Weird shutter button behavior

[MelanieC]

I'm thinking my M3 is in need of a CLA.

I'm in the middle of my fourth roll through it. Up to now everything has worked just fine, except that some of the slow shutter speeds stick. Today, I pulled the camera out, cocked it, composed my shot, and tried to press the shutter button. Nothing. It felt dampened and nothing fired. Without thinking, I held the camera in my left hand and gave it a solid whack with the right (I know, I know, please stop shuddering and covering your eyes, I just wasn't thinking) and then the shutter worked. But for the next shot, the same thing happened. This time I kept my wits about me, reminded myself about rangefinder alignment (I have no idea how this works, but I have read that it is something I need to be worried about) and simply tried the shutter button three or four more times and it worked.

It was humid out today. Could that have something to do with it? Is this a symptom of something sinister?

I'm now in the market for a cheap but decent rangefinder (Canonet?) to play with while my M3 is at the veterinarian. Wish me luck. I'm having pre-withdrawal.

-- M

 

[jlw]

This plus the sticky slow speeds both just sound like symptoms of your camera being gooped up and needing to be cleaned.

The shutter in a Leica M doesn't really consist of anything more than a couple of spring-roller window shades and a cuckoo clock. If the mechanism is too dirty for the spring tension to overcome the extra friction caused by the dirt, the shades won't roll up and the clock won't tick. It sounds as if yours is right on the borderline -- sometimes it works, and sometimes (as when humidity makes the dirt extra-sticky) it doesn't. Once it's cleaned, it should be fine.

And no whacking, okay? You don't need to know a lot about how a Leica rangefinder works, but one thing you should know is that it works via a prism made by gluing two large, expensive pieces of glass together. Sometimes one good whack makes the glue let go, the two pieces of glass come apart again, and you suddenly notice that the whole viewfinder is dark except for the rangefinder spot. At this point you'll be writing a really big check to the camera veterinarian.

 

[MelanieC]

Hey yeah, if you're looking for a new home for it I'd like to see it.

I just bid on one on eBay, so I'll have to wait and be sure I don't end up with that one, if that makes any sense (I don't need two).

Thanks!

 

[payasam]

Melanie, the M3 is a divinity. Do not speak of a veterinarian in the same breath.