Leica III RD problem

[paulopires]

<p>Hello good people.<br />A dear friend of mine has a gorgeous Leica III RD.<br />The camera hasn't been used for more than 40 years and the first roll came out with some strange marks.<br />I would be grateful if anyone could give me some input about this.<br /><br />If you could be so kind has to look at it here (I seem to have a problem uploading images here)<br />linhttp://gallery.me.com/paulopires#100236<br /><br />I'm guessing some kind of film advance problem, but this is me talking to the wind.<br /><br />Thank you<br />Paulo<br /><br /><br>

<a href="http://gallery.me.com/paulopires#100236"></a></p>

[john_shriver]

<p>That's known as "shutter capping". I means that the oil in the camera has turned to glue (probably by getting mixed with dust), so that the bearings for the shutter drums are causing the closing curtain to catch up with the opening curtain. The pattern is the texture of the cloth of the shutter curtains, the traveling slit got so narrow that the weave is a significant fraction of the slit width.<br>

The camera needs a clean, lube, and adjust. This is totally expected after 40 years of storage.<br>

Let us know what country/city you are in, and we'll recommend a good place to send the camera for this. </p>

[paulopires]

<p>Thank you so much John.<br />And I apologize for not being able to upload an image into the thread.<br />You make perfect sense.<br /><br />I'm in Lisbon, Portugal.</p><div></div>

[paulopires]

<p>Finally! Success. :)</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>My first suggestion on <a href="http://www.nemeng.com/leica/007e.shtml">repair folks</a> would be Malcom Taylor or CRR Luton in the UK. That's a short hop by post from Portugal, and both are excellent.</p>

[paulopires]

<p>Thank you once again John. We have a decent (but expensive) Mamiya mechanic in Lisbon but for the Leicas is a bit harder to find a trusty person.<br /><br />Thank you my friend.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>Certainly a shutter problem, calling for servicing. I think the black marks could be light getting between the two shutter curtains when they are closed and fogging the film next to the actual frame in the film gate (i.e in front of the lens). If this were the case, the problem would happen more when you change lenses and less if you avoid carrying the camera about for long periods without a lens cap on. The actual slit is defined by metal clips on the ends of the shutter curtain, so can't actually imagine the texture of the shutter curtain material imprinting on the film. Whatever the reason, servicing will fix it!</p>

 

[john_shriver]

<p>David -- fog would be white. This is definitely capping. The image even gets soft at the left side, because the slot got narrow enough to cause diffraction.<br>

If you shoot at 1/60 or 1/125, the capping shouldn't be visible, if you want to otherwise test the camera before sending it for repair.<br>

It will feel and sound very different after one of those shops does their CLA magic.</p>

 

[mukul_dube]

<p>Agree with John Shriver. I'll only say, unhelpfully, that if "RD" means "red dial", the camera has to be a IIIf, not a III.</p>

[SolaresLarrave]

Nicely exposed shot here.