SL2 V/F Illumination

[masjah]

A good friend of mine recently bought himself a very nice SL2 (partly for old times sake, but mainly for the fabulous v/f). The only very minor niggle is that the little button which is supposed to make the v/f info light up doesn't do anything (battery checked of course). Does anyone know what kind of illumination device is used (e.g filament bulb or whatever) and can it be replaced on a DIY basis, or is it a servicing job?

[ho_co]

John--
I'm not sure, but I think the SL2 may have one meter battery and another for the VF meter illumination. That's probably wrong, and your friend has probably checked that anyway.

The camera was very 'traditional' in its day, which was certainly pre-LED, so I would guess filament bulb.

I'm not a DIY kind of guy, so my automatic answer would be to send it to Leica. They won't do just the bulb (or LED or whatever), but will clean and lubricate the whole camera. Therefore, the repair will not be cheap.

Not really OT: I was visiting a Leica dealer when a customer brought in a Leicaflex (SL or SL2, I don't recall) with some kind of problem. The dealer told the customer "Leica is too expensive, so let's send it to our local repairman."

The repairman picked it up about half an hour later and told the dealer it would probably run about $100. An hour later, the repairman called back to tell the dealer "I've never been inside a camera this complicated. I'm going to have to raise my estimate to $150."

If your friend feels comfortable exploring, I'd say go at it; but in the case in question, my feeling was that paying someone $150 to learn about my camera might have been excessive. (That was a number of years back, when the dollar had some value; I would guess the equivalent today would be about $600.)

My experience with cameras of that vintage is that the PX13 cells often corroded. The corrosion could be cleaned off the battery contact so it looked clean, but it wasn't unusual for the corrosion to have extended beyond that point internally. That's where I would start looking if there are two cells (which I'm now beginning to question).

Anyway, good luck!

[wildlightphoto]

As far as I know it's a filament bulb and it's definitely not a DIY project. The VF light is powered by the battery on the front of the camera, on the rewind side.

[ho_co]

Doug--Thanks for reminding me of the location of the SL2 meter/illuminator cell! As soon as I said I thought it might have two, my opinion started to weaken.

[masjah]

Doug and Howard

Many thanks for the information. We checked both batteries which came with the camera - meter and v/f illumination. Remarkably, they both appear to be the original mercury type and both appear to be in good condition, and at nominal voltage. The camera's battery contacts look perfectly clean. I guess that points firmly to the bulb. The metering is accurate too!

I think my friend's reaction is going to be that he will live with such a tiny problem until such time as the camera needs a service.