Re: [Leica] shutter light leaks

[Tuong Nguyen <etmthnu@etm.ericsson.se>]

A Belated Happy New Year to Everyone,

Jesse,
Sorry for the late reply, spent the new year in Paris, more detail later.

I have repaired a shutter curtain on my M4 so maybe I can contribute
a little bit about repairing shutter curtain and back felt strips.

From Jesse's description-

I think these are three possible causes:

1. Leading shutter curtain which is narrower than normal - fix:
replace the shutter curtain, complex and expensive procedure.
The curtain should be at least 1mm (from memory) wider than
film opening.

2. Worn felt-unlikely unless an old M6 model, or the felt strips need
adjustment.  Need to remove the square metal cover on which the felt 
strips are mounted.  This is a messy operation because I had to 
remove the focus cam following arm to remove the metal cover.   
Please remember how you took it apart, because you can change the 
range finder focus alignment.


3. Need a adjustment on the square metal cover/chamber to move it closer
to the shutter curtain.  This is the most likely scenarios.  It 
was not done properly either at the factory or at the previous
service.
The top and bottom felt strip mount on the back of this metal cover.  
The felt strips should touch lightly on the leading shutter curtain and 
completely prevent any light coming through to the film.
This procedure can be very easily done once the camera casing is removed-this
is the difficult part.
When I adjusted the square metal cover, I made sure that the metal cover
aligns with the film opening.  This ensures that using lenses like
the Noctilux does not vignet at the corner.  At least on my prints,
I could not see any visible vignet with my Noctilux, but I did 
not take the picture of a white wall to verify this.  Maybe I have a 
size extra-large Noctilux, that is why it is so heavy.

Conclusion-this repair can be done but by some one who has dis-assembled
a Leica M camera before.  It tooks me a week to figure out how to
remove the camera casing.  Then another week to repair and assemble
everything.  If your camera is in mint condition then let an expert
fix it.  If you make a mistake, you will damage your beautiful camera
and it will cost more to repair it.

More on my new year in Paris: lots of champagne, dancing, and listening
to my wife's angelic voice, singing in front of a live band.
And of course spend some time shooting with my Leica cameras.  I brought
along both the M4 and R7 camera.  The M4 for candid and night photography.
And the R7 for city and portrait.  Did not much
photography as much as I like because there was too many tourists at the
popular spots I visited and it is difficult to concentrate when my wife and
my mother impatiently waiting for me to take a photo.

Did some shopping at Paris's best Leica shop - Maison du Leica at Rue de Beaumarchais
Never seen so many R cameras and winders in one shop.
The street is lined with so many camera dealers.  But some were closed for
the holiday period.

Nearly buy a R winder there, but I had a second thought.  I rarely use
a winder and it is too heavy for my poor back.  I ended up buying a MR meter
for my M4 and an used 351 adapter for my Metz 30 Z2.  Nice flash.
Good thing that I did not brought more money or else I would had spend it 
on more lenses.
Must remind myself to go back to Paris around spring time.


Tuong.