The light seal strip on the bottom of the back door on my M6 needs replacing. Any good DIY tips out there or sources for a factory replacement? Is the furry side of a velcro strip too fat?

-- Ben Hughes (ben@hughesbros.com), March 13, 2002

Answers

There is no felt light seal on the bottom of the M back door. If your problem is light streaks on the film then there are several possible causes.

The most common is the shutter brakes need adjusting. This causes the shutter curatin to bounce and leave a roughly triangular shaped overexposed spot on corner of the film.

You can also get light leaks from a curling shutter curtain. This usually shows up as a problem when you change lenses. Finally there are light baffles between the shutter and viewfinder which can come adrift.

Send the camera, with the problem negatives, to a good Leica tech. If they are not sure what to do, then they are not a good leica tech as these are all well know problems.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), March 13, 2002.

John is correct, there is no felt seal on any M on the back door. Did you get it second hand and has somebody put some felt on in the past? If this is the case I would suspect damage and possibly a bent door or hinges.

-- Steve Barnett (barnet@globalnet.co.uk), March 13, 2002.

Thanks for your responses. I'm not having any problems with light leaks and there is no physical damage to the M6. It's an early model (1986) and there is a strip of felt-like material on the bottom inside of the door. It must be an add-on by a previous owner. I'm just gonna leave it be. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Thanks again!

-- Ben Hughes (ben@hughesbros.com), March 13, 2002.

The spring tension under the pressure plate should be strong enough to keep it from rattling. There is a slight amount of play in my back doors but no rattles.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), March 13, 2002.

You can use a cotton or wool string to replace that foam like material.

-- Marc (leica_image@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.