JohnnyRangefinder
Member
I am completely flabbergasted -- I don't think there has been an object I've treated more kindly than my recently aquired M6ttl -- I felt as though I was being near-religious keeping the beauty under my coat, re-capping the lens, etc...
I noticed whilst changing lenses the other day a burn mark above the 'white patch' -- it looked like a solar eclipse with the flare at one point along the circumference. I quickly shot off the rest of the roll.
Investigation quickly exposed a good-sized burn and light-leak through the first curtain. AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Well, this is not a tirade against cloth shutters, or build-quality or any such nonsense -- While I cannot for the life of me figure out when this freak-of-timing-aperture-opening-focus-position-why-did-I-not-have-my-lens-cap-on-nightmare occured, I know it must be the result of my own error.
It is shocking how quickly this can happen when all the variables are 'right'. I had never left the camera on my car seat, rarely left it on a table -- it was essentially living under my coat, slung across my chest.
As I do the 'forensics' I am left to wonder how obliquely can the light enter the lens and still do damage to the shutter -- the burn is rather off-center, not even on the meter-patch. would I be correct in assuming the light that caused the burn was not directly entering the lens?
I did some searching on the forums and seemed to understand that burns are more likely to occur with a wider, fast lens.
I assume I probably had my 28/1.9 on it and placed it on an outside table at the coffee shop in between shots around noon on a blazing-hot, no-ozone-layer-brutal-UV, bright sunny So. Cal day -- and in a handful of seconds I no doubt made myself a few hundred dollars poorer -- I was already doing a good enough job making myself broke
I called my friend at the camera store and he said they could send it to Leica for repair. From reading the forums, it seems like there is a 7 week backlog of repairs in America right now. Is DAG or Sherry able to replace a ttl shutter curtain? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I would hate to be without the M for that long.
Well, thanks for letting me share --
Sasha
I noticed whilst changing lenses the other day a burn mark above the 'white patch' -- it looked like a solar eclipse with the flare at one point along the circumference. I quickly shot off the rest of the roll.
Investigation quickly exposed a good-sized burn and light-leak through the first curtain. AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Well, this is not a tirade against cloth shutters, or build-quality or any such nonsense -- While I cannot for the life of me figure out when this freak-of-timing-aperture-opening-focus-position-why-did-I-not-have-my-lens-cap-on-nightmare occured, I know it must be the result of my own error.
It is shocking how quickly this can happen when all the variables are 'right'. I had never left the camera on my car seat, rarely left it on a table -- it was essentially living under my coat, slung across my chest.
As I do the 'forensics' I am left to wonder how obliquely can the light enter the lens and still do damage to the shutter -- the burn is rather off-center, not even on the meter-patch. would I be correct in assuming the light that caused the burn was not directly entering the lens?
I did some searching on the forums and seemed to understand that burns are more likely to occur with a wider, fast lens.
I assume I probably had my 28/1.9 on it and placed it on an outside table at the coffee shop in between shots around noon on a blazing-hot, no-ozone-layer-brutal-UV, bright sunny So. Cal day -- and in a handful of seconds I no doubt made myself a few hundred dollars poorer -- I was already doing a good enough job making myself broke
I called my friend at the camera store and he said they could send it to Leica for repair. From reading the forums, it seems like there is a 7 week backlog of repairs in America right now. Is DAG or Sherry able to replace a ttl shutter curtain? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I would hate to be without the M for that long.
Well, thanks for letting me share --
Sasha
E
Edward Felcher
Guest
It's not hard to patch yourself. It might look sloppy if you do it yourself, but it's no big deal.
I've fixed them before.
http://nemeng.com/leica/025b.shtml
I've fixed them before.
http://nemeng.com/leica/025b.shtml
MikeL
Go Fish
Hi Sasha,
You could always try a self-repair with some material similar to the cloth. My S2 shutter was repaired with some glue and black plastic. Never had a problem.
You could always try a self-repair with some material similar to the cloth. My S2 shutter was repaired with some glue and black plastic. Never had a problem.
colyn
ישו משיח
Go to a yard sale or flea market and buy a cheap SLR with cloth curtains. Cut a small (slightly larger than the damaged area) piece of the shutter curtain and using pliobond (micro-tools.com) glue this piece over the burn hole rubber side to the curtain. Allow it to dry for 24 hours before using.
I've done this before and saved a lot in repair costs and it works..
I've done this before and saved a lot in repair costs and it works..
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Sorry to hear about that Sasha. Good luck.
ferider
Veteran
Sorry to hear that Sasha.
Both Don/DAG and Sherry should be able to replace or patch the curtains. Hey, you might
want to have them put in the flare-free finder at the same time.
Best,
Roland.
Both Don/DAG and Sherry should be able to replace or patch the curtains. Hey, you might
want to have them put in the flare-free finder at the same time.
Best,
Roland.
planetjoe
Just some guy, you know?
Hey, Colyn - I read your post:
...and have a few questions. When you say, "rubber side to the curtain", are you assuming the SLR donor curtain has a rubber side, just like the Leica cloth curtain? Finally, should this kind of repair be performed on the cloth-side or on the rubberized-side of the Leice shutter?
I have a feeling that's what you meant in the first place, but that I'm simply not reading it correctly.
Sorry to hijack the thread for a second, Sasha. I have almost the same problem with my M4 shutter; I've managed to keep things working by NOT pre-cocking the shutter until just before firing, but it's getting a little tiresome. Good luck with your fix; there was this thread a few weeks back in which other methods of repair were mentioned, if it helps.
Cheers,
--joe.
colyn said:
...and have a few questions. When you say, "rubber side to the curtain", are you assuming the SLR donor curtain has a rubber side, just like the Leica cloth curtain? Finally, should this kind of repair be performed on the cloth-side or on the rubberized-side of the Leice shutter?
I have a feeling that's what you meant in the first place, but that I'm simply not reading it correctly.
Sorry to hijack the thread for a second, Sasha. I have almost the same problem with my M4 shutter; I've managed to keep things working by NOT pre-cocking the shutter until just before firing, but it's getting a little tiresome. Good luck with your fix; there was this thread a few weeks back in which other methods of repair were mentioned, if it helps.
Cheers,
--joe.
colyn
ישו משיח
Shutter curtains whether SLR or rangefinder have one side rubberized and the other showing the cloth weave. To properly patch the curtain you should glue the rubber side of the patch to the rubber side of the damaged curtain. This will give a stronger bond. You don't want the patch to be large though just slightly larger than the hole.planetjoe said:
planetjoe
Just some guy, you know?
Thanks, Colyn. You make it sound pretty easy.
Cheers,
--joe.
Cheers,
--joe.
colyn said:
Xmas
Veteran
I use a hood cap, or if I'm taking candits point the camera at me. I get a lot of candit hood cap photos as well...
Noel
Noel
aizan
Veteran
see if you can replace the cloth curtains with titanium curtains!
colyn
ישו משיח
patrickjames said:
I've heard of someone in Japan doing it for around $500+
Honus
carpe diem
Black Shoe Goo.
I burned a hole in my M2 curtain and followed the advise on the Leica FAQ page referenced earlier by Edward Felcher. It's about $4 a tube and works like a charm. Make sure you get black and not clear. You should be able to find it at any shoe repair store.
Good luck.
I burned a hole in my M2 curtain and followed the advise on the Leica FAQ page referenced earlier by Edward Felcher. It's about $4 a tube and works like a charm. Make sure you get black and not clear. You should be able to find it at any shoe repair store.
Good luck.
JohnnyRangefinder
Member
Thanks all for the kind words and advice...
Thanks all for the kind words and advice...
As per the many helpful ideas, I opted for a temporary fix -- Tool Dip -- that should no doubt keep me in the game until I can part with my M6 for a proper repair (and a finder upgrade to boot).
I cannot stress how stunned I am by my own carelessness. That fact aside, I now know that the ease with which one can damage a cloth shutter is not anecdotal. I will no doubt, sadly, be over-cautious with my camera til this slowly becomes a faint memory.
Thanks again to all who gave this a moments notice,
Sasha
Thanks all for the kind words and advice...
As per the many helpful ideas, I opted for a temporary fix -- Tool Dip -- that should no doubt keep me in the game until I can part with my M6 for a proper repair (and a finder upgrade to boot).
I cannot stress how stunned I am by my own carelessness. That fact aside, I now know that the ease with which one can damage a cloth shutter is not anecdotal. I will no doubt, sadly, be over-cautious with my camera til this slowly becomes a faint memory.
Thanks again to all who gave this a moments notice,
Sasha
M
Magus
Guest
Post deleted by posters request
kinoglass
Established
To BURN a hole on the shutter curtain the following conditions have to be met:
Lens is UNCAPPED. Lens is wide open and it is fast. Lens is focused at INFINITY. Lens is pointed prettty close to sun's light axis. And last but not least: it is a SUNNY day!
Have a good day!
Lens is UNCAPPED. Lens is wide open and it is fast. Lens is focused at INFINITY. Lens is pointed prettty close to sun's light axis. And last but not least: it is a SUNNY day!
Have a good day!
Michael I.
Well-known
In the Israeli sun this post made me happy I went for the canon 7.
Sorry to hear about you shutter - hope you'll get it fixed soon and shoot some film!
Sorry to hear about you shutter - hope you'll get it fixed soon and shoot some film!
icebear
Veteran
Fixed my MP with liq. Electrical Tape
Fixed my MP with liq. Electrical Tape
Hi Sasha,
same happened to me some time ago and I fixed my MP shutter with liquid electrical tape. I ordered it over the web but later I also found it at Home Depot. Of course with a toothpick for applying it both sides of the shutter you will end up using 1/10 of a drop of the little tin but it will save you a couple of hundereds. Sorry for your experience of course , I know exactly how *&%*$!@# it feels :bang: and good luck with the repair.
Fixed my MP with liq. Electrical Tape
Hi Sasha,
same happened to me some time ago and I fixed my MP shutter with liquid electrical tape. I ordered it over the web but later I also found it at Home Depot. Of course with a toothpick for applying it both sides of the shutter you will end up using 1/10 of a drop of the little tin but it will save you a couple of hundereds. Sorry for your experience of course , I know exactly how *&%*$!@# it feels :bang: and good luck with the repair.
Xmas
Veteran
kinoglasskinoglass said:
I dont like being cruel to leicas so gotta post...
Sorry but your condition three is not necessary, because the shutter curtain is some way in front of the film plane the most exposed condition is when the lens focuses a small image on the rubberised fabric, i.e. is focused for nearer than infinity.
E.g. leaving your camera on outdoor coffee tab after taking a shot of something near (like person opposite) is an exposed (and all to likely) condition.
If it is a 5cm lens you are unlikly to gave a problem unless you leave the camera with the back on the table, and the lens pointing at the sky midday. A fast wide angle is just as likely to have a problem when left baseplate on the table, pointing in direction of non midday sun, 35 and 28 can be fast enough.
A lens at f/5.6 will burn a hole in paper quite quickly, dependent on the sun.
A story (received) from the SLR world for a non instant return mirror, they find the 2nd blind tends to be damaged and need replacement earlier, because it is more exposed to uV, as the non instant return mirror protects the 1st blind, from more general 'sunburn', i.e. 'slow' cooking.
We get lots of really cloudy days here, it is still the dark ages, cannot wish you a good day, too worried about your curtain, sorry again.
Noel
P.S. On a coffee table I point the lens at me, cept when I'm doing sneaky candids.
M
Magus
Guest
Post deleted by posters request