Need advice on a Leica m repair (DIY) using a spanner

Leica All Day

Leica All Day

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Hello everybody....The top cover (plate) of my m6ttl is coming loose. It is the side with the rewind lever and viewfinder, not the frame counter and winder side. This has happened to the camera once before about 3 years ago when I was living in Milan. I asked on pnet about it and someone told me that I needed a spanner wrench but I ended up going to the Leica distributor in Milan and the Leica guy fixed it in 5 minutes. He explained to me what he did and it seemed simple enough to do, but I need a spanner wrench (or do I?). When I google for help I come across very little info (including my original post from pnet) but I read that someone who has experience working on Leicas said that he made a spanner wrench out of pliers. I called my local leica store here in Bangkok and was hoping that they had a spanner wrench and that they could fix it, but the guy is in Hong Kong until the 8th and the guy I spoke with said that they have a spanner wrench for lenses....not for the body (are they the same thing????)..I am thinking about ordering a proper set of tools but I know that it won't get here in time for a photo trip that I am going to go on to Laos on the 10th.....this really sucks because I just bought a 35mm 1.2 nokton and I was hoping to use it on my m6 in Laos, and now the top plate has some wiggle (up and down) in it...My back up is an m3 , well I just put gaffers tape on on the fresnel window to cover up the frame lines and I am going to try to use the 35mm nokton on the m3 for the next week to see how it feels, in the meantime, I am not going to use my m6 until I go to Laos ( for fear of having the top plate become looser over the next 9 days)......I am taking both cameras with me, that is for sure....I was just thinking that maybe someone has some expereince in fixing this problem (DIY), I would obviously feel better going to Laos without the loose top plate, but if I can't get it fixed before, then I will just order a set of proper tools and fix it when the proper tools arrive (after my trip). Just to be clear, to my understanding, all I have to do is unscew the small screw holding the rewind knob on, remove the knob and washers and tighten the spanner nut while holding the two prong things (dont know the name of them) inside the camera where the film goes, is that correct? Any help or advice would be appreciated.....Thanks, michael
 
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Hey Michael, it looks like you need a spanner with the M6. The older Ms need a ring wrench, but I see a slotted ring on my M6. I'm looking forward to seeing photos from the Nokton,
Mike

Michael, check out this when you have time: Remove Leica M6 top plate

He doesn't use a spanner.
 
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Hey Mike, I can't even begin to explain how bummed out I am that my m2 is in California at my friends house. I had Youxin send it to him after a cla, because he wanted to try it out, well, I called him and he is going to send it out, but it isn't going to arrive in time for my trip....bad timing, really bad timing but oh well....if I don't get any help, I am just going to use the m6 and deal with it after the trip....BTW, the Nokton is awsome.....I am going to get some images scanned soon and I'll post some up...I've had it for 5 days now and I like it alot....cheers, michael
 
The pliers trick: You just grind the points of needle-nosed pliers into points.

Real spanners: http://www.micro-tools.com/ You're either looking for the sharp-pointed kind or the kind with interchangable tips. Personally, if you are going to be doing much repair, and especially if you plan to do any work on bellows cameras, I'd get the spanner with the longest possible business end. If you only want it for removing the top of one camera though, anything that is adjustable and has two sharp points will do.
 
Thanks Mike and Nobbylon for the videos....in the video (they are the same one) the guy loosens the rewind nut (for lack of the proper name) with a screw driver, he inserts the head of the screw driver into one of the two spanner holes and he is able to loosen the nut with little resistance...my problem is, I am goig to have to tighten the nut and I am not so sure about using a screw driver to do that...I read that the spanner holes in the nut are shallow and it is easy to damage them....I am not sure how easy it will be to tighten the nut, but if I don't get any more suggestions or ideas, than I am going to check it out....thanks again
 
"If you only want it for removing the top of one camera though, anything that is adjustable and has two sharp points will do."

Hello Falisphoto,
Thanks alot for the informative email, you just built up my confidence ....I have a question regarding the pliers, do you do anything to the pliers so they don't accidentally close when you are turning them?........or are you just careful....another question is, I really dont want to remove the top plate, I just want to tighten the nut, so do you think that using pliers to tighten the nut is fine...in the sense that there is proper contact between the pliers and the nut?..I am willing to buy a pair of pliers and grind them down, and try to make the points fit into the holes...I am just hoping that it works and that there is enough contact for me to be able to tighten the nut....thanks again for the info...cheers, michael
 
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