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Disappearing Focusing Screen

lpeeples

By lpeeples
in Leica M (Type 240 / 262)

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lpeeples

lpeeples

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I was shooting downtown this evening. It was cold, 29F or so. The brighter center focusing screen in the middle kept disappearing on me. I could put my finger over the sensor above the lens, and it would lightly appear, then go away. Back in a warmer building, it was fine. I assume it was a combo of being cold and dark. Is this common? My battery was at 80%.

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Michael Geschlecht

Michael Geschlecht

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Hello Lou,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

A person wearing gloves is more likely to obscure the little rangefinder window than the same person without gloves because the gloves make fingers effectively fatter & therefore more likely to block the window.

 

One way to minimize the chance of this happening is to use a grip with the left hand under the lens with the left thumb & the left 1st finger operating the lens while the right hand holds the body with the 1st finger of the right hand operating the shutter release.

 

Don't forget to keep an eye on where those other fingers go.

 

Yes, I know that this makes the M (film or digital) a right handed camera even though the range/viewfinder is ambiocculus.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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lburn

lburn

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I'm not sure it can be dismissed as easily as "finger in front of...." I have had the same happen to me on my M240 when shooting a Tri Elmar 28,35,50 in good daylight. I thought the problem was that I must be blocking the window in some way so I made sure I was not. The problem persisted. I took out the battery to reset the camera and tried again. The same problem was still there. In the end I changed the lenses to a recent 35 Summicron and it worked OK. I thought therefore that the problem lay with the TriElmar but the thing is that has worked perfectly with that same camera both before and since that incident. As to shooting conditions it was a summers day in Brittany this year and could not have been better. My guess is it was a blip in the software if the projected images are now electronic and no longer mechanical but I would defer to any views from more experienced users. After all much of the M240 is a computer and we all know they do weird things from time to time.

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jdlaing

jdlaing

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I'm not sure it can be dismissed as easily as "finger in front of...." I have had the same happen to me on my M240 when shooting a Tri Elmar 28,35,50 in good daylight. I thought the problem was that I must be blocking the window in some way so I made sure I was not. The problem persisted. I took out the battery to reset the camera and tried again. The same problem was still there. In the end I changed the lenses to a recent 35 Summicron and it worked OK. I thought therefore that the problem lay with the TriElmar but the thing is that has worked perfectly with that same camera both before and since that incident. As to shooting conditions it was a summers day in Brittany this year and could not have been better. My guess is it was a blip in the software if the projected images are now electronic and no longer mechanical but I would defer to any views from more experienced users. After all much of the M240 is a computer and we all know they do weird things from time to time.

 

I don't think the rangefinder patch is projected electronically as the light window is still there and it is reflected off a mirror as before.

The Framelines are illuminated by an led but the masks are still the same.

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jaapv

jaapv

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I don't think the rangefinder patch is projected electronically as the light window is still there and it is reflected off a mirror as before.

The Framelines are illuminated by an led but the masks are still the same.

 

Totally correct it is the old trusted optomechanical hardware with not an electron in sight :)

The frame lines are not projected electronically, they are just lit by a LED instead of the window.

Edited by jaapv
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jdlaing

jdlaing

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. It was with the central rangefinder window in the middle. It could have been my fingers. Now that I am aware, I'll check again tonight.

 

I discovered the little window does not have to be totally blocked either. Just partially and the light is degraded enough to dim the focus patch and make it difficult.

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