Dropped my M6

[Nick De Marco]

After a very long day, mainly out taking photos, came home to the house in Italy and managed to turn my bag upside down when it was open. M6 hit the stone floor with a mighty crash. No visible damage (even to the floor) but the Rapidwinder seemed to be a bit loose. Finished the film, and meter etc seems to be working OK. Rapid winder does still close on body, but the knob is now quite loose where it was tight. Should I give it a CLA or just hope its still fine?

 

[Roger Hicks]

If it still works, it still works. Shoot a few more rolls before you even start worrying. (And yes, after 40+ years and some dented Leicas and lenses I know the sickening feeling when it happens. But Leicas are generally pretty tough.)

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nick De Marco]

Thanks Roger

Although it is my favourite camera I must admit I did say to myself, thank God I dropped my Leica (and not my Voigtlander R3M) as I think otherwise I would have a certain breakage.

 

[BillBingham2]

Nick,

Check to see if it's the camera or the winder. Put on the old bottom and see. Reach out to Tom A if it's the winder.

B2 (;->

 

[Livesteamer]

I am sorry to hear this. I have dropped several and been lucky for nothing worse than a bent rewind knob. However, as the old machinists say, If you don't occasionally make a mistake then you must not be doing anything. Good Luck. Joe

 

[Tom A]

Nick, check with the old baseplate and see if it also is loose. If so, the "ledge" inside the camera has been slightly bent and would have to be "bent back".
If it is the winder lock - you can try to correct it by shifting the shim under the locking disc to the bottom of the lock. If it is still loose - let me know and will dispatch extra shims and some spare screws (they also roll off the table and get lost).
Tom

 

[kossi008]

Although it is my favourite camera I must admit I did say to myself, thank God I dropped my Leica (and not my Voigtlander R3M) as I think otherwise I would have a certain breakage.

Not necessarily. I dropped my Bessa R three times already. It looks like crap now, but it still works excellently. 😀

 

[arseniii]

I don't think Leicas are more damage protected than Bessas. It all depends on your luck, how you dropped it, what type of surface e.t.c, e.t.c. But with Bessa it is definitely less psychological stress for sure. 600$ vs. 4000$ uhhhh!!

At least with Leica you know that no matter what: nuclear attack, earthquake, tsunami, or camera drop your film is always safe...

I had my M3 dropped by previous owner and prism sepparations occurred, it's getting worse and worse with time and the fix is BLOODY expensive!

P.S. DO NOT DROP CAMERAS, BAD HABBIT!!!

 

[Nick De Marco]

Many thanks for the replies, especially Tom's useful words. I put a new film in since the drop so shall experiment as Tom suggested afterwards

 

[hermannhkg]

My CL was dropped once in the Metro, the 50 Cron lands first on the marble floor and the rim of the B&W filter was bent, otherwise no scratch.

The camera and lens carries on working fine, pure luck !

Regards,

Hermann

 

[Debusti Paolo]

la minima pena prevista è un pellegrinaggio a piedifino a santiago de campostela (spagna)😀

 

[35photo]

I've dropped my M6 on a concrete sidewalk twice and has worked just fine. There was one small little dent on the base plate that was about it. Got to love cameras that are built like tanks!

Marko

 

[crawdiddy]

I just found that I burned a pinhole in my M6 shutter curtain, due to leaving the camera lying face up in the sun. It was wearing a Jupiter-8, and of course the aperture ring is loosey goosey (no detentes). So even though I was using a small aperture, it's easy to turn the aperture dial all the way.

But that's not a serious issue, apparently. I plan on using Shoe Goo to repair it.