Burnt Curtain?? Please help....

[Mean Panda]

Hi eveyone,
This week, my pictures came out weird. I saw a semi orange Halo on my pictures regardless which lens I used. About 1/5 of my pictures came out like that at the exact same spot. When I checked my camera, I saw there is a line(pencil like) on the back of the curtain. Does that mean that the curtain is burnt? PLEASE ADVISE. I will really appreciate your help.

 

[tmfabian]

It's been my experience that lines on the back of the shutter curtain were merely wrinkles and don't usually affect the image negatively. A burnt shutter can be deteremined by just holding the camera up to a light source with the lens off and rear door open with shuter cocked and also in the fired position...any hole will show up as light coming through the curtain.


Oh yeah, forgot to mention, Orange light leaks signify a seal problem with the back not the front/shutter area. I've read a few ways on correcting this, but it's never happened to me so i'll let someone else pick that one up.

 

[peterm1]

Could be, if the camera was placed in a position facing the sun without a lens cap the sun might trace a mark across the shutter curtain. (More often it will simply burn a pin hole however.) Is it burned all the way thru or is it only a mark on the surface? The latter can still let light through but is easier to repair - it is possible that the burn simply melted the rubber compund used to make the sutter cloth light-proof without going all the way thru. If the latter is the case it would obviously be an easier fix. I have had a camera like this. It had several pinholes that were invisible to the naked eye but still left bright spots on the exposed film. (It is harder to see with a Leica thread mount or copy as there is no back door to open to let light in. Even with a torch shined up the camera with the base plate off it may be impossible to see the bright spot. In my case it may have been deterioration of the blind material rather than a burn. The way I figure it is that the damage did not go all the way thru but compromised the light tightness of the camera. You will find posts here on how to try to rectify this problem. Fortunately many of these advised methods do work to a greater or lesser degree. Do a search using the search box and I am sure you will find lots of posts (comes up more or less regularly.) I have successfully used the kind of flexible (black) ink used for printing on fabrics. Seems to work Ok but if there is a hole you need to actually fill it with something. Some people recommend a product called liquid electrical tape for that purpose but I find its too heavy to use on extensive areas.

 

[Mean Panda]

thanks a lot tm and Peter for your quick and helpful response. I used a flash light to shine through the curtain from both sides. Didn't see any light leak or any hole. What I noctied is that the problem happens more often with the summicron IV (1/4) and less ofthen on my summilux Pre-asph(1/20). I appreciated your time. I will try few more rolls to see what happen. If I still cannot figure it out, maybe send it to repair.
thanks a lot for your help again. 😱

 

[colyn]

One area where a Leica M can leak light is through the top of the back door. If you remove the door you will notice a strip of what appears to be shutter curtain material.

In order to properly replace the seal you will need to remove the top plate.

 

[Mean Panda]

I took some pictures to show exactly what wrong with my pictures. Since the orange halo tend to appear at the same place. I am guessing there is a leak in my M4. Any idea?? Thanks for your reply.