Leica M2 light leak or flare?

[malthusiantrap]

Hi, I've been experiencing problems with my M2 and the old Elmar 50/2.8 recently. There appears to be a stripe of white light in the middle of the frame. The stripe does not appear on all frames and has varying degrees of intensity. The photo attached has the most prominent stripe.
I checked the curtains for any pinholes and tested the shutter against a bright light to see if the curtains are working properly and it seems fine. I can't think of anything else that might be causing this problem, perhaps something with my film canister (I bulk load my film) or lens flare? Thanks in advance.

 

[Beemermark]

light leak

 

[Sparrow]

that looks odd, that m2 odd, intermittent leak usually has a line near the edge ... like this




that looks like something else

 

[ktran]

It's a light leak.

Light doesn't like to travel in anything other than straight lines, so whether or not a leak will appear on film will depend on angles and reflections and etc., so it's normal that it won't appear on all frames. The dead giveaway, though, is if it stays in the same spot all of the time.

Here's something to try: is the Elmar collapsible? if so, try shining a flashlight perpendicular to and parallel down the barrel, and see if there's a light leak through the collapsing mechanism. Do this in a dark room. My Summitar has a leak where the felt between the inner and outer barrels has deteriorated. The funny thing is that the leak only manifests itself when the lens is fully extended and locked. If it's not completely locked, there is no leak. All of this is to say that light leaks are weird, and are a pain to track down 😉

 

[malthusiantrap]

It's a light leak.
Here's something to try: is the Elmar collapsible? if so, try shining a flashlight perpendicular to and parallel down the barrel, and see if there's a light leak through the collapsing mechanism. Do this in a dark room. My Summitar has a leak where the felt between the inner and outer barrels has deteriorated. The funny thing is that the leak only manifests itself when the lens is fully extended and locked. If it's not completely locked, there is no leak. All of this is to say that light leaks are weird, and are a pain to track down 😉

Yes, it is collapsible. I tried doing that and I did spot a lightleak. Unfortunately, I don't have the money for a CLA right now so a rubber washer around the barrel will have to do right now. I'm so relieved the problem was pinpointed so quickly. Just to confirm the lightleak, would you happen to have some samples of the leak you had?
Thanks to those who replied so far!

 

[ktran]

Yes, it is collapsible. I tried doing that and I did spot a lightleak. Unfortunately, I don't have the money for a CLA right now so a rubber washer around the barrel will have to do right now. I'm so relieved the problem was pinpointed so quickly. Just to confirm the lightleak, would you happen to have some samples of the leak you had?
Thanks to those who replied so far!

I noticed that the leak was narrower at the top and bottom, so that gave me a clue as to it probably originating a the middle 🙂

Mine look hazy at the middle, depending on the film speed (it didn't appear on ISO100 film, but was noticeable on 400), as well as lighting conditions, etc. etc. etc. But it also looked different depending on angles, etc. If it was diffuse lighting (ie: overcast sky), it would be a hazy patch in the middle. In stronger lighting, it might become more directional. It's all really hard to say, unfortunately, and the best thing to do is to run some cheap iso 400 print film through it. I plugged my leak with scotch magic tape around the end of the inner barrel and coloured it with a sharpie. I'd suggest using blu-tack or something similar to completely plug it up the leak, just to confirm things before you try a more elegant solution.

I'm sorry I can't give you actual examples at the moment: I'm travelling by train a lot over the next few days.

 

[t6un]

I think it's flare. No wonder because the sun is right in the middle of it. But if it's still a leak in the lens barrel, it should always become proportionally stronger as you stop down the lens.

 

[Waus]

I have the same problem with my M3 -I really don't know what causes this kind of flare...
Here is a link to an example:http://waus.deviantart.com/art/Leak-206369158

 

[malthusiantrap]

I have the same problem with my M3 -I really don't know what causes this kind of flare...
Here is a link to an example:http://waus.deviantart.com/art/Leak-206369158

Yours is horizontal, from what I found searching online that might be from the seals on the back plate or leaks from the camera itself. But I liked the leak in your sample photo. Somehow it looks cool.

 

[Beemermark]

Usually flare shows up as on overall loss of contrast.

 

[rayfoxlee]

Looks very much like light leak around the shutter light trapping. I had a similar problem on my M2. This was cured by replacing the light seals with M7 version.

Hope you sort it out.

Ray

 

[malthusiantrap]

Yes, I think the camera has a lightleak. I will test the camera tomorrow with multiple lenses to determine the problem.
I'm hoping that it is a problem with the elmar collapsible. Shutter repair sounds expensive...

 

[mgd711]

I have the exact same problem with my M2 and I was using a collapsible lens on it when it happened 🙁. I'll check out the lens when I get home again (I had not considered the lens being the source off the problem)

 

[malthusiantrap]

Mike, try what ktran suggested, to shine a light perpendicular to the barrel. I found a light leak on my elmar collapsible that way. I think the problem is due to collapsing the barrel haphazardly so sometimes the barrel goes in at an angle which deteriorates the light seals. I am now contemplating whether to sell my elmar and get a rigid lens instead.
Is your light leak vertical or horizontal and does it diffuse just like mine?

 

[ktran]

I actually suspect it's due to age and wear+tear. These lenses are well over half a century old in a lot of cases, and the felt and adhesive will likely deteriorate over time (ie: see all of the classic cameras needing light seal replacement).

If you see a leak through your lens barrel, you can bet your life that it'll show up on the film. I had a problem with my IIIc where there were TWO leaks in the camera body, plus the leak in the lens barrel. You can imagine that took months to narrow down and sort out!