Problem with Leica M6

[bitwalk]

Hi! I recently bought a Leica M6. I've only shot about 2-3 rolls with it, and now suddenly in the middle of a roll I've experienced something odd. I now have to pull the wind lever 1.5 times in order to be able to press the shutter for metering. Is this a common problem or feature I don't know about? Please forgive me if this is obvious I have no previous experience in Leica cameras. Any help much appreciated. Thanks!

--Andreas

[Photon42]

Not sure I understood exactly what happened. With Leicas, you can cock the shutter / transport the film in multiple strokes, just like all other cameras I know of with manual transport. If this is what you experienced, no problem.

In any other case I'd talk to a camera service. You'd likely to see larger gaps between the frames then as well, I the transport mechanism is affected. I never heard this is a common problem, though.

Kind regards and good luck
Ivo

[steed]

There are cameras, such as the Leicaflex, where you have to pull the lever out half way to activate the meter. I've never heard of that feature on an M6, though. I'm thinking a short circuit, since the meter is activated by light pressure on the shutter release. Good luck
John W

[rubenkok]

Hi Andreas,
Shutter has to be tensioned and the speed dial not set to "B"
Here you can find the M6 manual.
Hope this is some help,
All the best
Ruben

[bitwalk]

Ok, after a few shots of this weird behavior it's back to normal now. Thanks for all suggestions, and I'm now more confident that something was wrong for a short while. If the problem comes back again I'll go back to the dealer as it was sold as newly serviced and fully working.

To clarify, I had to pull the wind lever one full stroke and after that a half stroke to be able to press the shutter lightly in order to turn on the meter. I hope I didn't have it on B as I sometimes put it on B when I put it down my bag.

Thanks anyway for all help!

--Andreas