M6 non-TTL, specks on the shutter curtain

[Sierra Club]

Hi everyone,

There is an M6 that I can buy relatively cheaply (considering today's prices).
Overall it's in good shape, save for the shutter which has these specks on it:

I'm thinking it's either some kind of fungus or, more likely, a way of fixing holes.
It doesn't seem that these are abrasions of any kind as they are circular not linear.
Now if this would require shutter replacement it obviously isn't such a good deal. Apparently the camera is light tight and has no other issues.

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this.

 

[Sierra Club]

Managed to obtain a better picture of these spots...

Now it looks to me like a fungus.

On the other side everyting seems to be in order:

Curious...

 

[astrosecret]

i looks like mold and can be cleaned. i will leave someone with experience with this specific curtain to explain how. some use alcohol, mineral spirits, vinegar.

 

[splitimageview]

Yes. If the price is right I wouldn’t hesitate.

 

[Sierra Club]

Yes. If the price is right I wouldn’t hesitate.

Price is around 1800 USD, maybe a bit less. It's the silver version.

Isn't there any risk that this has migrated to the rest of the shutter spool?

Apreciate your opinions.

 

[Highway 61]

Price is around 1800 USD

😱 M6 prices have really gone insane recently. Another proof of that.

The spots are quite inoffensive mold and will disappear if you use a Q-tip soaked in lighter fluid. This side of the shutter curtains is covered with rubber so don't use anything else (no alcohol, no acid). As they grew up on rubber, the risk for having those mold spots somewhere else is very low.

 

[astrosecret]

wow 1800
i sold my leica stuff probably a decade ago for half of what everything costs now. i think 1250 cla'd for a nice m6 is a good price. wouldn't pay more would just find a nice zeiss ikon at that point but if you need the red dot then you need the red dot

 

[Sierra Club]

Hahah, and I was thinking of buying this M6 just to re-sale it with a bit of profit since the prices on ebay seem to oscillate at the level of approx 2300 USD...

As for me, I got my trusty M4-2 and I'm not exchanging it for M6 or any other Leica.
It has really grown on me throughout the years despite being considered an underdog.

Oh well judging by your opinions price for this one is not as good as I imagined.
I think I'll pass this time...

And by the way - thank you for the advice on the lighter fluid.
Will keep that in mind!

 

[KoNickon]

Yeah, that's a steep price! I agree with the others that this mold, pretty harmless. I'm wondering whether hydrogen peroxide would be even better. Maybe OK to use on lens coatings, not so much on cloth shutters?

 

[astrosecret]

if you clean it you have maybe a couple hundred dollars left on the bone if you sell it somewhere else that isn't as stingy like ebay or fred miranda, people seem to pay insane prices there. someone has an m4 on FM right now for 1750 lol without any service history noted. someone there also wants 3k for an m6 with a voigt 40mm.. sheesh. if its in nice condition you should list it there for 2500 someone with $$$ will bite. FM seems to have more monied boomers kind of like the bring a trailer for cameras. look this guy wants 2.6 he'll probably get it after long enough https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1667956:o

 

[Guth]

I find it somewhat amusing that I used to enjoy my chemistry classes up until I reached “The Chemistry of Metallurgy” when studying mechanical engineering in college. That was enough to forever change my career trajectory, lol. These days I simply accept the fact that something like lighter fluid or naphtha is safe to use to clean the nitrocellulose lacquer finish on a guitar, and apparently the rubberized cloth shutter curtain of a camera as well. This goes against any assumptions that I might have made otherwise. As to why this is, well I’m certainly not the one to explain. That doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it might have in the past.

 

[Sierra Club]

if you clean it you have maybe a couple hundred dollars left on the bone if you sell it somewhere else that isn't as stingy like ebay or fred miranda, people seem to pay insane prices there. someone has an m4 on FM right now for 1750 lol without any service history noted. someone there also wants 3k for an m6 with a voigt 40mm.. sheesh. if its in nice condition you should list it there for 2500 someone with $$$ will bite. FM seems to have more monied boomers kind of like the bring a trailer for cameras. look this guy wants 2.6 he'll probably get it after long enough https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1667956:o

😀

Have to admit that after I bought M4-2 fairly cheaply more than 5 years ago, I didn't really check the prices on Leicas much, but it seems that they indeed skyrocketed.
And not only on Leicas... It's good though - the more people buy film cameras the larger and more influential the lobby for digital film in the near future 😎