmail.com), October 29, 2000.



Moderation questions? read the FAQ