M6 hits the pavement

JayC

JayC

5 kids,3 dogs,only 1 wife
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On my afternoon walk, I am contemplating going without my Luigi half case. I have used it for awhile, but like the feel of the camera without the case. Near the end of my walk, I feel the neck strap quickly snaking its way around my shoulder. Then the camera hits concrete and the lens hood flies off. The camera landed on the rewind crank. That piece is now all buggered up. I cannot turn it as it is bent and twisted. Luckily (??) neither the lens nor any other part of the body has any damage. Who can repair this quickly and for a fair price?

Apparently the metal O-ring on the strap had worked its way out of the camera strap lug.
 
ouch!
i had a canon p hit the sidewalk, right on the edge of the lens shade...buggered the body and the lens a bit.
sent them off to essex camera in new jersey.
 
If I'm not mistaken you can ask DAG for a Leicaflex rewind crank, these are more tough than the standard rewind crank and since you have to swap anyway...

Am I correct, anyone? That was with the M6, right?
 
Methinks Roland has experience swapping alloy shaft rewind cranks from M6s with donor brass units from Leicaflex SL2s.
 
You can remove the rewind crank yourself. There is a little setscrew and you have to hold the fork that goes in the cassette spool but then it unscrews. Take it off, straighten it out and use it till you can get a replacement. Don't ask me how I know this. Good Luck, Joe.
 
An M6 will almost ALWAYS land on the rewind crank. I think they've weighted them to do this.

Hopefully a repair can sort you out quickly.
 
Ouch!

Had a similar one when I had my M6 (sold it for buying a car)
The pavement accident occurred because of a Scott Parka, it was slippy and I was thinking too much of "this is not happening . . ."
Even the 50mm elmar was damaged.

Was in a bad mood for half an hour until I remembered the Insurance on the Camera did cover such fun events.
Got a two page report form Leica AG where they even told me the battery was worn out :D

Good luck with the repair!

vha
 
Livesteamer said:
You can remove the rewind crank yourself. There is a little setscrew and you have to hold the fork that goes in the cassette spool but then it unscrews. Take it off, straighten it out and use it till you can get a replacement. Don't ask me how I know this. Good Luck, Joe.
Click to expand...

This screw, is it the one under the flip up handle? It seems all I have to do is hold the external part of the crank and then get this screw off. However, it is proving to be a very tightly screwed-on screw.
 
JayC said:
This screw, is it the one under the flip up handle? It seems all I have to do is hold the external part of the crank and then get this screw off. However, it is proving to be a very tightly screwed-on screw.
Click to expand...

That's because the fall likely screwed it up. (sorry, couldn't resist)
 
Ouch! Bad luck... But does replacing a rewind crank really need a repairman? Unless the shaft is bent, you should be able to do it yourself. I replaced the rewind crank of my M4-P after it had warped after resting too long in an unpadded bag. The part cost me like 25 dollars from Leica UK.

EDIT: Whoops, should have read the thread better. Sorry I can't give advice on the set screw for the rewind crank, the one on my M4-P never gave me any problems... In fact, I can't remember having to remove it, I just stuffed some paper in the space below it and unscrewed the crank.
 
Lift the handle and there is a set screw at 90 deg to the shaft, very small, loosen this then lock the rewind shaft, unscrew the top screw and it lifts off.

PS that's why on all those Leica straps, I push the plastic lock thing over the ring and then tape around with masking tape! stops the plastic rising off the ring.
 
Livesteamer said:
You can remove the rewind crank yourself. There is a little setscrew and you have to hold the fork that goes in the cassette spool but then it unscrews. Take it off, straighten it out and use it till you can get a replacement. Don't ask me how I know this. Good Luck, Joe.
Click to expand...

Joe,
can you straighten the shaft with the rewind crank removed. maybe slipping a metal tube over it? To replace the shaft I think you have to remove the top plate. It's been a while since I had the top plate off of an angled crank body,
j
 
JayC said:
On my afternoon walk, I am contemplating going without my Luigi half case. I have used it for awhile, but like the feel of the camera without the case. Near the end of my walk, I feel the neck strap quickly snaking its way around my shoulder. Then the camera hits concrete and the lens hood flies off. The camera landed on the rewind crank. That piece is now all buggered up. I cannot turn it as it is bent and twisted. Luckily (??) neither the lens nor any other part of the body has any damage. Who can repair this quickly and for a fair price?

Apparently the metal O-ring on the strap had worked its way out of the camera strap lug.
Click to expand...

Ow! Check around. I am sure you can find someone locally to repair this for you as well.
 
OK, I got the crank off. The shaft seems straight to me, but it has some up and down play. Is that normal? I emailed DAG Camera about an SL2 crank in black as he only has a silver one on his website.
 
Up and down play is normal as long as it's less than a few millimeters.

My M4 landed on the rewind crank. I think this is the proverbial "buttered side of the toast" for the Leica M4 and later.

You know, if this thread were called "Nikon F2 hits the pavement" it would be about concrete or asphalt repair...

Phil Forrest
 
I don't think the shaft could be straightened on the camera if it is bent. I also think it very unlikely that the shaft would bend. When you take off the rewind crank and look at it you can see it has some very thin cross sections that are easily bent. I think Leica could have done better in designing the M6 rewind crank and is perhaps why the MP has a rewind knob. Joe
 
my m6 hit the pavement a month ago right on the rewind crank aswell.
for a few days I tookthe crank off and filed it untill it rub nomore.
it would allow for advancing the frame but to rewind I took the bottom plate off and manually rewound in a changing bag.
then found an excellent repairman in Iistanbul to replace the part and re attach the cv joint that came off inside the top cover( caused excesisve up and down play)
he also needed to alight the rangefinder as the impact affected the infinity algnment.
now the camera works perfectly fine but has a couple of battle scars. might change the top plate with a new one soon.
part was. $40 part and labour was about the same for alignment and shutter test.
if you got yourself some precision screwdriver you could easily do the repair yourself.
I now have the old battered rewind crank as a neckless reminder to be more careful.
 
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