Leica M6 light meter stopped working

[MyNameIsGregor]

Hey there,

my light meter all of a sudden stopped working. I am using my M6 regularly. Today I put a new film in and when I pulled the advance lever and half pressed the shutter, the red dots indicating over- or underexposure didn’t appear. I even put in a new battery but nothing. Do you guy‘s have any idea? I don‘t want to spend a lot of money sending it in.

I‘m looking forward to your responses!

Thank you very much🙂

 

[Guest]

Not that it solves the issue but try a continuity test and see if there is a break in the circuit.

 

[Pál_K]

Have you tried cleaning the battery compartment contacts? You can use a pencil eraser tip to gently scrub the contacts and then use isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip.

 

[Rob-F]

I avoid using an eraser. It can scrub the gold plating right off the contact. I use electronic contact cleaner, which is much safer. I follow up with an application of ProGold Deoxit G5. (Caig laboratories). Amazon has it.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

... my light meter all of a sudden stopped working. I am using my M6 regularly. Today I put a new film in and when I pulled the advance lever and half pressed the shutter, the red dots indicating over- or underexposure didn’t appear. I even put in a new battery but nothing. Do you guy‘s have any idea? I don‘t want to spend a lot of money sending it in. ...

Call Don Goldberg ("DAG") on Tuesday and discuss it with him (he doesn't take calls on Mondays). He should be able to diagnose it with you over the phone. Google "DAG Camera Repair" - the number is on his website.

Just a heads up - if you need a new meter circuit it's around a $500 repair.

 

[Darthfeeble]

You own one of the finest cameras in the world, go ahead and spend a little money on it.

 

[MyNameIsGregor]

Thank y‘all for the good suggestions! Next time I will run into this problem again, I will give your suggestions a try. After trying to change the battery several times, even in different positions, it somehow worked again. I am very happy now, thank y’all so much🙂

 

[raydm6]

Glad it worked out.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Just a little heads-up: M6 and M6TTL circuit boards are no longer available from Leica (no longer produced). And Don Goldberg ("DAG") has none in stock. So if your M6 light meter goes caput, you're permanently meterless!

 

[Pál_K]

Just a little heads-up: M6 and M6TTL circuit boards are no longer available from Leica (no longer produced). And Don Goldberg ("DAG") has none in stock. So if your M6 light meter goes caput, you're permanently meterless!

It seems the only possibility then would be a “donor” M6.

 

[ZivcoPhoto]

Five years ago the meter stopped working on my M6TTL, it started giving bad reading in bright light.

I sent it to Don, he said it was the first he had seen fail. I kept the camera another couple years after that repair until I read some discussions on RFF about non-availability of parts for the electronics of the camera. I ended up selling it as I already have a meterless M (M2), and also Leica III’s and IIIF and IIF, not to mention Nikon film cameras.

That’s crazy Leica would not support those cameras more than what they did parts wise.

I am certainly glad I got the sensor in my M9 replaced by Leica in NJ, when I did (but I paid almost $1,800.00 for that), or else that would be a paperweight now.

 

[Beemermark]

Everybody assumes when something go wrongs, like the meter stops working, that it's the "electronics" or "circuit board". I used to pick up MInolta CLE cameras cheap because they stopped working and everyone (including a lot of service techs) assume the "electronics" failed and the camera was worthless. Had a good camera repair shop that would do a CLA and they'd work good every time. Generally it's dirty or slightly corroded contacts. The M6 is at least 30 years old and needs a CLA anyway. Send it in.

 

[bluesun267]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a schematic of the M6 circuit? From pictures I've been able to find on the net, there don't look to be a whole lot of components to it. And much more delicate/intricate board level repairs are pretty routine in the computer world. (The main areas that might render repair impossible would be the meter cell itself and if there are any ICs that are no longer manufactured--but even then I bet we could find a work around). It would be very nice to have a schematic!

That being said, my experience with board repair (which is fairly limited) echoes Beemermark's: it is almost always something stupidly simple--corrosion & contact failure causing 99% of all problems.

 

[Thud]

They are only obligated to keep spare parts for 5 years for consumer products I believe.

 

[Richard G]

Inserting the battery correctly as per the manual of rt*m fame is always a good start. I had a problem with my M6 meter giving impossible exposures. Just toggling the ISO selection dial to ensure it landed fully at the correct detente fixed that.

 

[Guth]

Everybody assumes when something go wrongs, like the meter stops working, that it's the "electronics" or "circuit board". I used to pick up MInolta CLE cameras cheap because they stopped working and everyone (including a lot of service techs) assume the "electronics" failed and the camera was worthless. Had a good camera repair shop that would do a CLA and they'd work good every time. Generally it's dirty or slightly corroded contacts. The M6 is at least 30 years old and needs a CLA anyway. Send it in.

I own a M6 as well as a Minolta CLE. I bought my M6 (the TTL version) new back in 2000 while the CLE I picked up only a few years ago. Back when I bought the M6 I never thought about such things — my assumption was that this would be a camera to last me for the rest of my life (that included the metering system). I went along happily for many years under the same assumption. It wasn't until I began to visit online photography forums that I developed any concerns over the electronics in my M6. It was for this same reason that I almost did not buy a Minolta CLE. But here I am now some time later, with both cameras working just fine.

I did have to address the issue of cleaning the metering contacts on the CLE when it first arrived. Fortunately, I've not had any more problems since then. Meanwhile I haven't had to do a thing with regards to the M6 TTL. As a casual/hobbyist photographer it is not like I have a whole lot to lose. I am not dependent on my cameras in any way impacting my livelihood. Should the electronics go out on the CLE, I'll likely be out one camera body. Should the metering electronics go out on the M6 TTL, I'll be out one built-in meter, but I'll still be left with a fully manual Leica M with a shutter speed dial that I prefer to all of the the other all-mechanical M film configurations. With any luck I won't encounter either, but you never know.