New to Analog, Do I have a Defective M6?

[danieldouloslee]

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Hi all! Happy to be part of this group! I am really looking forward to the analog Leica rangefinder experience. I just shot my first roll of film this weekend and picked up my scans. However, I was a bit underwhelmed when I saw some artifacts that shouldn't have been there. 

 

I'm not sure what it is as I am unfamiliar with analog, so I thought it might be best to attach photos to describe what I'm seeing. I am curious to know if my copy of the M6 is defective, and what part is.

 

First example, the bottom half of the photo is blacked out. What would be the cause for this? https://flic.kr/p/Z8c3YN

 

Second Image, you can trace a faint blue line going from the center person's left calve all the way up past the dog's right eye:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101100257@N04/36814955114/sizes/l

 

Third Image: Similar situation, a faint blue line going across the center (most obvious from his right arm): https://www.flickr.com/photos/101100257@N04/36814953464/sizes/l

 

Fourth, is this light leaking from the top left corner? https://flic.kr/p/Y6dj47

 

 

I would greatly appreciate your insight.

 

My gear: Leica M6 classic, Zeiss Biogon 35/2

Film: Fujifilm Fujicolor 200

[romanus53]

hi and welcome to this forum! remember that you are using a rangefinder so you lok through the finder and the film through the lens. first looks like a strap in front of the lens, fourth your finger on side of the lens. two and three are a little bit more difficult. i think there was something on the lens, perhaps a hair. also could be on the rear lens. have alook at this and clean the lens, then pay some attention when shooting so that there will be nothing in front of the lens, consider it's a wide angle.

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[M9reno]

I think the more relevant question here is: what can be seen on the negative? Do any of the lines or artefacts continue outside the area of the frame?

[Stealth3kpl]

I would guess that the faint blue line is dust in the scanner that the lab used.

I like the look of your photos. They may be underexposed slightly but I like it. Try shooting film at half box speed (overexpose a stop eg shoot 400iso at 200, and 200iso at 100) and use an incident light meter.

Pete

Edited October 6, 2017 by Stealth3kpl

[Stealth3kpl]

30820003 by Daniel Lee, on Flickr

 

This looks like something in front of the lens. As said before, perhaps the strap. You need to be careful with a rangefinder as you can't see through the lens. This can be an advantage sometimes eg coloured filters.

Pete

[250swb]

The line in each photo is in the same place, so there are two options, it is a scanner fault or it is a scratch on the negative. I'm pretty sure it is a scratch on the negative, so there are two further options. The first is that it is a processing error where the lab has scratched the negative, or there is a burr in the film path as it goes through the camera, usually on the pressure plate. So look closely at the pressure plate for evidence of damage, and secondly put another film through the camera and send it to another lab. And finally, if you want to photograph your camera strap you should know Leica M's can't focus that closely.

Edited October 6, 2017 by 250swb

[danieldouloslee]

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Thanks all! Stealth3kpl and romanus, you seem to be correct in thinking that it's my camera strap. Haha I'll be sure to be more conscious of it next time.

 

Additionally, the negatives do not seem to have the blue line, prompting me to believe it's the scanner itself.

 

 

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[Graham (G4FUJ)]

That is good to hear.

A good excuse to get out there and take more photos :)

[wlaidlaw]

If it is an M6TTL, protect it from damp at all costs. When not in use for any period I would suggest putting it in a ziploc bag with new silica gel sachets inside. The reason is that if any damp reaches your M6TTL, the circuit board can corrode. There are NO SPARES now available. I was going to buy a new unsold stock M6TTL platinum kit with the Summilux 50 V.3 but a camera that has sat for that length of time unpowered, is more likely to have electronic issues than one used regularly, as capacitors need to be used or they deteriorate (this is why NAIM don't put a stand-by switch on their audio products - best left permanently powered up). When I was told there were no spare M6TTL circuit boards available from Leica, I changed my mind and bought a S/H M7 instead, for which spares are available, given that you can still order one new. 

 

My sister used to be, before she retired, the publisher for a trade catalogue called Asian Sources - now Global Sources. This was originally paper, about the size of a very large telephone directory but is now all online. This lists most far east electronic part, sub-assembly and equipment makers. In it there are companies in China who will clone/reverse engineer any circuit board you care to send them within a couple of weeks or so. I am sure if Leica sent them a working M6TTL board, with its specs, in two weeks they would have as many as they liked, probably at less than $10 each. A lack of will and enterprise is the only block. The next time I see someone at Leica, I will hand them the contact details of just three of the many circuit board making companies in China, which I found in less than two minutes on Global Sources. 

 

Wilson

[wattsy]

When I was told there were no spare M6TTL circuit boards available from Leica, I changed my mind and bought a S/H M7 instead, for which spares are available

 

 

Unless you desire the AE functionality I'm not sure the M7 is the best choice in this regard. M7 spare circuit boards might still be available but Leica will charge a pretty penny to replace one outside of the warranty – probably the best part of the cost of a whole decent secondhand M7. At least with the M6TTL, if the circuits fail, you still have a functioning meterless M camera (the only thing missing is the ability to trigger a flash). If the electronics die in an M7, you end up with a two-speed meterless camera.

[arno_nyhm]

#1: strap in front of lens

#2, #3: scaningproblems. nothing to do with analogue camera

#4: mayybe light leak or lightsource next to the frame. take a look at the negative: is the light visible "between" the negatives? then its a leak. but it does not look like one to me.

 

said altogether: nothing wrong with your camera, keep tying!

[NB23]

What is analog?

 

And why use a 6-letter word to define a 4-letter word?

[fotomas]

All looked a bit unexposed. Guess you will get better results if you use this film with ASA set to 125.

[250swb]

Thanks all! Stealth3kpl and romanus, you seem to be correct in thinking that it's my camera strap. Haha I'll be sure to be more conscious of it next time.

 

Additionally, the negatives do not seem to have the blue line, prompting me to believe it's the scanner itself.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You are not looking for a blue line on the negatives, you are looking for a scratch on the film.

[Ko.Fe.]

Nothing is wrong on scans in terms of the camera so far on #1,2 and 3.

#4 could be from the strong light source. I have it on just serviced Leica. Looks like the nature of cloth shutter to me.

Edited October 6, 2017 by Ko.Fe.

[tobey bilek]

Left hand goes on lens, thumb up, pinky down.  No change for vertical pics.

 

This is the correct way to hold a camera

[danieldouloslee]

Nothing is wrong on scans in terms of the camera so far on #1,2 and 3.

#4 could be from the strong light source. I have it on just serviced Leica. Looks like the nature of cloth shutter to me.

Interesting, there's no strong light source on the left. Could you elaborate what you mean "I have it on just serviced Leica. Looks like the nature of cloth shutter to me"?

 

 

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Gears Used: Leica M6, M240, Zeiss 35/2, Zeiss 50/2

[avatar230]

Interesting, there's no strong light source on the left. Could you elaborate what you mean "I have it on just serviced Leica. Looks like the nature of cloth shutter to me"?

 

 

There may not have been a strong light source on the left of *that* frame, but did the previous shot on the roll have a strong light source close to the right hand edge of the frame that may have bled over?

 

I've seen similar bleed on both a brand new M-A as well as a fifty-year-old recently serviced M4. For instance, if one frame has the sun visible in the shot, that may leak into the next frame. It's not a defect of the camera so much as a side effect. When any given frame of film is being exposed, there's a short run of film to its left and right that's out of the canister and not yet wound onto the take-up spool. With a strong enough light source, some seepage at the edges of the frame is bound to occur.

Edited October 9, 2017 by avatar230

[danieldouloslee]

Thanks for your insight, avatar230. Grateful for everyone bearing with me and my ineptitude when it comes to analog. I am excited to see what the other photos look like when developed!

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M