Does my M2 have a shutter problem?

[Karim Ghantous]

Have a look at the attached image (in hindsight it was a wasted shot but I'm glad I took it now). Notice the

streak at the top of the frame. This was not present in any other images AFAIK from that day's shooting. So what

do you suppose the issue is? Light leak? Lens was 90mm f/2.0.<div></div>

[ronald_moravec1]

Needs a new light seal around the shutter opening. Shutter itself appears fine. I have had to repair two M6`s and a M3 with similar problems.

 

There could be a hole in the shutter, but you can inspect for it with a light and taking the lens off. Look at both first and second curtains. Visual inspection is not 100%.

 

If it were my camera and considering the age of it, it would go to DAG for new curtains, light seal and CLA.

[laptoprob]

Have a look at the back door. Top of the image means bottom in the camera. The streak starts at some point in the frame, this means back door. You may have had the camera in more light than with the other shots, explaining why only this shot.

This is not a shutter hole.

You can add some felt-like light trapping material between body shell and back door. Not too much ofcourse.

 

good luck!

[john_shriver]

Did you change lenses around this shot? That would point at the light seals along the shutter.

[david_werbeloff1]

My M2, inherited from my father, displays an identical light leak across the top of the frame. It only happens intermittently.

The camera has been to at least three Leica specialists over the course of the past 46 years seeking a cure for the leak. Needless to say, I'm very interested to hear of a similar problem in another M2, and what folks propose as a probable cause.

Best, David

[colin jackson]

I get that occasionally on my M2 or M3 when there is a bright light source out of frame and above. I believe that the bright source is

imaging on the stepped metal bar that forms the bottom of the film gate and reflecting back up to the bottom of the film (top of image). My

camera tech repainted the flat black below the film gate during the last CLA and I have not noticed the effect since. It was getting quite

glossy in that area. My MP does not have the step shape around the film gate that the older ones do and the flat black is fresh and very

flat and I have not had that problem with it. I suspect that the stepped shape aggravates the tendency for reflections.

[02Pete]

I had the same issue with my M2. I sent it to Gerry Smith of Kindermann in Canada, e-mail service@kindermann.ca, who indicated that the shutter curtains needed to be replaced. After he performed that repair and a CLA, the camera worked well, and it continues to do so. While moderately expensive, the repair cost less than buying another used Leica body, and the results were entirely satisfactory, so on balance I considered the service worth the cost.

 

In terms of operating technique, it may also be worth making an effort to change lenses in the shade rather than in bright sunlight, if possible, and to keep the camera body's lens opening pointed away from bright light while there is no lens mounted. This reduces the amount and intensity of the light that the light seals and baffles inside the body need to keep from reaching the film.

[laptoprob]

back door...back door.

Did you notice the different colour of your light streak? That is because the light coming from the back creates a different colour on film than light coming from the front.

Light coming from the front can't cause the streak starting a few mm into the frame. Back door leak will do this.

Been there, cured that.

[lookupinwonder]

Pre-CLA my M2 showed the same. My FED5 shows it too if I change lenses in bright light.

 

I tend to think the stray light comes from the front, not the back.

[t_nu_tamm]

I had similar leak with my m4. Then I discovered it only happens after I change lenses, and now it's almost cured by

re-glueing the first shutter curtain ca 1mm lower on its drum.<div></div>

[carlo_innocenti]

My "theory" is very close to Colin Jackson's one.

 

Sometimes, the light hits the black metal shield at the bottom of the volume enclosed between the film gate and the

lens flange, bounces off it, is partially blocked by the bottom rail of the curtain shutter, and finally hits the film during

exposure. It is necessary to repaint the said metal shield or cover it in black felt.

 

Opposite to the mentioned shield there is the rangefinder arm and a more recessed chamber that does not reflect

ligth towards the top of the frame (bottom of image).

 

The lateral sides of the chamber are less prone to reflect light because they are farther from the optical axis, hence

less illuminated.

[david_l3]

My M6 does exactly that when changing lenses and the opening is exposed to bright daylight. I can see it along the bottom of the film gate with a very bright pen light in a dark room. On mine it's more of a problem with the shutter cocked. DAG supposedly puts in a light seal to fix it. When it's time for a CLA I'll have it done.