Dust in MP VF: Any DIY solutions?

marke

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I have one of the MPs that were never sealed properly. I don't want to part with it, so I'm wondering if there is any way to clean and seal the VF by myself.
 
That you, reuno. I didn't realize it was so involved. I would have thought this question would have received more responses, but maybe no else has actually considered it. And no I can see why.

It seems to me that I had heard of someone who had suggestins as to how to seal the VF. I wonder if one could vacuum the dust out some way with a small suction device.

Thank you again.
 
I too had one of the MP's with the bad seal. Leica gave me a couple of new seals and I managed to do it myself. The seal is destroyed when you remove it so you need to replace it with the new improved one.
I used a rubberball suction device and "sucked" out most of the dust and then used a soft brush to remove the more stubborn particles.
I did work, some small specks remains, but not enough to bug me.
Mine was one of the first 0.58 MP's Leica made so it was almost inevitable that something would act up!
 
I had dust in my MP's viewfinder, a very early model. Eventually it bugged me enough to take it into my Leica dealer and they sent it to Leica for a clean. It cost £60 all in. No idea if they replaced any parts.

Steve
 
This is Mechanical Perfection at its best.

Some bean counter at Leica decided they could save $2.00 on the cost of building the camera labeled in their marketing campaign as the ultimate in "Mechanical Perfection" by changing the standard eyepiece design, used on every M camera preceding it, with a separate eyepiece (mounted with three small set screws) converted with a piece of plastic. It wasn't until after production started that they figured out (from their customers) that the gaps inherent in the new design created a magnet for dust in the VF.

Initially, Leica spent 50 times what they saved on the new design on warranty repairs.
 
If your camera is still under warranty, you would do best by having Leica seal the finder. A self-repair could void a warranty.

Alternatively, if you call Leica, they may send you the material you need to seal the eyepiece yourself. A burst of dust-off should deal with most of the dust.

Don Goldberg ("DAG") can also seal your eyepiece.
 
I think most MPs after 2 800 xxx were sealed properly at the time of manufacture. I have read of a 3M SN MP that wasn't, but that situation sounded more like an aberration, more of a mistake, not a design flaw.
 
I think most MPs after 2 800 xxx were sealed properly at the time of manufacture. I have read of a 3M SN MP that wasn't, but sounded more like an aberration, more of a mistake, not a design flaw.

You can't call this issue anything but a design flaw. The "dust" problem would have never come up if they had just kept the original design.
 
I have a very early M7 that had the same dust problem. If I remember correctly DAG added the new seal, when it was serviced. No problems since.
 
When I picked my current M3 at an estate sale back in 1995, the viewfinder was so full of dust you could hardly see an image through the viewfinder. No dust at all in my MP.

Jim B.
 
My solution

My solution

I sent my MP to Sherry Krauter, and she did a phenomenal job as usual. I think it cost me less than $60.

I initially tried blowing the dirt from the back and it ended up in front of the VF optics.

Sherry is flawless and does not leave any technician tracks, like even Leica in Germany or USA does.
 
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