Sad tale of a neglected M6 Titanium

[nksyoon]

During a family reunion an uncle noticed I had an Leica. He said he had some Leica equipment and said I should take them and see what I could do with them. Among the equipment in the old airtight box with long depleted silica gel was an M6 Titanium with ostrich skin and 35 Summilux Titanium pre-asph.

To summarize, the M6 has corrosion on the inside of the baseplate and lens cavity, and fungus on the shutter curtain. I'm asking Youxin Ye about repairing this camera and sent him some pics (see attachments).

What do the people on RFF think? is this camera salvageable at a reasonable cost? That is, less that its refurbished market value?

 

[nksyoon]

More pics...heartbreaking...

 

[fixbones]

Heart breaking indeed 🙁

Is the lens ok?

 

[jarski]

does the electronics work ? no fungus on lens ?

 

[nksyoon]

The lens has also suffered: broken focusing tab, fine scratches on rear element and what may be fungus on the outer edge of one of the elements.

Meter seems to be working.

 

[DNG]

Ouch.....
Looks like it was stored in an outside garage that was damp with no temp control (Heat & Air Conditioning), and the raw elements had a feast 🙁🙁

It will be worth it, if you have the funds... even a few grand is way below the value on the used market.

That must of been heart breaking when saw all that corrosion

 

[dogberryjr]

Probably not as bad as you fear.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Doesn't look that nasty to me. Definitely salvageable. But at what cost?

 

[astrosecret]

The camera doesn't look too bad, those things are all very serviceable. The lens on the other hand...

 

[John Lawrence]

I'd get it fixed and then use it.

John