M3 problems. Light leak?

[patrick_owen]

Can anyone help me diagnose this? Does it look like a light leak to you? It happens once or

twice per roll. Any ideas? Shutter related? Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

P

[patrick_owen]

.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

It looks like you need a new light shield.

 

This is happening because you're changing lenses in bright light.

[john_r._fulton_jr.]

Four out of five M's I own have had that light leak. Two were purchased new and had them.

Only my new (in 2002) M6ttl <I>didn't</I> have the leak. Go figure.

[adrian bastin]

Looks like its happening when the film is being wound/rewound; the way it goes continuously through both frames shown.

[ronald_moravec1]

All the light shield leaks I have had gave a high density strip across the tip 5mm or so sometimes extending into area between the frames.

 

Open the back and examine the shutter curtains, both one and two, and expose the film to sun light without a lens. The sun exposure will find leaks you can not see and they will appear as overexposed dots.

 

It is possible there are light leaks in other areas such as loose lugs or around the back door. Take the bottom off and shine a penlight around the camera in a nearly darkened room while looking in the bottom.

 

BTW, you are having some type of process problem as there are marks by each sprocket hole in the bench picture bottom.

[jason_b.]

Send it to Don. He fixed this for my M3.

[patrick_owen]

Well, it's actually still under warranty at KEH (where I bought it) so I'll send it back there. I

know that their repair people don't have the reputation that DAG or Krauter have but as long

as they warrant it I might as well use them.

[patrick_owen]

Ron, I don't see the marks you mean in the bench picture bottom. I do see them in the other

frame. I think it's some kind of water mark or perhaps the film wasnt totally flat (these are

scans from a contact sheet). That's the only frame on the roll where that problem exists.

Thanks for your help!

 

P

[alan_morton2]

Bill is absolutely correct, your top and bottom horizontal felts, (that the shutter run against), are allowing light past, when the lens is removed in daylight.

It is a common fault, ....not easy to completly rectify, (I did an involved study of this light leak syndrome, and have been through repeated visits to Leica accredited technicians, mostly without success.) And of course, since it only leaks light during lens changing time, most frames are perfectly OK.

[stu weinstein]

My M3 suffers from the same malady. Two CLA's later and it is still the same. Sometimes a roll comes out perfect. Sometimes one or two ruined frames. I learned to live with it. I never thought of the lens changing as the cause. I'll try changing lenses in the shade in the future.

[al_kaplan1]

Maybe I've just been lucky but I've never had this problem with any of my Leica bodies. The best solution is to have each of your lenses on its own dedicated body and leave them there ;-)

[roland_schmid]

I'd say you changed the lens in bright sunlight.

[pc_b]

Hi Patrick, sorry to hear you experience one of those nerve-wrecking intermittent light

leaks.

I have never owned an M3 and never experienced light leaks with my M2/M7s.

However, my father once had one. We did some hard thinking and came to the conclusion,

that unless the whole _back door_ was severely warped or all light seals were missing

altogether, light would fall onto the film from one direction only producing an effect

similar to the light pattern a car light creates on the tarmac. Also they would have to show

up more regularly as the back gets hit by light quite regularly.

In the end it was the two curtains no overlapping sufficiently while travelling back to the

cocked state. The leak did NOT look anything like your veil.

I hope this little ditty helped you to rule out some 'possiblities'. I've learned that, unless

YOU point precisely at culprit, the repair people usually do what comes to their minds and

they hardly ever test their repair success with film before they send the camera back.

Absolutely send along your contact sheets!

 

Successful and swift repair, Peter

[joop]

<center><img src="http://www.nat.vu.nl/~mes/SCAN/Barcelona/UItzicht-overHaven.jpg"></center> </p> <center><i>M3, after lens-change (View over Harbour of Barcelona) </i></center>

 

I just discovered something similar on my negatives from yesterday!

I was going to start a post about it here, but there is already one going. So, I assume this is the same problem? Thanks for advise.

[roland_schmid]

I'm quite shure it is the lens-change thing.

[ronald_moravec1]

DAG replaced the light shields on my M3 and two M6 with a mylar replacement. The high density area across the top disappeared with never a return. It took him one try. Changing lenses inside a camera bag does not seem to resolve the issue.

 

The multiple streaks do not resemble the light shield problem I had on three cameras.

 

I have had problems with leaking shutter curtains that would leave streaks. Curtain replacement is the answer.

 

You can check the overlap if sometimes you cap the lens when advancing and sometimes not. Keep track of what you do.

[will_wright1]

changing lenses in bright sunlight will do that although rarely in an M3. M6's do it all the

time. Has to do with the spacing between the shutter curtains.

[vinay_patel]

Until some time during the M6 "Classic", Leica used strips of flocking material (not exactly felt, more like velour)glued to front and back of the shutter crate, to block light coming under or over the shutter curtains. Since that time they switched to a v-shaped mylar strip. These can be fitted to any M body. I had this done to all of my "user" bodies, it solves the leak problem. Ironically it was one of those cost-cutting measures people object to.

[alan_morton2]

Useful info Vinay, my Leica technician tried to use thicker light seal material, but even this didn't give perfect results. The trouble is, it is easy to become obsessive about this "leak", so I recommend following Al K's advice, and use dedicated bodies, (or stick to LTM, which don't show this disorder.)

 

But, if you really "need" to know if your M body has the affliction, it is quite simple to verify.

 

You need to shoot some blank frames, (lens cap on), while removing and replacing your lens.

Shoot at least 3 frames:

Shot 1) Point body towards light, before replacing lens.

Shot 2) Use your normal lens change technique.

Shot 3) Remove and replace lens in a darkened room.

 

Obviously, you need to wind-on "prior" to removing the lens, (you need fresh film for each frame),...but lens cap stays on while firing shutter.<div></div>

[vinay_patel]

Pretty IIIg...but what's that thing screwed onto it? You heretic, you : )