Wiggling top plate?

[jbharrill1]

I bought a CL about a week ago and in the midst of all the excitement I guess I didn't notice that the top plate has just a tiny tiny amount of play in it. I'd say it moves side to side maybe a quarter of a mm, but still enough to notice. At first I noticed that there was a clicking sound when i would press down on the top of the side with the leitz logo but I just now noticed that if i press on the sides I can slide it back and forth just a tiny bit.

I found a page on flickr showing that the screw for the top plate is under the advance lever. Would this be the screw that is probably loose? I don't have a miniature screw driver set at the moment or I would try myself. I'm also slightly nervous to just go buy a glasses screwdriver set because I've read somewhere that you need to use special screwdrivers/tools to do the work.

 

[jbharrill1]

My girlfriend actually had a set of glasses screwdrivers and I went ahead and gave it a shot. It worked.

I'm an idiot who gets OCD about the smallest things. haha mods please feel free to delete this thread

 

[Palaeoboy]

I'm an idiot who gets OCD about the smallest things. haha mods please feel free to delete this thread

I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. That level of perfectionism and fastidiousness is common amongst Leica owners, myself included. It's possibly what draws people to the brand in the first place.

 

[jbharrill1]

Well good to hear I'm not alone!

I noticed earlier today that the clicking had come back but not the sliding back and forth. I tightened the screw underneath the advance lever again. (I'm not sure if its actually tightening or not since I feel like its not really loose enough to turn the screw a considerable amount) and the clicking stopped for an hour or so then i noticed it came back while walking around. I tried pressing on the sides and didn't noticed any side to side movement but I did notice that when I would press the right side (side with advance) the clicking would stop, and if i pressed the left side and pushed down on the leitz logo side the clicking would start up again.

Anyone else experience this with a CL before?

I guess I should also mention there is a considerably large dent in the top plate

 

[Mudman]

Not with mine. Could your strap lugs be loose?

 

[jbharrill1]

Here is a video of the noise https://youtu.be/SBzIPbuC94k

Keep in mind I'm barely pressing at all and the clicks are way louder than you would think they should be by just a gentle press

 

[Steve M.]

"I'm an idiot who gets OCD about the smallest things".

Well then, you are in the right place :]....... from what I remember from over there, the real pros at OCD usually end up at APUG 🙂

 

[jbharrill1]

So this problem has still been on my mind and I've dug a little deeper and noticed that a few people have had this same issue with m7 and m6. It's just a tiny tiny bit of play and a little tiny rattle inside the camera. I can count two different clicks when i slowly tilt the camera forward and back.

I've decided (very blindly, and based off of info for the m6 and m7) that the issue is related to the washer under the film rewind knob having become loose.

I am heading to NYC for a few days at the end of October and am wondering if this is going to be an issue that needs to be taken care of immediately or it can wait just a few more weeks. I am planning on probably shooting at least 10 rolls..also, is this an issue that a local camera tech would be able to perform rather simply? All the other rff threads say its about a 15 minute job but that is for people that live and breath leica, I'm not so sure about what work the guy in town has performed on leicas.

 

[jbharrill1]

To continue with the issue....

I took off the bottom to inspect further and realized that it doesn't make sense that the top plate would be connected to the bottom like a regular m would be, as the bottom comes completely off. When i take the bottom off, like I'm loading film, the clicking noises inside more or less stop if i hold the plastic takeup spool, and the pressure plate still. So naturally you would think thats what the noise is from but it doesn't quite add up because it only take a little tilt say from 45 degrees to 135 degrees to hear the little clicking noises, but they do sound very "tinny" like the pressure plate does, so I may be over thinking the noises.

But the viewfinder side of the camera does still feel just barely loose and i can hear a tiny popping sound when I apply pressure. I tightened what screws i could see with the camera back off and this didn't seem to help any.