Leica M7 Problem: Please Help

jbf

jbf

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Hi all,

I just received a Leica M7 that i purchased from KEH. So far it looks great and looked as if it was going to work out pretty good. Anyway, after going through all of the shutter speeds and functions of the camera I thought I was noticing that the slower shutter speeds were acting somewhat strange. Most notably 1/30th and 1/15th of a second.

I then looked at it more closely and realized that the camera was actually switching from manual mode to auto on its own.

Has anyone heard of this issue? When the shutter speed is set to a manual speed and not AE, the camera intermittently will randomly switch to AE mode?

It doesnt always happen but i know it is occuring.


Any suggestions? I'd love to have the camera fixed and working but Im not sure if KEH will pay to have it fixed for me? It was a BGN grade camera but even then its supposed to function properly... so you think they should give me some kind of credit so i could fix it...


Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
hi,i'm very sorry of what happened to you. here ,in europe, when you buy from a shop or a dealer or a private you have 2 years warranty for new items and a year warranty for the used ones.also from private you get a year warranty for used items!If seller doesn't give warranty on items has to write that is a sale WITHOUT warranty.this is law
 
I was really just curious as to if anyone had heard of this happening before (the intermittent switching from AE to Manual).
 
Never heard of this, and have not such problem with mine which I like very much!
2008_0804_1939.jpg
 
You need to look at the KEH terms of sale with respect to any remedy you might have.

I had two M7s and when you set the speeds manually on them the shutter opened correctly.

Surely if you set the shutter to 1/15th you would have a corresponding lens aperture for that speed? Even if the camera switched mode the exposure would be correct, no? How do you know that the camera is switching mode? I have not heard of this before.
 
Here's the deal.

When I leave the lens aperture untouched. Left at say f2. Not changed at all.

And set the camera's shutter speed to 1/15 or 1/30 (or even slower speeds) the camera will sometimes randomly switch out of manual mode and go into auto exposure mode. The LED readout through the viewfinder also changes to display shutter speeds (as it does when you are in AE/Auto mode). The shutter fires as if it was in Auto mode as well. This is intermittent... Meaning it will randomly switch from working peroperly to going into AE.

I have a feeling there is a problem with either the switch or the logic board itself in the camera. Of course Im no technician so I cant open it up and know whats wrong.


I've emailed sherry krauter to see if she's heard of this issue or if she can possibly fix it.


I also noticed that the exposure lock on the shutter release doesnt seem quite right either. I have to press almost to the very point of firing the shutter to get the exposure lock to engage as well.
 
You can easily tell the camera is switching modes. You can hear the shutter speed firing changing. If i aim the camera up to the lights it will fire at a faster shutter speed as well as display a shutter speed of say 1/250. When I aim back down it shows shutter speeds of 1/8, 1/4, etc. All of the while, the shutter speed dial is set at 1/15 of a second. It will also sometimes randomly switch back to reading it as manual mode (what it is supposed to be doing) at 1/15 of a second (the viewfinder will switch back to displaying the over/under arrows and dot in the viewfinder)
 
jbf: I have bought a few things from KEH and they have the excellent return.exchange policy. I would contact them immediately, provided you just received the M7 recently, and return it or exchange it. Don't mess around with bad-ass electronics with a new-to-you M7 unless you bought it knowing you'd have to get that fixed -- and from your comments I doubt that is the case. The M7 should work well; expect that.
 
Well I just got off the phone with Sherry Krauter and she basically told me that I should stay away from an M7 completely unless i really need AE. She said that the earlier models of the camera were the weakest of the bunch and had a lot of weakening/cheapening of the parts used on them and often fail just because they were so cheaply constructed. She said the later models are much better off, but even then are a ticking time bomb.

She suggested if I were to get an M i should either get an M6 classic or an M5. An m5 is out of the picture, and i dont quite like how small the m6 classic's shutter speed dial is.


This is really bothersome. I purchased an M7 thinking that it would be robust and last very well... and now im seriouly wondering whether or not it is even worth it to purchase an M7 anymore. I really really loved the AE on my Zeiss Ikon especially for street shooting, and I am concerned that with buying an m6 i may miss it quite a lot.

I'm in a Dillemma now. 🙁
 
Whatever you have in mind, your first and foremost choice is to send the thing back to KEH. If you touch or send that camera to a third party for repair, you forfeit the KEH warranty.

They are known as very reliable and honest when it comes to things like these. I'd contact them to get a return authorization number and be done with it.
 
Why would they build cheap M7's and then switch to better ones? Sounds really strange. Same story is told about the M4-2 and M4-p.
And off course one only buys a M7 when one needs/want AE. Otherwise buy a M6. But AE is so nice to have. Makes the process so much easier and faster
Just contact KEH and let them take care of it.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema
 
Sorry if a tiny bit OT, but why did you decide to replace your ZI with the M7 in the first place?

On original post, obviously its been offloaded by someone because its got something wrong with it. Send it straight back for a full refund. Plenty more fish in the sea..

Ted.
 
shutter problem

shutter problem

what a strange occurrence. i just went and checked to see if mine did or would do that and it didn't.
mine is one of the early ones, the only m i've had the luxury to be the first owner of. it has been a great camera for me and has never disappointed me.
good luck with yours and please let us know the outcome or what you find with yours.
tomj
 
I have a rising suspicion that KEH may have had to 'fix' this camera and then tried to sell it. Sherry mentioned that she has had a number of their cameras come to her after they have 'fixed them' for the customer only to have them mess something up by either installing a part wrong, etc.

So I dont think that this issue is a common occurrence... moreso that im just worried that other m7s might have other issues down the line.

I dunno.
 
tedwin said:
Sorry if a tiny bit OT, but why did you decide to replace your ZI with the M7 in the first place?

On original post, obviously its been offloaded by someone because its got something wrong with it. Send it straight back for a full refund. Plenty more fish in the sea..

Ted.
Click to expand...


I replaced the ZI just because I wanted a Leica mainly. My whole intent was to purchase the M7 so that it would last me many years without having to worry about reliability issues.
 
"Well I just got off the phone with Sherry Krauter and she basically told me that I should stay away from an M7 completely unless i really need AE. She said that the earlier models of the camera were the weakest of the bunch and had a lot of weakening/cheapening of the parts used on them and often fail just because they were so cheaply constructed. She said the later models are much better off, but even then are a ticking time bomb.

She suggested if I were to get an M i should either get an M6 classic or an M5. An m5 is out of the picture, and i dont quite like how small the m6 classic's shutter speed dial is."

Absolute BS!
I don't think a lot of techs work on M7's because they don't have the electronic requirements to both diagnose and fix the problem(s).
I have two M7's, both before the viewfinder change and both no problems, in fact they are the best M's I have ever used and have!
Have the seller fix the camera.
The M7 is the pinnacle of Leica M design and the end of the line also. There will be no more film M's.-Dick
 
jbf said:
Anyway, after going through all of the shutter speeds and functions of the camera I thought I was noticing that the slower shutter speeds were acting somewhat strange. Most notably 1/30th and 1/15th of a second.
Click to expand...

jbf, did this happen with film in it? I don't have an M7, but don't they have a film speed sensor? I just thought it might be switching film speeds since you don't have any in there, and the shutter is adjusting. I could be out to lunch on this....
 
Some M7's have wiggy electronics- no way around it- I think most M7 problems have to do with batteries more than anything else. I'd try fresh batteries in it before sending it in. Gerry Smith at Kinderman does great work on M7's, much faster than Leica NJ.

I'd say your best bet would be to just send it back to KEH and buy a used one from a good dealer like Photo Village or Popflash.
 
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