Recently, I sent my M4-P with a jammed shutter to my regular repairer, Mr. C. T. Lee (we're not related!) of Panda Camera-Repair Service, and he found the cause of my camera's problem: a silica-gel pellet had lodged itself into the shutter-curtain mechanism. The little pellet nearly pierced the curtain, but fortunately it merely left a little bump on the fabric. The first thing I did when I got home was to shake out the camera bag used for storing my Leica equipment (out came lots of loose silica-gel pellets!). So that's a lesson for me.

In the course of the repair, C. T. also found another problem with my camera--it didn't sync properly with the flash mounted on the hotshoe, but OK with the flash connected to the X-sync port. (I didn't notice this problem as I had been using the flash on a double accessory shoe over the hotshoe.) He showed me the problem by inserting a piece of white paper on the film gate; only a small section on the right-hand side of the film area lit up when the camera was fired with the flash mounted on the hotshoe, while the entire film area lit up with the flash connected to the sync port. C. T. said that he had encountered the same problem with a number of M4-Ps, which, for inexplicable reasons, went out of sync over time. The fix was fairly simple, I was assured, and, bless the man, he refused additional charges even though he had only priced for the shutter repair (only about US$ 19 equivalent!).

For those of you in Hong Kong, Panda Camera-Repair Service is an one-man operation located in the Penthouse of Double Building on Stanley St., and C. T. provides excellent and reliable service at very reasonable cost.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), March 18, 2002

Answers

Interesting. My M4-P was sent to Germany by Leitz NJ when I need a new rewind knob. They did a complete CLA, and I got it back in about two months. Fortunately, I soon noticed that the hot shoe had become a cold shoe. Still under repair warranty, the camera took another trip to Germany, and now my shoe is hot. But it makes me wonder...otherwise, I love the camera.

-- Phil Stiles (Stiles@metrocast.net), March 18, 2002.

My M4-P's sync is just the opposite - the PC outlet is not working, but the hot shoe works fine. Leica puts separate circuits in for PC and shoe (to avoid your forehead getting a 20,000-volt surprise from the flash!)...

....which also means you have a backup - if the outlet fails, get a hotshoe-to-PC adapter for studio flash work - if the hotshoe fails, you can use a traditional PC sync cord like the M2/3/4 shooters. 8^)

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), March 18, 2002.

Mr. C.T. Lee is exactly the kind of person I've tried to locate in Singapore but have failed to do. Does he offer a walk-in service? Or do repairs take quite a while?

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), March 18, 2002.

I have two m4pīs bur rarely use a flash, although hired for a weding I used both and didnīt find a problem, but Iīll check them, can we know serial numbers of cameras with this problem?

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

Hi Mani, to answer your question, C. T. Lee will repair your camera while you wait if it's a small problem, otherwise his standard repair period is 10 days (the camera's usually ready in a week), unless it's something complicated or he has wait for spare parts. If he can't fix something for good, or thinks your camera's not worth fixing, he'll tell you and let you consider. He'll also examine your camera and lenses for free!

Hi R. Watson, if I remember correctly what C. T. said, the sync problem occurs only with later production M4-Ps, and mine's one of them (serial no. 1622513, produced in 1983, with M6-style flushed windows). Interestingly, C. T. also mentioned a light leakage problem due to internal reflection or something (I should have had his words on tape!) with early production M6s when used with certain "fast" lenses (i.e., "faster" than f/2.8). He thinks, from a camera repairer's point of view, the most practical M-mount camera is the Konica Hexar RF.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), March 19, 2002.

Roberto - mine is a relatively early 4-P - two sync outlets and number 155xxxx. I suspect my problem is not an inherent flaw but more likely just some corrosion to the wiring inside - it's taken at least one 'bath' from the elements since I bought it, and no doubt has had others in its 20 years of shooting.

In case this means anything - my M4-2 will fire the flash alone if the shutter button is pushed while the shutter is uncocked. The M4-P will not do this.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), March 19, 2002.

Andy, mine are in betwen those numbers, I feel into the same %, but as you said corrosion can be an important factor too.

Holyn, Mr Lee sems to be a good option too, thanks

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Hoyin, I too had this problem with an M4-P, the PC socket was fine but the hotshoe was absolutely cold! My current (late) M4-P works fine from either connection.

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), March 19, 2002.

Hi Hoyin,

Thanks for sharing what caused the problem. I have taken all the old silicon sacks out of my camera bag.

Regards Steve

-- Steve Belden (otterpond@adelphia.net), March 19, 2002.

I regularly use the M4-P and there is one problem I am aware of based on experience. They used a new type of flash circuit insulation material (ie., different from that used in earlier cameras such as the m3 and M2), which sometimes deteriorates, leading to failure of proper flash sync. This happened to my relatively new (then) M4-P and it was repaired under warranty by Leica USA. The repair consisted of replacing the insulation with the same type used for the M3. I gather this is a relatively common (and very easily remedied) problem. Haven't had any trouble since the repair was completed.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 19, 2002.

I second the recommendation for Mr. Lee - a very good repairman and a great guy! He's done numerous jobs for me and always manages to give great service. He fixed by CLE light leaks and (without my even asking) machined a replacement part for the camera that was no longer available. And he refused to accept a penny extra for it!

-- Jay D (jayd@netvigator.com), March 19, 2002.

Hoyin, care to share where is CT Lee located? I use HY Lim who is pretty good. Thx

-- Greg (greg_choong@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Greg, here's C. T. Lee's company contact info:

Lee Cho Tat
Panda Camera-Repair Service
Penthouse, Double Building [it's to the left of Luk Yu Teahouse]
22 Stanley Street
Central, Hong Kong
2522 9905, 2522 9908

By the way, C. T. speaks English as well as Cantonese.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), March 21, 2002.