M8 Vertical Alignment Tool

[B-9]

Heyo,

So my M8 is slightly off in the vertical alignment of the RF.

Not extremely horrible, but it's proving to be a bit of a distraction.

Can anyone forward me to a place that sells the tool needed to do this adjustment myself?

No local Leica dealers, or repair shops that service Leica for hundreds of miles (that I know of) so I'm not going to be able to drop it off anywhere, and Ide rather not send it somewhere for weeks over this small of a issue.

Lastly, would anyone in the states loan me a tool for postage!? Maybe a roll or two of film 😉

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[B-9]

Edit, Follow the link in the comment below for Zhou's current listing (as of July 20th)

 

[pbo]

It's this, right?

 

[rfaspen]

pbo, Yeah, that's it. I need to get one too. Interesting how the ebay page says there are 10 left. Devon might have more current information?

I understand there are other sellers of this tool, but haven't sought them out yet.

BTW, Devon did you grab those M8 batteries that just showed up in the classifieds? I noticed they didn't last long before selling (something like minutes). The price was very good and they appeared to be 1900mah versions. Here's hoping they went your way!

 

[B-9]

Yes, Thank you!

It seems every time I searched, I would get one of his past listings and assumed Zhou was no longer offering them. Thanks for the link! I'll need to save a bit, but I'm sure it's worth every penny!

I was actually a bit late on those batteries, they sold before I logged in. I found a seller in China who has the 1800mah batteries at about 15$ a pop. Hopefully those arrive by this weekend. I'm also going to attempt to mash two chargers together on one power cable, I'm really bad at charging batteries... Haha.

 

[rfaspen]

If you're really good at DIY and camera repair (I used to think I was), take a look at this page. Quite good instructions and dimensions for making your own vertical adjustment tool. I'm tempted to try myself, if I can find the time.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/145390-vertical-rf-alignment-tool/

Either way, good luck. Good luck with batteries too. I know the frustration of those cheapo batteries. I broke down and bought OEM. Luckily I found a reasonable deal on them.

 

[f16sunshine]

That adjustment is extremely fiddly.
Go very, very, very slow. (no coffee that morning go to workbench after yoga 😛 ).
After struggling with one and making it much worse before finally getting it right, I sent in my second M8 that needed adjustment.
Most shops charge only the minimum. You may have to mail it to someone.

 

[pbo]

Glad the link helped!
I read somewhere that you can use two screwdrivers, one holding the hole and the other as a lever against the first to move the plate up/down. I think the discussion was somewhere on photo.net, please don't try with just my description 🙂
Also I believe I read that the adjustment is held in place by an adhesive, you have to loosen it first.

 

[B-9]

I think I'll attempt to recreate the tool here in a hour or so.

Gotta grab a few beers and head to the shop! (Aka friends garage)

Rummaging through my junk drawer for a suitable rod!

 

[jaapv]

Just a 3mm screwdriver with 2 mm of the blade ground down.One minidrop of acetone to soften the retaining lacquer.

 

[B-9]

Made it to the shop and did a more advanced search on DIY adjustment. I ran across this photo.net post that may be the one you mentioned PBO. I also took a look at a video of a M6 being adjusted to wrap my brain around what is happening (my first experience with this style adjustment) without removing my Red Dot.

I really don't see why anyone needs a special tool, Ill proly go the route of this link below, as I have dozens of those 2-4mm drivers, and why over complicate something so simple!

http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00QphO

 

[jaapv]

Because it is a fork-and-hole fulcrum.
It is idiotic to take off the top for a few minutes adjustment job. Besides, the flex and flex connectors between the body and the top are fragile.

Slip off the dot, soften the glue, adjust with the camera to your eye (how are you going to do that with two screwdrivers?) put on the dot, wait ten minutes for the glue to set again.

Should you want to take the top off you will be touching the electronics, if only to handle the flex, so you must work on an anti-static mat and use an earth lead on your wrist.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/21079-anatomy-of-the-leica-m8/?hl=anatomy

 

[B-9]

I have no intention of removing the top plate of my M8. I just did not want to remove my Red Dot for "exploratory" purposes prematurely, before I was ready to do the adjustment. Once I could see the whole mechanism in the video, I knew I was overthinking the tool problem and shortly after found the Photo.net post above, that was simple and free.

Ive made the tool in the Photo.net post in 2 minutes (including beer gulps) with the help of a 15 cent, 3mm flathead. Ill give it a go tomorrow afternoon as Ive decided to have another...beer!

 

[jaapv]

You will see a clear image of the adjustment fork-and-hole in the thread I linked to.

 

[B-9]

Thanks Jaap, now to remember my handle and password >.<

Got to find some black paint, that Red Dot is not going back on RED!

 

[jaapv]

Just register again and send an explanatory PM to Admin.(yes we have a multiple account detection, but it is managed manually)

 

[rfaspen]

I think I'm going to make the special tool. I just like having a good-fitting tool with some precision. Makes for a more pleasant experience with less chance for slip-up and damage. I've learned that it's always a good idea to use the correct tool for the job at hand. I cringe to think about those early repairs before I had a good set of ring wrenches, lens spanners, notch slot screwdrivers, and decent good-quality micro wrenches and drivers. Even the quality of my tweezers makes a difference.