Leica battery life

[Redstone]

Hi folks,

I'd like to ask about your experiences of typical battery life in the Leica M6. I bought a used M6 a few months ago and so far the batteries have been running out after a three or four rolls. Surely, that's not healthy?

Also, I've noticed that the meter only seems to give correct readings while the batteries are fresh and deteriorates progressively as the battery runs down. Has anyone come across this kind of problem. The shop who sold it to me have agreed to take it back for repair, but I'm wondering how serious an issue it's likely to be...

Any advice or comments would be welcome...

 

[gavinlg]

When I had my m6ti, its batteries lasted much longer. I can't really comment on the other things like the deteriorating meter corresponding to the battery life as I have no experience with it, but I'd advice you talk to a camera tech about it.

 

[markinlondon]

Some M6s drain batteries. The meter should be out of circuit if the shutter dial is set to "B" or the shutter is uncocked. But there are some test contacts in the battery compartment which can cause a battery leak even if the shutter is uncocked AND the the speed dial is on "B". My M6TTL would run down practically overnight if I forgot to turn it to "OFF".

 

[sepiareverb]

My M7's burn through batteries- I get between 23 and 24 rolls per set.

 

[john_s]

There's some info at

http://nemeng.com/leica/001b.shtml

and follow the link half way down.

 

[JNewell]

Start with the simple - are you putting it into a bag or case where the shutter release may be getting some pressure applied, and not setting the shutter speed dial to "B" to turn off the meter? That will run a battery down pretty quickly.

 

[Tuolumne]

3 or 4 rolls deffinitely indicates a problem of some kind. Leave the camera out over night with fresh batteries; sit it upright on a table. See if the batteries drain that way. If so, you will need to have the light meter circuitry looked at. Some Leica cameras seem to have a battery drain problem, but I believe it is relatively easy to have it fixed.

/T

 

[Tom A]

There are M6's that will drain batteries. the M6TTL had a problem early on. The two "circuit check" contacts at the bottom of the battery "well" would touch the battery and as that circuit was independant of the regular circuit it would drain a set in a day or even faster. The trick is to take a lead pencil and lightly drag it over the contacts. If there is a "catch" when you do it, it means that the two points are above the surface of the bottom and when the coil spring is pushed down with batteries, they can connect. The easiest way to fix it it, is to simply push the two contacts downward (they are push fit so no damage when you do it). If the problem persists you might want to put a piece of electrical tape over them (use tweezers as the are tiny little 'dots". If this does not help, you have an internal drain and that needs service by a Leica tech.
A fresh set of 76 or SR 44 batteries should last at least 40-45 rolls. I did the pencil trick with my Millenium M6 and now it works fine. My regular TTL and my LHSA TTL were later models and they were fixed by then. My old titanium M6 actually had an internal drain and Leica fixed it quickly (this was in 1998 or so) when they were replacing the spring in the film counter.

 

[.JL.]

Batteries seem to last for a long time on my M6 TTL. I bought 10 sets of batteries from eBay in February, planning to shoot more, and to this day I have yet to change batteries after 40-50 rolls.

 

[Redstone]

Thanks for the info. I generally leave the camera upright on a shelf while not in use, so I don't think that it's the kind of problem that you might predict from having it in a bag, where there might be pressure on the shutter release. Thanks to Tom for suggesting the "pencil trick". I'll give that a go.

However, I'm afraid that there's more to it than that. I would expect that under normal circumstances, the meter would continue working correctly until the battery ran out and would then stop completely. With my M6, the meter works fine for the first couple of rolls and then starts giving false readings. What typically happens is that I adjust the settings to bring up the two red indicators. Almost immediately, one of the arrows starts to fade. If I then open up another stop, the second arrow will reappear for a couple of seconds before starting to fade again. And so on...
Has anyone seen that kind of behaviour??

 

[Ken Ford]

What batteries have you been using? This almost sounds like you're using the wrong chemistry.

 

[.JL.]

When the battery on my M6 TTL was running out, the meter gave me false readings for about 10-15 shots before dying completely. This reminds me that I should change my batteries now before it happens again.


For information - I use SR44, which are called 357 for Duracell. Beware of the LR44 out there, which will function nonetheless but will last only 5 rolls or so. Many salesmen in electronic stores will try to sell you LR44 if you ask for SR44. They are either incompetent or dishonest...

link

 

[iml]

I've put a couple of hundred rolls through my M6 and the batteries are still working. I store it with the shutter uncocked and set to B. Sounds to me like a fault.

Ian

 

[JNewell]

Has anyone seen that kind of behaviour??

What's your M6's s/n? Unfortunately, I have seen this - in my early M6 (classic; s/n 1,66-something) as the meter circuit was going bad. Hopefully your problem is more benign.

 

[Redstone]

Serial number is 1,79---, so don't think that it is an early one. I've tried different kinds of battery, but the same thing happens regardless.