D-Lux 109 … Sticky/hesitant zoom control

[dkCambridgeshire]

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A friend's D-Lux 109 with a sticky/hesitant zoom control was so slow to zoom that composition was tedious and shots were missed. An SOS Email to Leica Mayfair remains unanswered. Today we decided to try a DIY remedy. I asked my friend if he had any switch cleaning lubricant and he produced a can of SERVISOL. I squirted a small amount into an egg cup, dipped in a Q tip, and wiped it around the hairline gap between the zoom control lever and the camera top plate … ensuring that the Servisol worked its way into the gap … and then worked the zoom control lever back and forth and wiped off the excess.

 

VOILA!! Problem solved … zoom control now works perfectly and positively and with no hesitancy.   

 

If you try this, it's at your own risk. I used a tiny amount of Servisol and did not apply it to the camera directly from the aerosol can.

 

dunk 

Edited May 14, 2018 by dkCambridgeshire

[ChrisRL]

Well done, dunk!

I didn't know about the zoom switch per se, but I do know that dust getting into the lens barrel as the zoom is being worked can build up enough to cause an issue. Apparently though Leica knows this is an issue with the 109's...

However, a wee bit of homegrown ingenuity never goes out of style!

Congrats again.

 

(Once upon a time, children, all cameras were mechanical, and ordinary people such as you or I could take a see look at it, perhaps a wee poke at it, and figure it out.

But then, the Big Bad Bag Boys said to themselves: "No, selves, that just won't do!"

And so they set out to change everything. And often!)

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

I might try that with my C which can occasionally suffer the same hesitancy.

It is important to use a switch cleaner that leaves no residue (such as Servisol) though

[dkCambridgeshire]

The stickiness is likely caused by dust/sweat getting into the tiny hairline gap … especially if the camera is kept in a pocket … thus prudent to brush out pockets and camera cases. 

 

dunk 

[stuny]

Alternatively, perhaps a spilled can of Coke on the camera caused the issue.

 

Good problem solving, Dunk..