Film jams on M6TTL

I'm just getting back from Cuba. I've posted a few pics, and will

post more once I get some time to sit down with my new scanner.

 

While in Cuba, I had my M6 jam a few times -- I'm not sure why. I may

have had the palm of my hand on the take up / rewind knob while

advancing the film. In one case I couldn't even rewind the film -- I

had to open the camera to remove the film -- the sprocket holes were

badly mangled in one spot.

 

This happened one other time -- where I couldn't advance the film

(after about 25 frames on a 36 exposure roll) - but at least I could

rewind the film.

 

I ran about 15 rolls through with no problem -- but both instances

happenend randomly - there didn't seem to be anything in particular

that I had done - other than maybe having my thumb or palm on the

rewind knob.

 

I'm fairly certain I loaded the film properly -- making sure the

sproket holes were aligned with the sprockets -- and fed into the

take up spool.

 

Does this sound familiar? Is it most likely that it was simply user

error? I'd appreciate any input from the group.

 

Thanks much.

 

Bob Smith

Yes, I did have this happen once on my M7. Check and see if your top plate is loose. Just hold the camera by the body and see if you can wiggle the top plate. Mine was, and I was having the same exact problem. There is a Leica repairman, Stephen Choi, not too far from me. I stopped in, and he tightened something inside, took him all of about 2 minutes and its been fine since. However, he didn't really tell me what exactly the problem was.

The back plate is tight as a drum...

I had a film jam / mis-load about eight months ago. Next day I discovered my

top plate was loose. I never thought to connect the two things. Anyone else

have an idea what could be going on?

Barry and Jason refer to the top plate, while Bob speaks of the BACK plate! Which is the offending part, gentlemen?? Best regards, Bill

Hey Bob, I've had a couple of jams in my M6TTL also, but not as

bad as you describe. The most important part of loading it, I

discovered was to make sure the film and leader were pushed

down far enough into the camera body before closing the back

door and attaching the bottom plate. On the occasions I did

manage to mess it up it was because (as far as I could tell) the

film wasn't down far enough. One clue that things aren't right (on

mine at least) is that when the film/leader is incorrectly engaged,

it is very difficult to attach the bottom plate, i.e. it seems a very

tight fit, hard to lock. Hope this helps-if it keeps happening, send

it back to Leica- I'm sure you paid far too much for it to have to

worry about this.

The BACK plate I refer to is the plate with the film speed dial - I THINK that's what everyone is saying is the top plate...

 

My gut tells me that I loaded the film wrong. Mainly becuase after I had the issue I took great care in making sure the film was far enough down in the camera and aligned with the sprockets -- I ran several rolls with no problem. When the problem occured again, I know I had hurried to load the film - not making sure everything was just right.

 

As far as I can tell, there's really not much that can go wrong in the film loading mechanism -- either you have the film loaded right, or you don't. I hate to send the camera back only to have them tell me, 'user error, silly'...

William- I meant the top plate, or top cover. ie the thing on the top of the

camera, sometimes seen with a silly red dot. I sent it to Leica to have it

tightened. No big deal, but it really freaked me out. It's been fine since though.

<i>Mainly becuase after I had the issue I took great care in making sure the film was far enough down in the camera and aligned with the sprockets</i>

<p>I agree: The only times where I got problems with films in my M6 is when I tried to align film with sprockets. Now I just follow the diagram, making sure the film goes all the way up through the back door, and it's correctly engaged in the 'tulip'. I then close the camera and then, only then, do I use the arming lever: Don't do it before the bottom plate is put back. I never care about the sprockets anymore and never had a misload in 2 years...

The edge of the film gate is like a step. I understand that this is chamfered in the M6 classic, to assist loading, but in the M6TTL it has a sharper profile and often has to be overcome by jiggling the film until it slips into position. If you don't ensure that the film has slid all the way into the film gate before closing the baseplate, you could have a problem in winding. However, it is certainly true that you should not attempt to advance the film until the baseplate has been closed.