Leica M6 Shutter Problem - Any Ideas?

psychfunk · Jul 16, 2012

Every so often a shot comes out with these uniform horizontal lines on it. Always top and bottom in this exact position and always only two.
Looks like a shutter problem but it's happening no more than 4 frames out of every 36. I've gone through all the speeds with the lens off and nothing looks out of the ordinary but it happens at fast and a slow shutter speeds.. so any clues?

Ps the black bit at the right is just a particularly sloppy scan, my bad.

Thanks all,
Jake

semi-ambivalent · Jul 16, 2012

Quick guess: Looks like a light leak based, not on the shutter speed, but on how long that frame sat in the film gate before it was exposed and moved on to the take-up spool. Is your camera one of those with the door in the back? Do those lines sort of line up with that door?

N.B. I've never even touched a Leica, but I might have experienced the aura they give off.

s-never-too-busy-to-comment-a

psychfunk · Jul 16, 2012

That crossed my mind too..
Had a quick look at the rest of the scans; the affected frames were sometimes left in for a while, but some of them are when I was shooting pretty rapidly on the street.
The camera does have a door in the back but the film plate covers the film area by a comfortable margin and any frontiers to the outside world would, I think, make vertical lines.
Can't be my processing either, because I've had c-41 done in my local lab and it's the same.

semi-ambivalent · Jul 16, 2012

psychfunk said:
That crossed my mind too..
Had a quick look at the rest of the scans; the affected frames were sometimes left in for a while, but some of them are when I was shooting pretty rapidly on the street.
The camera does have a door in the back but the film plate covers the film area by a comfortable margin and any frontiers to the outside world would, I think, make vertical lines.
Can't be my processing either, because I've had c-41 done in my local lab and it's the same.

Try a different lab, to check that variable.

semi-ambivalent · Jul 16, 2012

semi-ambivalent said:
Try a different lab, to check that variable.

Ignore that.

summicron1 · Jul 16, 2012

light seeping through the shutter curtain -- this happens with my old IIIc which has an original curtain which, I suspect, has grown thin with age, I dunno -- keep the lens from having direct light hit the front element at wide aperature, guard it while changing lenses.

jp80874 · Jul 17, 2012

If you arent ready to send it to a repair expert for a cla, you might want to join the Rangefinder forum. There are many Leica fanatics there who may be able to give you answers. http://www.rangefinderforum.com They also may be able to suggest a reputable repair person close to you.

John Powers

Nicholas Lindan · Jul 17, 2012

It looks like light leaking around the curtain at the top and bottom. It may be that the curtains aren't running in the track provided for them but instead are running in front of the track, leaving an unbaffled path for light leaks. Probably a flash of sunlight on the camera interior is all it takes.

As John suggested, the RF forum will have more knowledge of the matter (and the know-it-alls to go with).

psychfunk · Jul 17, 2012

Nicholas Lindan said:
It looks like light leaking around the curtain at the top and bottom.

A quick check with a torch shone through from the front confirms this. As the rangefinder itself also needs adjustment, I'll get it CLA'd.

Probably been asked before, but anyway; Any recommended repair centres in the UK?

SkipA · Jul 17, 2012

A good place to ask that question about CLA in UK is on the rangefinder forum. There are a lot of Leica users there from the UK.

Nicholas Lindan · Jul 17, 2012

psychfunk said:
As the rangefinder itself also needs adjustment, I'll get it CLA'd.

There is an Engineering adage: "Fix anything long enough and you will really break it."

If the camera doesn't need it because of hard use or old age then there isn't any need for a "CLA". Though just what constitutes a CLA isn't always spelled out - often it is just a wipe down with some Ronsinol and a Q-Tip and a visual check of operation; what one could call a Hypocratic CLA as it obeys the dictum "First, do no harm.".

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Leica M6 Shutter Problem - Any Ideas?

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