Leica M6 Frameline Problem

M

Mijo

Veteran
Location
San Francisco
I've had the elmarit 28mm on my M6 for the last week or so but today I went and changed to my summilux 50. I noticed that the frame lines didn't change so I tried my summicron 35 and the frame lines are still stuck on the ones for the 28. Nothing happens when I move the frame line selector, regardless of what lens is on or if there's no lens at all. What's weird is that I took a couple of shots with the 50 on, to finish out the roll and when I took the film out and closed the back of the camera the frame lines for the 50 were displayed. I tried cycling with the selector and the frame lines went back to the 28 lines.

I tried all my lenses on my M-E and the correct frame lines are coming up, so I don't think the problem is with the lenses. Do I need to send my M6 back to NJ or is this something I can have a local shop fix? The two shops I called indicated that they send out for repairs but there's a shop close to my work that does do repairs in house that I'm planning to call tomorrow.

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks for the response Brian. I'm going to go ahead and ship my camera back to leica NJ for CLA and repair of the frame line selector. It seems most camera shops in my area send repairs out and the ones that do in house repairs are questionable at best (based on yelp reviews). I should have sent this M6 in for CLA anyways as I bought it used for fairly cheap.
 
I received a repair estimate from leica NJ last week and thought some people might be interested in the cost / break down; repair frame selection, adjust shutter speeds, clean / adjust break, adjust shutter release, adjust R/F, clean R/F and V/F (there's a bit of dust in both), replace photo-cell, repair light meter, repair take up spool, replace leatherette and CLA all functions. The total cost on the estimate $525.

I bought this M6 used, at the lower end of the used market and it definately shows signs of use (brassing on both the top and bottom). I'm surprised at how much work needs to be done as it seemed to be working fine except for the frame line issue. All in all I'm fine with the cost and I'm looking foward to getting my M6 back in several weeks.
 
Sounds like a complete rebuild to me- I've spent a good bit on repairing cameras. Replacing the meter cell- sounds like they will have everything back to factory specs, rather than "good enough" for print film.
 
Brian - I have an opportunity to pick up a gently used MP for a really good deal and I'm seriously considering it so that I have a back up film body. Would you say that after the repairs have been made to my M6 that a back up body isn't really necessary? Also the shop that's selling the MP indicated that MP's don't require CLA, is that true? That doesn't sound right to me but from what I read MPs are the pinacle of the M.
 
MP's are much newer, and the finder has improved optics to reduce patch-flare. A CLA- you do when necessary, as your M6 required. With Leica, usually a shutter capping problem or like yours, sluggish return on a mechanism. 15 or 20 years between CLA is probably a reasonable expectation, so I would expect years of service from the MP before it "might" need a CLA.

As far as having a backup camera: I am a firm believer in back-ups. I've had a couple of cameras lock-up on me, and learned to have a back-up for any event that I cared about.
 
I went with Brian's suggestion and picked up another M6 as a back up body to the one that's currently being CLA'd. I needed a film M for next week's Thanksgiving family gathering and to my suprise nobody rents film Ms. Leica NJ isn't going to have my M6 CLA done until mid December at the earliest so I really didn't have much of a choice except to buy another film M for next week (at least that's the story I told my wife). I checked out a used MP and I didn't like the way the shutter speed dial is oriented in the opposite direction of the M6 and M-E, also the used MP was substantially more than the used M6.

My new used chrome M6 is in prestine condition, which makes me question Adorama's grading scale for their used equipment (my M6 that's being CLA'd is from them). I picked up the chrome M6 from an authorized local dealer and their selection of used Leica gear is in really good condition (in comparision to used leica gear I've purchased online).
 
Just wanted to bump this thread and say that I got my black M6 back from Leica NJ last week and I'm almost done putting a test roll through it. I should have had them upgrade the finder to the one used in the MP but I completely forgot about it until I got it back. There was a minor delay in getting it back, their second ETA was mid January so they only missed it by a couple of weeks. The only compliant I have is that they changed out the leatherette but they didn't change the leatherette on the battery cover or around the ISO selector on the back.

I'm now considering either selling my chrome M6 or trading it back into the dealer I bought it from. My chrome M6 is great I just don't like the chrome and I don't know that I really need both M6s.
 
asiafish said:
I should have read this thread earlier. I just bought a fully serviced M5 from Sherry Krauter, but would have also considered an M6TTL at the right price.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the M5. After my experience with the black M6, I'm only going to buy used Leica bodies if they have been recently serviced. The upside to this whole thing is that the dealer that sold me the chrome M6 is willing to give me what I paid in store credit. As it just so happens they remodeled recently and have become a leica boutique so I shouldn't have any problems spending that store credit.
 
Come Monday I'm going to ship my black M6 TTL back to NJ for servicing, again. This time there's something wrong with the curtain that's causing the film advance to jam. After the shutter fires the curtain gets stuck in a diagonal position as if the bottom corner of the curtain isn't being pulled with the same uniform force as the top corner of the curtain. I'm hoping the cost of repair will be covered under warranty since I just got this body back from a CLA in mid January.
 
I received a repair estimate from Leica NJ two days ago, repairs are going to be covered under the last repair warranty. I called yesterday just to give my authorization, in case they needed it and the repairs have already been completed and they had already shipped it back to me. It should be delivered on Monday. Kudos to Leica NJ for their quick turn around time.
 

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