m6 jam question

[jasperamsterdam]

Hi all,
i'm in the first few weeks with my m6, bought used.
i allready put 7 films through with good results. meter, focussing, shutter seem all working like a charm.. Happy, because no warranty and no recent CLA.
Yesterday a 24 exp film jammed on exposure 14, i thought "o well, could be a faulty film, or i made a mistake loading the film"
But tonight with a fresh 400 neopan, it happend again.😱
i opened the camera to see what was up, and it seemed that pulling out more film was too much for the gears, causing them to slip when forced (not a pleasant feeling/sound) like it was the end of the film..

Does anyone has an idea what this can be??

Greetings jasper

 

[lawrence]

This is the same problem I experienced recently with my M6 TTL in Berlin -- very frustrating! The problem is caused by a loose washer under the rewind crank and sometimes you can fix it by playing around with the crank but the problem always comes back.

I sent my camera to Peter at CRR Luton and he fixed it and gave the camera a CLA. He explained that the problem is to do with a screw that comes loose and his theory is that it is not tightened up enough at the factory, possibly because the cameras are now assembled by women! In other words the problem is more to do with assembly than with faulty design, anyway he put something on it to stop it coming loose in future. So the good news is that the problem is fixable, the bad news is that it means your newly purchased Leica needs some surgery.

 

[Rik]

Send it to Will van Manen, he will fix it for you whatever the problem is...

 

[Ken Ford]

There's an on-line tutorial out there on how to fix this, it's very easy. I don't have the link but I'm sure someone else does and will post it.

 

[jasperamsterdam]

Hi all,
i decided to give Will van Manen a email, after tip from Erik. The first discovery of slightly confused framelines when mounting a 90/28 was not so big a deal, but this quirk made me decide to go the Full CLA route. Especially since i consider a 700 euro price on the low side, and the M6 Classic had never seen a CLA in its life.

30 minutes after my email (its sunday) he called me on my cell! After laughing a bit about the "Women" explanation (as if... not the women part but the loose screw because of them manualy tightening them..) he gave me a very reasonable indication of costs. He figured this problem and the frameline confusion was al part of a good CLA, so i opted for his Flare Reduction service (polarising)for the m6 rangefinder as well.

He made sure i get my camera back before i go for my NYC trip, the trip i bought the m6 for 2 weeks ago. (I'll leave my 5d at home!!)

After seeing "the genius of photography" |(BBC) episode featuring heroes like Winogrand, and Eggleston I'm realy looking foreward to my "Back to Basics" trip!

Still a bit nervous about not having ability to change from color to b/w and different iso though..

Greetings

Jasper

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasperamsterdam/
http://www.method.nl

 

[ampguy]

This is the most common failure of M6's, and some M4Ps, most will exhibit this problem sooner or later, it's a tightening of a washer in the rewind crank area that needs reseating or replacing, then re-tightning to the right specs.

 

[tmfabian]

What? Woman work? Here they only make food and babies...😀

Where can i get me one of them Erik? I've been hungry for far too long.

 

[lawrence]

i opted for his Flare Reduction service (polarising)for the m6 rangefinder as well.

It would be interesting to know what effect this has and whether you are happy with the result.

 

[jasperamsterdam]

I will report back!
Will claims it will reduce flare in backlit situations for 80%. My findings me not be the most valuable though since i only owned a m6 for 3 weeks. Enough time to encounter viewfinder flare, but clearing the windows of greasy fingerprints is also important..
btw, one day after i send my cam i mailed Will if my m6 arrived safely, and it turned out they were alreasy working on it! will be back in my hands within 5 days!