Leica Mini-Zoom Question

Hi there

 

OK I know this isn't the best or proper Leica in many respects but I have a mini-zoom point and shoot and love it. Its a little slow and obviously a very low level Leica, probably the lowest but still I love it and photo quality is quite good I think for a point and shoot, don't judge me haha. Anyhow I got it relatively cheap a while ago.

 

Annoyingly I see a common issue according to this thread is that they can be prone to the odd light leak, a ring in the top right corner if look at a photo taken in landscape or bottom (see photo examples in linked thread). They sometimes are there, maybe sometimes not. can anyone help me work out what might be causing it and if theres a fix. Theres very little info on it and people do seem to want to know so be great for me and the rest of us poor mini-zoom owners to see if theres much we can do about it. I read it could be due to a gear-wheel of the zoom which causes a reflection or light leak that reflects on the photo. Is that possible? and if so anything to be done about it?

 

Any help much appreciated with this mystery.

I take it this might not be a well know issue here. Does anyone have a person who they can direct me to that might have some more info on this at all? Be lovely to try and get this matter resolved as its such a fun camera to shoot with.

I know nothing about this camera - like, I suspect, most photo.net members in view of your lack of responses. However reading the linked thread, including the reply from Leica themselves, suggests that no-one seems to have got to the bottom of this or worked out a solution.

 

One thing is that the link within your text isn't obviously a link as the text in photo.net links is indistinguishable from the main body text, here it is again if anyone has missed it:

 

LINK: Leica mini-zoom users

Edited May 10, 2020 by John Seaman

Yeah Thanks John, it seems this camera is a bit of a mystery. I just hate not being able to fix a problem. Do you think if i took it somewhere they might be able to test to see what might be causing it at all?

Frankly, no.

if i took it somewhere they might be able to test to see what might be causing it at all?

Haven't used this camera, but something I have done to check for light leaks is to take the camera into a dark room, open the back, and shine a strong penlight around the body of the camera. Check carefully around the lens barrel (while zooming, if possible), viewfinder, shutter (through the lens), body seams, screws, shutter button, tripod socket, flash, data back, etc. Small LED "squeeze lights" can also be placed inside the film compartment.

 

Small leaks can often be sealed with a bit of black silicone, but one around a moving part like a retractable lens may be difficult to fix. Of course, check the condition of any foam seals and film reminder window. If you can rule out these light leaks from your test, then it could be a reflective part as you mentioned. Hope this helps.

Edited May 11, 2020 by m42dave

Ah thanks Dave!