Introduction and question

[barry]

I thought I should introduce myself as I've been lurking for a while. I feel as though I know the key contributors on this site and it appears you guys are a friendly bunch. I've been a photo hobbiest for over 20 years and was bitten by the Leica bug a few years back. I've been using an M6 with 35-50-90.
I found an M2 in very nice condition earlier this week and could not resist. Didn't get an absolute steal but payed a fair market price considering it came with a nice tabbed (penultimate is the RF term I believe) summicron 50.
Now I have three 50's. Looks like I've fallen into the insanity. In my SLR (Nikon) days, a 50MM was basically a body cap. Now I'm paying big bucks for them. 🙂

My question is this. I noticed upon close examination of the new M2, there appears to be a smudge (?) on the inside of the front viewfinder window. So minor I thought it was on the outside originally. I can't even see it looking through the finder but it bothers me knowing it's there. Is this "haze"? There does not appear to be anything on any of the visable internal elements, just the tiny "smudge" on lower corner of the inside of the front window. How invasive a repair is it to have it disassembled enough to clean or should I just leave it alone? Thanks in advance.

barry

 

[JoeFriday]

hi barry.. welcome to RFF.. I don't have an answer to your question, altho I'd probably be asking the same thing.. having a pristine camera/car/whatever makes you obsess over the tiniest imperfection.. maybe if you ignore it, the smudge will go away 😀

 

[StuartR]

You can try to ignore it, but you may not be successful. I don't think it is a very invasive repair, but it would require taking off the top plate, which in turn means you have to take off the shutter speed knob and wind lever etc. If you are going to go that far, you might as well just send it in for a CLA, because chances are it is due for one anyway. If it has not been tuned recently (in the last 10 years), then the lubricants are probably dried up. The camera may work, but you are basically driving a car with no oil....Leica's are pretty similar that way. They need a tuneup every ten years or so. Your M2 is pushing 50, so it is definitely in need of a physical (mixing metaphors all over the place) if it has not had one already.