It seems the thread in which I brought this up has disappeared as well. The plot thickens. After having my M2 CLA'd (it was done by The Focal Point, somewhere in Colorado) the left sides of all my frame lines are missing. I took it back to the store that had sent it in for me, and they certainly agreed that something was wrong, and returned it to the Focal Point for followup. It seems to make a difference where you center your eye, which I guess is why the store thought it could be an alignment problem. I'm more worried that it might be a loss of silvering, as one of you mentioned recently. The rangefinder patch remains good, and is actually easier to focus with than the one on my M6.

So I guess we'll have an answer from the Focal Point in a few weeks. Does anyone know anything about them? My dealer claims they can do anything Leica can do. I'll try not to lose the thread next time.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), July 01, 2001

Answers

Bob: In case you want to question john Van Stelten directly instead of through your dealer here's the contact info: John Van Stelten 303.665.6640 john@focalpointlens.com http://www.focalpointlens.com/ I have a 50mm Summicron that he cleaned, lubed , polished and recoated last fall. The work was excellent and I thought reasonably priced at $175.........

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), July 01, 2001.

It sounds like an alignment issue. If there were a desilvering or decementing problem it would affect the viewfinder/rangefinder not just the framelines. When the prism completely decements all you see through the finder is the rangefinder patch surrounded by blackness.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), July 01, 2001.

I've emailed Van Stelten, as David suggested. He did reply, but he hadn't seen the camera yet, about a week after I returned it. It's been a month now, and I'm getting anxious. I sent a new email tonight. Is he known to be slow, or what?

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), August 06, 2001.

Van Stelton finally returned my M2 with the frame lines now good as ever. No extra charge. He didn't say what the matter was.

Case closed, I guess.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), September 02, 2001.