will_wright1

<p>I have an R5 that locks up occasionally. first see if your finder display is lighting up..cycle the mode switch under the shutter dial a number of times...also mount and dismount the lens a few times. battery compartment clean--i.e. no corrosion or dirt? clean with a pencil eraser. ditto with wiping the batteries clean. good luck..it's a good camera</p>

<p>I have one of the early M4-2 motors #6597 which at the time had to be individuallly tweaked to a specific camera. It was very rough on the camera and ultimately destroyed the wind head, I'm quite convinced. at the time I enventually had 2 M4-2's and after the tweak, it would work on both cameras. wrecked the first one though. A turkey. bulky, heavy, and cumbersome. </p>

<p>Oh man, here we go again on the batteries...use a PX-625 alkaline and go enjoy shooting and using the meter. suffice to say a noted repairperson recommends them. They work just fine. </p>

<p>When DAG cleans and "upgrades" an MR4 meter or equivalent he installs and recommends the PX 625A which is the alkaline equivalent of the PX-625 original. from personal experience it works perfectly, is a direct physical replacement (no adapters required) and is totally succesful. Huge amounts of print and web space have been devoted to a proper replacement. Don's comment is that he's been doing this replacement for 20 years with no issues. give it a try before you go nuts with Wein cells. </p>

<p>won't help you tonight, but B&H, Adorama among other have the B&W film you're looking for in quantity. I'm currently working thru a hundred foot roll of HP-5. Likewise they have D-76, fixer, the work. B&W is accessible, reasonable, fun, and hugely satisfying. Good luck. </p>

<p>won't help you tonight, but B&H, Adorama among other have the B&W film you're looking for in quantity. I'm currently working thru a hundred foot roll of HP-5. Likewise they have D-76, fixer, the work. B&W is accessible, reasonable, fun, and hugely satisfying. Good luck. </p>

<p>fog on the first few frames can be a symptom of the unloaded casette being exposed to bright light (sunlight?) before loading. the fact that it was an 800 speed film would weigh in on this sort of diagnosis. The light leaking thru the felt light trap will affect the first few frames. try a roll, perhaps of a slower speed, and load it in subdued light. good luck. </p>

<p>he said it well. However having owned and used one for many years I'd add that all up it's probably better than it's being described. It was the absolute top lens of its time and the working tool of MANY famous photographers. No,it's not at its best wide open, few lenes were, but as mentioned a bit of contrast and you'll have trouble picking out the print from more contemporary lenses. It's a fine lens as is its predecessor the Summitar. </p>

<p>my last 100' of HP5 from Adorama works out to about $3.50 a 36 exp roll for 15 rolls in a hundred feet. </p>

<p>oh boy...this is hard to describe. bear with me. Your put your open Leica cassette, either kind, in your bulk loader (watson or the big Alden's and I'm sure others of 50's to 60's vintage) in the open position, i.e. ready to receive film. Your film end has to be trimmed to about a 3/4 inch "V" shape. (it won't attach without this trim) then you gently push the v shaped end into the slot in the take up spool in the casette. Now close up the loader engaging the knob described above in the picture. wind on your film. the advice to not overload is good. When you have done that, close the door on the casette with the external knob on the loader. It may be difficult. Having done that open up the loader, cut the film off, trim you leader and you're ready to go. Serious suggestion. try this with a foot or so of film first in daylight so you can see what's happening. biggest problem...not getting the door on the casette closed. good luck. I took me about 4 tries when I went back to loading my Leica casettes. </p>

<p>belay my previous comment on 12585! My old 12585H is engraved for 6 different lenses including an f2 35mm--should work just fine on your lens...save the money. It'll look a bit larger that the current plastic rectangular ones, but should shoot fine..</p>

<p>12585 may be too deep and vignette a 35mm lens...proper one would be 12504 which will work fine or the new plastic 12524 or 12526 rectangular hoods with the tab to index it properly. </p>

<p>besides all the foregoing thoughts, the M6 meter seems to "like" highlight. If you've got sky or a white surface, or a strong light in the image it'll go for that. I've come home from trips with well exposed sky. So try to isolate the area of interest in your image and meter that or a similar tone. Or, be quite deliberate in pointing it down to avoid the sky reading. This gets worse with wide lenses...</p>

<p>one of the old fixes for this problems is hard black wax. Melt the necessary amount into the crack and "sculpt" it a bit with a knife to match the adjacent area. Its cheap, durable, and almost invisible when done...</p>

<p>look at Henry Scherer's website http://www.zeisscamera.com/ henry has a through discussion of Contax problems and solutions--including the lens issues. There are alternatives to Henry as a source of repairs with his long backlog on work. </p>

<p>at one point in the production life of the M's they produced the halliburton cases of accesories for the military M's they were selling. As a user note, you can get replacement foam liners for the cases from Halliburton, I suspect the foam is badly deteriorated by this time. </p>

<p>per some conversations with DAG when my M6 dial got so loose it wouldn't stay in place, the dial is supposed to be "stiff'...enough so that you can't accidentally change it. This is controlled by a "detent spring"..which can weaken with age. I had mine replaced and it is now stiff like a new camera. </p>

<p>a sharpie is best...</p>

<p>the innards of the MR is pretty dense. suggest professional help.. DAG will do the job and convert the meter to 625A batteries. Worth it. much to screw up in there.</p>

<p>the innards of the MR is pretty dense. suggest professional help.. DAG will do the job and convert the meter to 625A batteries. Worth it. much to screw up in there.</p>

<p>re: the lens; check Don Goldberg...he's got parts for problems like that. he replaced a single diaphragm leaf in a Summitar for me. worth a call before you junk the fine lens...</p>

<p>My R5 has been a rock of dependability for more than the 10 years I've owned it. From time to time it loses the viewfinder displays. The answer seems to to work all the contacts and switches vigorously including mounting and remounting a lens a few times and it will soldier on. One lesson is never leave it unattended for a week or more without removing the batteries. I agree that a fine reading of the instructions would be essential to a new user...aperture priority won't work unless the aperture is set all the way to the minimum etc. good luck. </p>

<p>my son has one which I've used often. There is an M6 brochure of the time (A4 size) that had an illustration of one which might give them some sort of "official" status. I've also heard (not seen) discussion of various different black parts...seems like sort of a random, what's available sort of thing/ </p>

<p>I have a vintage Contax 1 that was a BAD scratcher. I took some extremely fine jewelers rouge paper and gently rubbed the pressure plate which knocked down some digs in the plate and then cleaned it with alcohol. Finally I q-tipped some teflon lubricant on the plate itself and it's now slick as a whistle and a non scratcher. Or...first simply carefully clean your pressure plate with alcohol. </p>

<p>I live here and shoot all the time with M's downtown. I'd endorse the "use common sense" thoughts. I carry a small bag and in crowds--like the subway or Times Square keep the bag under my arm and a hand on the strap...just like my wife handles her purse. NY is really one of the safer cities in the country...maybe the world. Lots of cops around. Yes you can shoot in the subway. Have fun with normal precautions. </p>