New to me M6 a little stiff

M

moreammo

Established
Local time
6:41 PM
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
139
This is my first post and first thread :D

I just received an M6 "Classic" from ebay..... I currently have an M3 and my M3 is like butter to operate. The shutter dial on this m6 is relatively stiff. very functional just not what i am used to. also it requires substantially more pressure to activate the shutter. I was thinking that may be so i can press half way to meter? finally the shutter speeds sound right but are louder than the M3, just a hair but still.... i am going to run a test roll through it before deciding if i should keep it. If it were an AE-1 or something i wouldn't think anything of any of this but I am not sure given my experience with the M3. Maybe it needs a CLA i am not sure. So i was wondering if those of you who have shot m3's and m6's could comment on how "like" they should be in reguards to friction on the shutter dial, pressure on the shutter release and overall noise of the shutter.

Thanks for your help and feed back!:D

-Jon
 
The materials of the M3 and the M6 are very different, and you can tell right away when you pick them up. The M3 (and the M2) has always been described as "buttery smooth". The M6 is a bit more coarse, and many of them have shutters that don't sound as smooth or muted as the M3 or M2.

As far as needing "more pressure" for the shutter: that does sound like it could use a little CLA. Or just some love; perhaps that particular M6 was stored for a long time? These cameras need periodic shooting (or pretend-shooting with the whole motions in place) so that they don't go stiff.
 
Thanks for the info, I feel a little better already. I was slightly discouraged when i first tried it but as i sit and play around i feel better about it. I researched it before i bought it. for the last month it has done the ebay shuffle being sold with and with out a lens but the first time it was sold it was mentioned it had been lightly used and had been "properly" stored for the last 10 years. I am trying to get in touch with the original owner now to get some history on it. i like to know the history of my cameras either way, i just enjoy knowing i think.

It is a black M6 with a brass (both color and meterial) m3 style film advance lever and someone has blacked out the "lieca M6" on the front. the only other iffy thing for me is the paint on the top has what looks like some bubbling between the shutter dial and the shutter release. otherwise it is very clean. oh and the lense release button has all the red worn off... seems strange if it was lightly used maybe that was intentional.

none of that matters to me if it works because it will be a user camera... well i might paint the film advance lever black or just get a black one from DAG.

I will keep playing around with it and see if it gets any smoother. i feel better knowing it should be at least a little courser.

is there anything else i should be worried about or look for on a used M6 that has set that long?

Thanks for your help!

-Jon
 
I've had 2 M6 so far, the first one sold for years. I bought the second one a couple years ago and I say that this should be a rare gem.
Everytime I fire that thing, I have a choc. Not because it is harsch, but sooooo creamy and soft, much more than any other M I have, and I do have 2 M3s among them all.
The first one was kind of dry and tense in compare.
Just lucky I think.
 
Paint bubbling?? Without taking a look at a photo of it, I can only guess, but that doesn't sound kosher. About the red button: yes, a little strange if it was "lightly" used. You're right, it could be intentional. Some people are very odd in covering or painting (or paint-removing) any traces of "red" on their Leicas. (?)

Have fun with the new M6!

Oh, btw, the rangefinder patch glares in certain conditions. This is a well-known fact. I had DAG replace the rangefinder optics with the "nonglare" optics for my M6. It helps a lot in low-light conditions.
 
Interesting you mention the paint bubbling. I've been toying with the idea of buying a used M6 (for the meter). There is one that popped up on ebay that exhibits some paint bubbling.
 
Here is a pic of the paint. it is perfect everywhere else just not here. not bad just a little off.
 

Attachments

  • paint.jpg
    paint.jpg
    38.8 KB · Views: 0
It is not nice to tell him about the rangefinder flare! Many of us have never noticed it, and now he'll look for it. The shutter depression is very different to the non-metered Ms and even the original metered M, the M5. I also have a stiff shutter speed dial, especially going from 1/60 to 1/30. The film transport can be very smooth and mine is too. The shutter does sound slightly different as mentioned above.
 
Thanks for the info on the glare. I had already read about that and gotten a price for the upgrade from DAG :). I will probably shoot it for a few weeks and see how much the flare effects me if at all, i have heard others have not had a problem. if i get it CLA'd i'll likely have DAG do the upgrade at the same it, if i'm going to do it, his price was pretty reasonable.

thanks for all the input!

-Jon
 
Thanks for the input Richard! glad to hear from someone who has not had the flare! i also noticed when turning the shutter speed dial it makes a slight click when going from 8 to 15, but only if turning with any speed. if you turn it slow it sounds just fine. just curious if that sounds normal... i know I'm getting real picky real fast but if i am going shoot with it for a awhile i want to be sure it's ok :)
 
I've had M6s since they were nearly new, and have noticed a major difference after they were CLA'd by DAG. The M6s are now smoother than the MPs, but they get more use. It seems like they get smoother the more they are used.
 
Last summer, I bought a M6, recently CLA'd by DAG, from RFF and it had a very stiff shutter speed dial. It was so bad that just four or five changes would have my index finger red and sore! I spent a couple of days "exercising" it: back and forth, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, several thousand times in total. It improved a great deal. It's still slightly less smooth than my M4, but not bad at all. I suspect the indents wore down just enough to take "the edge off" (pun intended). Can't say that I've noticed much difference in shutter release or shutter sound, but the speed dial may just need some concentrated "use" to smooth out nicely.


moreammo said:
This is my first post and first thread :D

I just received an M6 "Classic" from ebay..... I currently have an M3 and my M3 is like butter to operate. The shutter dial on this m6 is relatively stiff. very functional just not what i am used to. also it requires substantially more pressure to activate the shutter. I was thinking that may be so i can press half way to meter? finally the shutter speeds sound right but are louder than the M3, just a hair but still.... i am going to run a test roll through it before deciding if i should keep it. If it were an AE-1 or something i wouldn't think anything of any of this but I am not sure given my experience with the M3. Maybe it needs a CLA i am not sure. So i was wondering if those of you who have shot m3's and m6's could comment on how "like" they should be in reguards to friction on the shutter dial, pressure on the shutter release and overall noise of the shutter.

Thanks for your help and feed back!:D

-Jon
Click to expand...
 
be careful of the paint bubbling. i've read about those and it's pretty scary what can happen to the paint. try to read up on it by googling and see how to prevent it from getting worse.

adam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom