What is wrong with my M6?

On a recent trip I shot 5 rolls of films. After getting the slides back I noticed some weird light streaks as circled on the accompanied 3 frames. What makes me crazy is they do not appear on all frames, but couple of frames per roll. And it happens with frames in the middle of the roll, not beginning frames nor end frames. And the pattern looked the same.

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Could it be light tight problem between the lense and the camera? If so, then all frames would be affected. I just can not figure out. Please help if you have any ideas. I should note that I had only one lense attaches to the camera at all time. Thanks in advance.

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Here is the link to the pictures:

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http://home.pacbell.net/rby2000/test.htm

Sorry, I should have made the link "clickable"

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<A HREF="http://home.pacbell.net/rby2000/test.htm">http://home.pacbell.net/rby2000/test.htm</a><p>

<i>Fixed. -t</i>

John,

I looked at your pictures, and I had the exact same pattern on an old

M3 years ago. I was told that the shutter of an M camera, while

sufficiently light tight for normal shooting, does have a weakness if

extreme light enters the camera. I rechecked my negatives, and the

leaks all corresponded to frames that I changed lenses on. I left

the lens off of the body too long in bright daylight, and the same

pattern that your photos have developed.

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You mention that you did not change lenses, and the photos look like

you were in consistant light... (if you were going in and out of a

building you may have had the aperture wide open, which could have

let in too much light when outdoors again). So assuming your lens was

closed to a proper f-stop for outdoor shooting, this would be

disturbing.

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If you have a history with this camera and this just occured, then

something may be wrong with the way the shutter is aligning when

cocked. If this is a new camera, I'd use the pictures to let Leica

know what the problem is... It may speed up the troubleshooting. Let

us know what is up when the problem is repaired... It could be useful

for the rest of us in the future.

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Good Luck!

Hi Bill,

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All of them. It randomly happened to middle frames like 14, 26, 18...

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Today, I emailed Leica, told them what had happened. I do not know

when I will have their answer. I will let you know...

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Thanks to all of you.

I also had light getting in around the shutter, and it looks similar

to the streaks you got. Usually it happens when changing lenses in

bright sun light, as was previously mentioned. I would do a test-walk

around with the camera set on a particular frame for a while with no

cap on, and see if the streaks apear on that frame.

I had the same problem when I bought my beat up very used M2. It was

also random negitives (actually the ones which sat in the gate for a

while when I carried my camera in the sun). I took it back and they

touched up some black paint inside the bottom cover (illogical I

know, as the streaks are at the top in the camera), and it has been

fine since. Try putting in a fast film like TMZ, and then tape all

seams but one, and put in the sun for a while, then wind on (Easier

to spot small leak on unexposed/processed film) uncover a different

seam and repeat. Hopefully with this method you can isolate it to a

certain location.

Yuuk, Hee hee, THe price you pay for owning a Leica. You all enjoy

it now. Heeaaa!

I've just received email from Leica asking me to send the camera back.

Amazing! What a quick reply! This is what I've paid for: excellent

products and excellent service. I AM a proud owner of my Leica!

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Thanks to all of your answers. You too, Trib!

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I will keep you up to date.

I had similar problems with a M4-2 when using a M winder and

slow speeds. It also can occur when the shutter curtain brakes

are not working properly. Let us know what Leica says.

I've received the camera back from Leica about 2 weeks ago. According

to the accompanied paper, they said they "repair circuit board". I

emailed them to ask what they really did, and so far without answer.

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However, they sent me a new warranty card with 90 more days to

compensate to the problem.

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I have not had time to run some films to test the camera yet. That is

also the reason for this late posting. Sorry and best wishes to all

of you.