Did the electronics die in my M6?

[joel aron]

So, this last weekend, everything worked great. The wonderful red arrows that

indicated my exposure worked as expected. Shot 2 rolls on Sunday, and at the

end of the day, I loaded a roll, but didn't shoot a frame on it. Today, two

days later, I went to take a shot, and noticed that the arrows were not there..

yes, the lens cap was off ;) I aimed the camera at the brightest light in the

room, and nothing. took the lens off. aimed at the light. still nothing.

replaced the batteries.. still.. nothing.

 

Do these things just *die* ? This is the perfect thing to happen going into a

weekend where I'll be shooting a wedding. My M6 just turned into an M3, I guess!

 

What are your thoughts? It could be it's time.. it's a body from 1986, and my

guess is that it's only been serviced once...and not while I've been the owner

over the last 4 months.

 

Help! :) ..is it time for CLA from DAG?

 

thanks!

 

-j

[allison_reese2]

was the shutter cocked?

[marc_berg]

New batteries?

[joel aron]

yes.. i've rolled a few shots out in it's present state. still nothing.

 

and yes, as noted above.. new batteries. ..and DAG's phone is busy :)

[james mitchell dc]

Press in the ISO ring on the back and move it back and forth a few times before resetting it. It could be a sign that the electronics are going. I was able to revive an M6 for quite a while by doing this first.

[joel aron]

yeah.. tried that as well. and again just now on your suggestion. This girl may be dead...but still functional as a camera by all means.

 

decided to pull the roll of film out, and check the connection w/ the back. all good there.. so it may be time for a new board with blinking lights.

 

what do these things cost?

[james mitchell dc]

DAG did it for $125.

[joel aron]

thanks James... should of also asked in my last Q, but what was turnaround time from DAG?

[lee_shively]

The meter on one of my M6's died several years ago. Actually, it didn't die--it just decided everything should be exposed at the same setting no matter what the intensity of light. I've never bothered to get it repaired and I still use it often.

[james mitchell dc]

Joel, I think it was quick, maybe two weeks.

[joel aron]

Awesome. Thanks everyone! I'll be sling'n a light meeter this weekend, and looking for safe packing on Monday morning for FedEx.

 

love this forum.

[asher]

Make sure you put the batteries in the correct orientation before you send it off..

[joel aron]

3rd set of batteries... and a few twists of the ISO dial, and I'm back in business!!!

 

amazing... but that eventually did the trick.

 

...this was my warning... after wedding, it's getting a sweet CLA anyway from the master.

 

thanks again eveyone!

 

-j

[andrew_lee2]

<i>My M6 just turned into an M3, I guess!</i>

<p>

Do you have the .72x viewfinder? If so, you now have an M4-P :)

[stuart_richardson]

You might consider cleaning the contacts on both the camera and new batteries before

sending out the camera. Sometimes just the build-up of atmospheric residue is enough to

mess with the connection, even if it is invisible. If that does not work, then you can just send

it out as planned.

[john_newell2]

Hate to be a voice of caution but my early M6 was off again/on again for a while before it totally croaked. You probably want to see if it happens again, but this may be an early warning.

[rjm photo]

Wow, I've been seriously considering getting another M body to supplement my M4 and I've been considering an M6 classic or another M2 (I owned one previously and sold it).

 

I realize there are thousands of M6's out there performing wonderfully but these kind of stories make me question an M6.

[john_newell2]

I wouldn't (let it dissaude you). The M6 is a great user and is also probably the single highest/longest production M body. I think the community wisdom is that these failures are generally confined to the early (which means mostly Wetzlar) production, and it's worth noting that these cameras are now 20+ years old. There was a change in one of the electrical components somewhere after the first few years production that pretty much eliminated the problem. Further, although not cheap, replacement parts are available. I have to say I didn't think twice about giving the go-ahead to fix mine and I'm happy to have it back.

[jean_.]

The meter in my M6 died after some weeks of agony where it gave me random erratic results. It worked for some days after re-inserting batteries and playing with the ISO wheel, but at some day it insisted to have ISO 1600 at f/2 with 1/15 sec - in plain sunlight..

 

I was bit disappointed since I could have bought an M2 for considerably less money and have a nicer camera. Out of luck, I guess..

 

I considered repairing it, but concluded that it's not worth it, even Leicas have become cheap these days! The quote Leica gave me was more than a DSLR with decent lens, selling the defective one and getting a fully functional M6 would be a lot cheaper. Still undecided what to do, but since I don't use my leica much anymore I've not bee pressed to make a decision..