Film advance issue

A

anu L ogy

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Jan 29, 2010
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Last night I was shooting a roll of film, and around the 10 exposure the film advance locked up and wouldnt advance anymore. If I really forced the advance it would spin and grind a bit, but I couldnt advance it very far. It was a slightly old roll of P3200. I though the sprockets may have just broke, but today I loaded a newer roll of different film and around the 8th exposure it started again. The camera is an M6 ttl. Does anyone have experience with this issue, or do you think its something that I should have serviced.
 
That would worry me.

I'm guessing you have a roll of spoilt film now. Why not re roll it back into the canister and try loading and advancing it with the bottom plate in place but the back door open.
That way you can see what is happening at the 8th frame.

I wouldn't ever try and fix something like this myself. Hope it works out OK.
 
This happened a while ago on my M4-P around frame 20. It's likely that either the rewind crank is loose or the brass ring underneath it is. When you rewind the film you tighten it up just enough to get through 10 frames before it loosens up and jams again. A decent camera repairer should be able to fix it in about 5 minutes.

If you fancy trying it yourself, you tighten the crank by lifting the arm, putting a screwdriver in the screw head underneath, and holding it still while turning the crank clockwise. If that still doesn't solve the problem then it's the brass ring. Remove the crank by doing as above but turning the crank anti-clockwise and removing the washers underneath. You'll then see a brass ring set into the body of the camera. Tighten it using a lens spanner in the two slots in the ring or (as I did) by pushing the slots clockwise with a small screwdriver. It doesn't have to be very loose before it becomes a problem. Replace the washers and re-tighten the crank as previously mentioned.

Hope this helps.
 
I had a film advance issue with my M3 that was very difficult to repair - required an expert to get right. However, your problem is different than mine, in my case rewinding the film did nothing to even temporarily right it.

While johnamazement provides insight as to what the problem might be, my impulse would be to send it for service and not attempt a home repair.

Randy
 
Thanks all. My first guess is that it was the crank. I actually have the tool that will allow me to remove or tighten the crank. I will give this a shot.
 
Happend to me twice, once on an M4P, once on an M6. It's been reported as one of the most common failures on rewind crank M's, which is probably why Leica moved to the old reliable round rewind roller (at least on the MP)

Be careful if you do it yourself, as one of the screws in the disassembly unscrews backwards. I'd send it off to DAG, Golden Touch, Youxin, or another Leica repair person, who probably fixes this issue several times a day.
 
All,
I just wanted to give an update on this incase anyone runs into this in the future. Thanks to johnamazement's suggestion and a bit of tinkering I am happy to report that this was solved, and that anyone can fix this themself in under 5 mins. All you need to do on an M6 TTL is lift the rewind crank arm, put a flat head screw driver in it in the screw that this exposes, then rotate the rewind crank counter clock wise. Once this is off there are 4-5 washers you need to take off. After you do this you get to the brass washer which is easily tightened with the flat head. Once this is done, put the washers back on and screw the rewind crank back on. Good as new in under 5 mins, and I didnt need to send it off for service.
 
anu L ogy said:
All,
I just wanted to give an update on this incase anyone runs into this in the future. Thanks to johnamazement's suggestion and a bit of tinkering I am happy to report that this was solved, and that anyone can fix this themself in under 5 mins. All you need to do on an M6 TTL is lift the rewind crank arm, put a flat head screw driver in it in the screw that this exposes, then rotate the rewind crank counter clock wise. Once this is off there are 4-5 washers you need to take off. After you do this you get to the brass washer which is easily tightened with the flat head. Once this is done, put the washers back on and screw the rewind crank back on. Good as new in under 5 mins, and I didnt need to send it off for service.
Click to expand...

Nice work. You just saved yourself a lot of time and money. DIY, for the win!:)
 
Good news Jim. Well done.

anu L ogy said:
All,
I just wanted to give an update on this incase anyone runs into this in the future. Thanks to johnamazement's suggestion and a bit of tinkering I am happy to report that this was solved, and that anyone can fix this themself in under 5 mins. All you need to do on an M6 TTL is lift the rewind crank arm, put a flat head screw driver in it in the screw that this exposes, then rotate the rewind crank counter clock wise. Once this is off there are 4-5 washers you need to take off. After you do this you get to the brass washer which is easily tightened with the flat head. Once this is done, put the washers back on and screw the rewind crank back on. Good as new in under 5 mins, and I didnt need to send it off for service.
Click to expand...
 
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