Have no luck with Leicas :( / RF light leak

[begona]

Hi guys,

Seems universe want to show me that Leicas are not for me.

Once I had m3 with a lot of light leaks problems and after few repairs, it fell on the ground and face viewfinder separation. Than I sold it.

Now I bought m2 and again has light leak...seems through RF window.

I found this pic on net and my problem looks like this one (just bit bigger)

Any help? Any recommended repairman in UK? I am in Manchester.

Thanks

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I am not surprised that no one has responded to this yet. This is a very specific light leak which I have seen described and demonstrated several times (usually with M2 bodies for some reason) on the web, looking more or less exactly like the negs you have shown. Elongated triangle, that exact location, every time. More pronounced between frames where camera has sat for a while between frames. (just Google 'light leak M2')
Every discussion I have seen in the past has involved:
1: Conjecture from people who have never experienced it, of every possible light leak source they can think of, most of which sounds reasonable.
2: tales of woe from people who have experienced it, and have addressed every light leak source mentioned by the people above, to absolutely no avail; regardless of the quality of the repair person who was enlisted to find and solve the leak. (And people who have had the rf window seals addressed have reported back as being unsuccessful).

If anyone here is actually familiar with this exact light leak and knows exactly how to fix it, it would advance the state of internet knowledge.

Failing that, in the meantime, good luck to you, and let us know if you get it sorted out, though attributing this curse to "the universe" may be as accurate as any of the other guesses out there to date.

 

[begona]

Hi Larry

I took off top plate and saw that thin light seal metal piece that should be around RF windows is not glued in place and it fell down. I paste it in place with some tape and put top plate back..now it is to see if it makes any difference. Hope it does.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Hello Goran,

Please let us know how it goes.

 

[rick oleson]

In case it's still there, here's my method for positively locating the source of light leaks:

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/lightleak.pdf

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Rick,

So, since this particular leak extends from one frame to the adjacent one and between the frames, is it likely that it is coming from a problem with the light seal around the RF window?
Does that rate as "coming from the rear"?
Seems certain that this leak is not coming through or around the curtains, or has anything to do with changing lenses in bright light, etc.
Just wasn't sure if it would obviously be due to light leaking around the rf window. I guess we will know soon enough.
Am only curious because others have experienced this particular leak and tried taking care of seals around the rf window to no avail.
But, I guess Goran can perhaps solve this for sure with his next roll.

 

[Blaidd_Drwgg]

So, I am 100% sure the rangefinder light shield will solve this.
A friend had exactly the same problem. Same spot: 2/5 height of film, between the frames. We tried everything: taping of the back, the front, the lens (and mount), strap lugs, ... Nothing helped. Then I took the back off, the lens off, shutter on B, and laid the M2 on the light table. With the shutter open you could see the light winding from the rangefinder window, through the winding and shutter mechanism, coming out from the right upper corner of the film window between the light baffles. You had to look from exactly the right angle. Nobody could really believe it without looking a second time.
When we took the top of, we found no light baffle at all. We made one from black paper and he had no further problems. (Well,... but that would be a story for another time.)

When we asked the guy he bought it from, who repairs them for a living, he said he always leaves them out. Just think of a smilie, I have none.

David

 

[rick oleson]

Rick,

So, since this particular leak extends from one frame to the adjacent one and between the frames, is it likely that it is coming from a problem with the light seal around the RF window?
Does that rate as "coming from the rear"?
Seems certain that this leak is not coming through or around the curtains, or has anything to do with changing lenses in bright light, etc.
Just wasn't sure if it would obviously be due to light leaking around the rf window. I guess we will know soon enough.
Am only curious because others have experienced this particular leak and tried taking care of seals around the rf window to no avail.
But, I guess Goran can perhaps solve this for sure with his next roll.

Hi Larry:

It's hard to say without pinpointing exactly where the leak is located in relation to the camera body, which is why that procedure is important. If it turns out to lie exactly on the seam at the edge of the back door, then that's a pretty strong clue. I have never encountered a light leak through the RF windows in a Leica, but I have not worked on the M series that much. RF window light leaks do seem to be very common in Kiev rangefinder cameras, even though I don't think I've ever seen one in the virtually identical Contax II. They can be really aggravating things to track down, and if they turn out to be leaking past moving parts, they can be even more aggravating to fix.

 

[Niko]

So, I am 100% sure the rangefinder light shield will solve this.
A friend had exactly the same problem. Same spot: 2/5 height of film, between the frames. We tried everything: taping of the back, the front, the lens (and mount), strap lugs, ... Nothing helped. Then I took the back off, the lens off, shutter on B, and laid the M2 on the light table. With the shutter open you could see the light winding from the rangefinder window, through the winding and shutter mechanism, coming out from the right upper corner of the film window between the light baffles. You had to look from exactly the right angle. Nobody could really believe it without looking a second time.
When we took the top of, we found no light baffle at all. We made one from black paper and he had no further problems. (Well,... but that would be a story for another time.)

When we asked the guy he bought it from, who repairs them for a living, he said he always leaves them out. Just think of a smilie, I have none.

David

I agree. My M3 had this a few years ago and the repair method already used by begona solved it.

 

[charjohncarter]

I've had more than enough problems with my IIIf (1953). Mostly the shutter, and it still isn't right. I'm just too tired mentally to do anything about it.

 

[Huss]

S

When we asked the guy he bought it from, who repairs them for a living, he said he always leaves them out. Just think of a smilie, I have none.

David

Care to share who that service person would be?

 

[begona]

Guys, just to inform you that I solved a problem. For sure it was light leak through RF window.