strange light leak on my m2....some photos..bad leica luck

Leica All Day

Leica All Day

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I sent my m2 a couple of months ago to fix the light leak and I just noticed that it's still there.....I know that the curtains were replaced but I don't think it is coming from the curtains....the first photo, the one with the boat in it was shot before I sent it in.....the one of my gf was shot 2 days ago as a test because I noticed something on some of my Christmas/New Years photos.....

I took the lens off and waved the body under some afternoon light for about 5 seconds, put my lens back on and took a photo, then took the lens off again and waved it under the sunlight and put the lens back on....I did this for 2 or 3 photos and this is one of the photos from that test.

I should say that I noticed the light leak on some photos that I DID NOT due this "test" on....A couple of my holiday photos have light leakage from "normal" usage....that is just walking around taking photos and switching lenses........I suspect that it is not from the curtains but light is coming in somewhere...you can see that it is in the same spot before the replacement of curtains and after...BTW, both strap lugs are tight...

To add to my bad Leica luck...walking back from the lab today, the batteries drained on my m6ttl, so I went back and bought some more, well I realized that the light meter is not turning itself off after 10 seconds....it stays on forever....I got my camera back from an expensive CLA about 2 months ago and now this is happening again....it drives me crazy...I am going on a photo trip in 4 weeks and I need my cameras to work....I am down to a lovely, but limiting m3 now....

I already emailed both of the people who worked on my cameras to see if they are both in the states now working and not on vacation...I am waiting for their replies...I am pretty bummed about my Leicas right now...it is expensive (and risky) to send them to the states for repairs and I have put a lot of money into them getting them fixed....that said, I am willing to send them in if they can fix them correctly this time and get them back to me in time.

before the cla
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after
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cheers, michael


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Hello Payasam, yeah, you are right...that's the one that I waved the camera under afternoon light for 5 seconds with the lens off, light got in around the shutter somehow....but do you see that they both have the same mark (above my gf's ear)....

this photo was before the cla too....same mark, same place..different shutter curtains....
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Michael,

I don't know who carried out the work on your cameras, but all the repairers I've ever used have given at least a six month guarantee on their work - is this not the case?

Another avenue worth exploring is the repairers / camera shops I've used in the past have always offered me a replacement to use if they have been unable to repair a camera before I've needed it for a trip / shoot. Worth asking for?

Hope you get it sorted out quickly.

John
 
Thanks John, that's what I am hoping for...both of the repairers are very well known on this forum and I am hoping that they have some sort of guarantee. I am waiting to hear back from them today, if not I will call them tomorrow. If everything is cool , I can mail them my cameras first thing Monday morning. Shipping is expensive and it makes me nervous to send them , but I am left with little choice right now.

cheers, michael
 
well good news, I just heard back from both of the repairers and they told me to send them the cameras back.....i just hope that I don't get charged again for the repairs. cheers, michael
 
Great!

Let's hope that's an end to your run of Leica bad luck, and it's at least twenty years before you next need any work to be done on them!

Have a good trip.

John
 
Michael:
This happens....I must return my m3 after CLA for well known repairman¡¡¡ for lever stuck on 1/1000 vel..and of course I paid the round ship....i asked the repairman pay one way shipment, and didnt agree¡¡
My other M3 was CLAd for the same...didnt told me about the necesity of change one curtain...and after months of use I found pin light leakage¡¡¡ , now sealed DIY with electric liquid...¡¡¡¡
And of course I undestand the fear about sendin the cameras....
Good luck....
Bob.
 
The small diagonal blue marks have to have come from the front: but they are not light leaking around the edges of the curtains. I cannot understand why new curtains should let in light at the same point as old curtains.
 
thanks for the replies....I tested it with one lens (35mm nokton/ first 2 photos) but the photo with my gf and the Hasselblad was taken with a different lens (15mm vc) and the mark is in the same place, so maybe it is something inside the camera...I have no idea why.....the repair person saw these photos too and told me to send it back......I originally thought it was a pinhole in the curtains so I had them replaced, but now I realize that it is not the curtains......strange
 
A certain well known repair person claimed to have replaced a bad curtain on my M2 with a "good used curtain", but the replacement immediately showed its holes. They were not in the same place, though. There's only one reason why a hole in a "new" curtain can be in the same place as in the old one. There's no way for something in the camera body to reflect light on to the film. Where would it be and from which direction would the light hit it?
 
It's a good question that you ask Payasam, but I am positive the curtains were replaced because the curtains that I had before the CLA looked old and "dry"....the curtains now look brand new.....I don't understand how that mark can be in the same place before the CLA and after it....i have no idea what is causing that mark...cheers, michael
 
payasam said:
There's only one reason why a hole in a "new" curtain can be in the same place as in the old one. There's no way for something in the camera body to reflect light on to the film. Where would it be and from which direction would the light hit it?
Click to expand...

That's a good point, for sure. I though it might be possible for light to bounce off the roller or something similar.
 
Looks like a very small lightleak coming from some place where you don't expect it. Probably a reflection of that lightleak.

Another possibility could be that the film pressure plate has a shiny part (i.e. paint chipped off) but i doubt that because in your Black/White photo the mark is very strong.
 
ok, I just looked through some other photos that I took with the m2 and here is what I found....

these two photos were taken after the CLA, the mark is in a slightly different place and the angle of the mark has changed too
when compared to the photo above of my gf (test photo)...

these two photos have the mark in the same place and these photos were taken 2 months apart.....I am really confused now..

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cheers, michael

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There was a thread either here or on photo.net of an unusual light leak that came from a loose strap lug letting a tiny shaft of light in. Worth considering in the midst of this mystery.
 
I think I figured it out.....I looked closely at the back door and this is what I found...it makes sense because the "nick" is in the same place as the light mark on my photos (negatives)....I am going to send my repairer these photos along with the camera....Obviously some light is coming in too when I change lenses because of the test photo of my gf above, but I am pretty sure that the mark is because of this small blemish (nick) on the back door...

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cheers, michael


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hanskerensky said:
Looks like a very small lightleak coming from some place where you don't expect it. Probably a reflection of that lightleak.

Another possibility could be that the film pressure plate has a shiny part (i.e. paint chipped off) but i doubt that because in your Black/White photo the mark is very strong.
Click to expand...

You were right.....I am not sure why the "mark" is stronger in some photos and not others.....I think it has something to due with the composition and the way that light is coming into the camera.....thanks...

cheers, michael
 
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