ColColt Posted August 10, 2015 Share #1 Posted August 10, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I think I have a vertical alignment problem with an M2. Focusing on anything of a vertical nature, telephone pole, fence post, etc., there's a ghost imagine, for lack of a better word. Once I focus from either left or right and bring the image together the actual object is still a bit higher at the top than the image I've merged leaving a sort of ghost image. I read and found there's a screw on the front of the M2 between the finders you can take out and it will expose another screw that will supposedly correct vertical misalignment. Problem I had was that screw is askew. In other words it seems to be cocked to the right and without a magnifying glass I couldn't see the slot. You can lightly push in on it and it springs in a little. Not wanting to mess anything up I corked it back up. I don't know why that screw would be offset. Apparently when it was last worked on three years back it was left that way. I don't know how you'd adjust it in that position. Any ideas? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 10, 2015 Posted August 10, 2015 Hi ColColt, Take a look here Vertical Misalignment in M2. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jerzy Posted August 14, 2015 Share #2 Posted August 14, 2015 Hello, being not sure if I understood you correctly I will start from the beginning. The screw between the windows shall have a slot, thread is only 1mm long. If this screw in your Leica dos not have a slot it means it is not genuine, but may very well do the job of preventing dust to penetrate. After removing this screw you will get access to the screw to adjust. You will need flat, 2mm screwdriver. Just insert screwdriver into the hole, pressing it lightly and turning in either direction will allow you to find the slot. This hidden screw is mounted on movable arm within rangefinder, coupled with the lens, this is why it "springs". Nothing wrong it it, do not press screwdriver too much in not to damage the arm. Set the distance to infinity, locate an object and looking through viewfinder and turning screwdriver in one or another direction merge both images. When doing this you will observe that your horizontal images will be off. This is because you will put some force on the screwdriver and the arm where the screw is located. Just release the pressure, without taking screwdriver out and your horizontal alignment shall be ok again.usually you shall not need to much pressure to turn the screw. In case the screw is stuck (I have never seen it in my practice) do not apply too much force, leave it rather to a repairman. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColColt Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted August 14, 2015 I had to order some better screwdrivers as the jeweler's screwdrivers I had weren't for this sort of job. That tiny screw inside the chrome one is offset to the right as you're looking in and not easy to access. I don't know why it would be offset. I couldn't turn it with the screwdriver I had so stopped before I messed up the slot and got some Wiha drivers. The infinity focus is spot on. I tried that with two different lenses. I focused on a couple of clouds and all seemed well. The vertical is what seems a bit off-not much but enough to have you to go back and forth trying to get a good merger. As you move the lens focus left and right the object you're focusing on seems to always be just a bit higher, preventing good focus. I think this may be affected my negatives as I shot a roll of Tri-X with the 50 and 90mm lens and none of those 24 images looked as sharp as they should have been. I've read conflicting comments about vertical misalignment not affecting sharpness so, I don't know for sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColColt Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted August 15, 2015 My Wiha screwdrivers came today and I found the 2mm one to be perfect for the slot in the vertical align screw. Just a tweak to the right, CW and it popped right into great focus. The image and the patch now align near perfect and I can read text from ten feet I couldn't read before despite going back and forth with the lens focus. Now, to run a test roll though it and compare as I've shot the same objects to see the difference. I'll finish the roll tomorrow and develop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColColt Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted August 25, 2015 Not too shabby. I must have hit the nail on the head with the adjustment. This with a Zeiss 50 f2 Planar *T lens wide open close up. D400119 by David Fincher, on Flickr Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted August 27, 2015 Share #6 Posted August 27, 2015 The vertical alignment does not affect focusing accuracy per se, however it can make it very annoying and difficult to guage when the horizontal images line up. Glad you got it fixed! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColColt Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted August 27, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) It may not but it sure made focusing much easier and I could tell it afterwards how much better the images looked. I lucked into a super nice DR Summicron and it came today. I think it looks right at home. _1DF3975a by David Fincher, on Flickr Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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