jamais
Established
Landshark
Well-known
Looks like fungus.
You can do anything if you have enough $$$
In reality it shouldn't be that expensive to have cleaned or if necessary replaced.
You can do anything if you have enough $$$
In reality it shouldn't be that expensive to have cleaned or if necessary replaced.
coelacanth
Ride, dive, shoot.
I saw your M4-P in the M4 or M4-P thread. That camera is really beautiful. I think it's well worth cleaning the glass. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
You'll have to wait for the lens anyway, so probably now is the perfect timing to get it cleaned.
You'll have to wait for the lens anyway, so probably now is the perfect timing to get it cleaned.
hans voralberg
Veteran
Send it to Will Van Manen in Netherland or to Solm in Germany 
Or see if your local shop can do it. It's an easy clean, just remove top plate and wipe.
Or see if your local shop can do it. It's an easy clean, just remove top plate and wipe.gdi
Veteran
Send it to Will Van Manen in Netherland or to Solm in Germany
If that is fungus (and it looks like it) then it may not be as easy as wiping. The fungus could have etched the glass and a replacement may be required.
nobbylon
Veteran
Jamais,
I had exactly the same on my M2. On close inspection it looked to me to be the coating on the rangefinder glass degrading. Once the top's off it's easy to remove the lens on the rangefinder. I cleaned mine using regular fine toothpaste as recommended by a Leica repair guy. Worked perfect and polished up nicely leaving me with a much clearer finder.
I had exactly the same on my M2. On close inspection it looked to me to be the coating on the rangefinder glass degrading. Once the top's off it's easy to remove the lens on the rangefinder. I cleaned mine using regular fine toothpaste as recommended by a Leica repair guy. Worked perfect and polished up nicely leaving me with a much clearer finder.
ferider
Veteran
The good news is, looks like it is not on/inside the prism, but only on the finder window. You can access this easily by removing the top which is not hard with the right tools.
Roland.
Roland.
maddoc
... likes film again.
I don't think it is fungus but more probably the residuals from an evaporating glue / sealant agent. Leica changed it in the production run of the M4-P or M4-2 (not sure) and many M4-P have the problem that a film builds up on the inside of the VF windows. My M4-P had the same problem and it was cleaned during a CLA at Leica.
rlouzan
Well-known
A common M4-P problem as I have pointed out many times
Leica makes a special cleaning solution just for this problem.
You could also tell them to check the plastic "Flash Block" for cracks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WTB: 35mm f3.5 W Komura, W Acall Kyoei, Telesar or Accura ltm lens.
Please send PM with details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Leica makes a special cleaning solution just for this problem.
You could also tell them to check the plastic "Flash Block" for cracks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WTB: 35mm f3.5 W Komura, W Acall Kyoei, Telesar or Accura ltm lens.
Please send PM with details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited:
jamais
Established
Thank you everybody for sharing your assessments. My better half (she's a chemical engineer) had a look at it and she thinks that it is not fungus - and so do (at least: hope) I meanwhile. The dealer discounted the price of the camera by Euro 100. Not much, but I really like this camera and therefore will keep it...
jamais
Established
It turned out to be not fungus, but separation. A cleaning was being made recently for a very reasonable price.