Leica M2 - what to check?

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to buy a M2 body (next to my IIIf). Can you give some advice on what to pay attention to when looking at a camera? What are the most common issues with M2's?

(e.g. when I bought a cosmetically beautiful IIIc it turned out the shutter curtain needed replacement)

Thanks!
Jan

Ultimately, other than a cursory examination of the obvious visual wear on parts...going through each
shutter speed to see how accurate it is, I highly recommend shooting a roll of color neg film through it
if you have access to the camera. Do it with a standard lens and check focus at various ranges to see if
the viewfinder is accurate. Shoot at various shutter speeds and look at the spacing between each neg
on the film strip (do a process only do-not-cut)...this will let you know if the cameras advance mechanism
is adjusted properly.
Make sure it has the take up spool included (unless it's an M2-R which was a later version and had the spool
mounted in the camera).

Apart what CropDusterMan said.... Check the Rangefinder... be sure it's clear and well contrasted. Try to figure if it's aligned too

I'd shoot some transparencies instead of print film. That will tell you better how the shutter's doing as to set speed accuracy provided you do your part metering properly. Ditto on checking the rangefinder which is easily adjusted. I had to do mine and it's spot on now. Just remove the chrome screw on the front and it exposes a tiny standard screw. Get a good, not a hardware store, 2mm screwdriver for adjustment. A little is all it takes.

ColColt said:

I'd shoot some transparencies instead of print film. That will tell you better how the shutter's doing as to set speed accuracy provided you do your part metering properly. Ditto on checking the rangefinder which is easily adjusted. I had to do mine and it's spot on now. Just remove the chrome screw on the front and it exposes a tiny standard screw. Get a good, not a hardware store, 2mm screwdriver for adjustment. A little is all it takes.

Click to expand...

The M2 is just like a LTM shutte rangefinder problems etc.
But adjusting the rangefinder is three adjustments rather more accurate then a LTM, for a /0.95 5cm.
Budget for service unless you know the vendor personally.

I bought an almost mint m2 from a dealer in london, thought I had checked the obvious, but found after running through a film, that at slow shutter speeds the curtain was slow to open leaving a black line down one edge of the frame. Returned it to the dealer who sent it away for a CLA as part of the warranty. Other than that crop duster has covered everything