I doubt that fingerprints on the pressure plate would ever cause any problems, but if you really want to clean your camera properly, you really need to remove the body shell and clean all the surfaces you can now access.
This is MUCH easier than it sounds with a Leica II. To do this:
- remove the five screws obviously holding the top plate onto the body shell
- remove the four screws securing the lens mount and take off the mount. Note the position of any shims that are under the mount so you can put them back in the same place. These screws go into metal plates inside the body, and these will come out after you remove the mount. The only challenging thing in this whole operation is aligning these pieces properly to put the lensmount screws back in.
- remove the four screws in the front of the camera holding the shell onto the body.
Push the rangefinder roller in slightly so it doesn't catch on anything, and the body shell will now slide off, taking the pressure plate with it. You can now clean the entire interior of the camera, getting rid of dirt and film chips which are almost always there, and which can cause serious problems.
When putting the shell back on, place the little flat pressure plate springs in the two recesses in the back of the body shell, centre part up, and place the pressure plate back in place on top of them, so that the bevelled edge of the pressure plate faces the bottom of the camera, Hold it in place until the body shell is slid almost all the way on to make sure it stays in place. Remember the rangefinder roller again as you slide the shell on. Put all the bits back on and you are good to go. With a bit of experience, this is a 20-minute job.
It's a good idea to make sure your hands are clean when you hold the pressure plate in place during reassembly, or you'll have......
..fingerprints on the pressure plate.
Cheers,
Dez
