Light leak, meter problem, frame line problem..

[ekbladfred@gmail.com]

Hi everybody

I bought my first Leica. Leica M6 TTL. It´s also my first 35mm coming from 120.
I bought it in late april this year from a user of this forum actually.

When I got the camera I already knew that that some of the frame lines where slow to get in. But I did not think that of a problem since I would only use my 50mm all the time.

So the frame line issue I did already knew of. When I got the camera the frame lines where, as described, not coming in as they should.

I shot a test role to see if focusing and such where ok. I should also mention that I bought a 50 Summilux at the same time but from another person. Anyway the test checked out fine. Closest focus was not perfect I belive. Bit other then that the exposure and focus was good.

I went to Iceland for 3 weeks and when I got home and developed my film there are now one more problem. I think it is a light leak. It only occurs at speeds longer then 1/4 of a second. Here is a link to some pictures with the problem. The light spot is down on the left side, down right when hold portrait so..yeah you can't miss it. Here are some pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/86mqpitqx4qtuvb/SVW8aqw6CB



So now there is the frame lines and the light leak.

Now things get worse..I load the film and notice another new problem.
The lightmeter is ON all the time when it´s loaded. SO i have to have it at "B" or "OFF" or else the batteries would run out quickly.

So my question really is..What would you have done?
Repair it? Get a new one? Say something to the previous owner about the light leak?

It took me a alot of time to save up for this camera and lens and I was planing to go to Japan in december but don´t know if i could afford the trip if I get the repair.. But also, I would never do the trip without my camera, thats a big part of the trip! So any tips or recommendations are very welcome!

I live in Gothenburg, Sweden..if anybody knows anybody who is good with M´s.

 

[shadowfox]

What *I* would do in your situation is:

1. Sell the Summilux. That's a lot of money tied up in a standard lens which you can get for as low as 500 USD new (Nokton 40/1.4 for example) -- or lower if you buy used, with no perceptible difference in 90% of the results

2. Use the money to send the M6 to a good repairer, there must be at least one in Sweden. I don't know about the electronic metering, but the mechanical problems are repairable on these durable cameras.

3. Use the rest of the money to fund your trip to Japan, have fun. You don't need a Summilux to take excellent pictures. But you'd want a fully working M6 (not specifically the M6, this comment applies to all M bodies) because it is the best implementation of a rangefinder camera.

NOTE: I am not saying that a 50mm Summilux is bad. But given your situation where budget plays a role, you don't need it right now. You can always get another one when your funds are available later on.

 

[Landshark]

pinhole in the first curtain? Remove the lens, hold the camera up to a well lighted area or with a flashlight and check both curtains for a hole.

 

[ferider]

The "leak" is a curtain hole, burnt in by the Sun. Chances are that happened in Iceland. How do I know ? Did it twice myself, see http://ferider.smugmug.com/Technical/Other-Technicalities/Shutter-hole/19434573_KK65Ch.

You can patch it yourself with "Liquid Tape".

The meter I would get fixed. They can replace the curtains at the same time, but it will obviously cost more.

 

[Tom A]

The frame line selector could be just sticky.It can be adjusted easily by a technician.
The battery drain is probably a draw from the check "pins" in the bottom of the battery cavity. Take out the batteries and look "down" and there will be two silver coloured contacts (about 2 mm diameter). These are for putting an analyzer probe in. Take a pencil and run the point across the bottom of the battery well - if the point of the pencil catches on the contacts they are in constant contacts with the batteries and they will drain fast. Just use the pencil to push the contacts down below the surface of the battery chambers bottom, They are simple push-fits so you don't damage anything by doing it. For extra protection you can take a small piece of electricians tape and stick that over them. It was (is) a common problem with TTL's.
Your light leak looks like a small pinhole at the edge of the curtain - can either be patched or replace the curtain. Not a huge problem. Any competent technician should be able to do that. If you can "see" the pinhole by using the flash-light check - some black silicon will probably fix it.

 

[ekbladfred@gmail.com]

Yes, shadowfox. Good idea. Selling the summilux is probably the way to go.

I like to fix things myself. I work as a sound engineer and build and repair lots of sound processing equipment. So all tips on doing that are warmly welcome!

I will check out the light meter thing tomorrow or the day after that. Thanks for the tip on that Tom!

I took a strong headlamp and I can't see no hole in either curtain. I can't see any logic in that the leak only appears at longer exposures? If it would be the curtain I mean.

Thank you all for your replies!

 

[ferider]

It's a very small hole, so it only has an impact under certain light conditions. Also changing the lens can have an impact on hole visibility on film. One of the holes under my link above only showed up in two photos of an entire roll. If you are like me, you will typically only wind your camera just before you shoot. In this case, using it wound on a tripod while you compose will expose one curtains longer than normally.

When you look at the curtain, you will see a mark around the hole with a very slight discoloration. To see the hole, you need to sit in a dark room and shine a strong flashlight at the curtain from the other side. Again, they are typically tiny.

Roland.

 

[ekbladfred@gmail.com]

I went in the dark room and tried to see any hole in any of the curtains but could not find anything. I cant see any different in coloration either.

If I could see the hole in the curtain so I could fix it myself, I would try to fix the meter as well. But I will just send the camera to Leica and put the lens up for sale. So watch out for the Summilux 11 868 coming up!

Thank you all for your help and tips!