I have been struggling to get my M6 classic to focus exactly with the RF - it has always focused slightly closer - I have adjusted the RF cam and had a look at the lens itself. Last week I cut a plate of ground glass from an old Sinar focusing screen and did some detailed verification of the RF and the actual focus on the inner rail position - it was spot on with my 15x loupe! Then I noticed that the film pressure plate had a slight 'bend' in it - I took it off the back and with a straight edge held against the light gently worked it over a table edge to bring it back to as near true as possible. It's still not perfectly flat but it's better than before - can I get hold of a new pressure plate without having to buy the whole back?

-- John Griffin (john.griffin@millerhare.com), April 01, 2002

Answers

John,

How on Earth did you manage to bend it in the first place? Do you remember tweaking it in the past? Maybe, just maybe, it's not made flat (?), although flat would make more sense. If it's supposed to be flat it should be a relatively easy DIY to reflatten it.

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), April 01, 2002.

john, if you have been making manual adjustment to your film pressure plate, IMO you need to send the camera to leica for adjustment. the back-focus margin for error, in view of both the construction/speed/focal length of typical m lenses, is vanishingly small. the plate has to be spot on. i have developed a painstaking procedure for adjusting the chronicly misadjusted bessa ii 6x9 camera pressure plates. even there, where tolerances are far less critical (due to much increased flange to film distance as compared to typical m setup, small min aperture, and lower typical enlargment mag), small errors are plainly visible. you have no chance of properly adjusting a leica pressure plate by eye, and your pics will certainly suffer. while the camera is in the shop, they can put it on the columnator and make sure all is well with the other elements of the focusing system.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 01, 2002.

John,

Contact DAG Camera at http://www.dagcamera.com/. They sell the pressure plate & springs for screw mount Leicas for about $25. They may have the M6 plate too, though I didn’t see it on their parts list. If they don’t have it I’m sure they’ll advise you where else to look. If the camera is light-tight you probably don’t need a new door.

Given the thickness of the aluminum I’d say there is no way on Earth to flatten a bent plate.

Good luck,

-- Jeff Stuart (jstuart1@tampabay.rr.com), April 01, 2002.