Leica MP Rewind Lever problem?

[gabrielaszalos]

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I've been using my new MP for about a month now, shot about 8 rolls through it. Today, when I tried to push the small rewind lever into the "R" position at the end of my roll, it wouldn't go into "R" and it kept jumping back. I freaked out a bit and later when I tried to show my wife, it worked, but it had to be pushed harder than usual. I didn't want to force it too much at first with the fear of breaking the small lever. After I rewound the film and opened up the bottom plate, I kept checking the lever and it seems to be working very well and doesn't require much pressure now when the film is out. This is the first time this happened. Why does this happen? Did anyone else have this experience? Is this normal?

Not sure if it matters, but I load my film exactly as instructed in the Leica MP manual, and as a result, I always get 37 exposures.

[Stealth3kpl]

I bet the gears were just in the wrong place. Probably won't happen again.

Pete

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[a.noctilux]

Long time ago, this occured to my M4 only once.

To use the camera while waiting for repair, when time for rewinding the film, I hold the R lever with a digit while rewinding as usual.

As side note, my older M2 "button" was used that way, holding/pushing the button which tend to come out, while rewinding.

 

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Edited March 23, 2020 by a.noctilux

[250swb]

12 hours ago, gabrielaszalos said:

I've been using my new MP for about a month now, shot about 8 rolls through it. Today, when I tried to push the small rewind lever into the "R" position at the end of my roll, it wouldn't go into "R" and it kept jumping back. I freaked out a bit 

It's perfectly normal for it to happen from time to time, another small press on the film advance lever would have cured it and got all the internal components aligned properly. You don't need to freak out, just stop reading posts by doom merchants who want you to believe their problem is a universal problem and that Leica's are always going wrong, they are reliable cameras.

[wattsy]

Yes, sometimes the position of the various gears become a little 'jammed' (for want of a better word) – especially if you've wound the film right to the end of the spool – and flicking the title R rewind lever requires a bit more force than normal.

Edited March 24, 2020 by wattsy

[gabrielaszalos]

16 minutes ago, 250swb said:

It's perfectly normal for it to happen from time to time, another small press on the film advance lever would have cured it and got all the internal components aligned properly. You don't need to freak out, just stop reading posts by doom merchants who want you to believe their problem is a universal problem and that Leica's are always going wrong, they are reliable cameras.

Thanks. I am overly cautious and paranoid of my new expensive camera. And you’re right I have been reading some crap but also my first order had issues which further underlined the mentality. 

I could not move the film advance lever because the film was at the end of the spool. 

[gabrielaszalos]

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6 minutes ago, wattsy said:

Yes, sometimes the position of the various gears become a little 'jammed' (for want of a better word) – especially if you've wound the film right to the end of the spool – and flicking the title R rewind lever requires a bit more force than normal.

Don you reckon it might be better to only shoot 36 frames? I always get 37...

[wattsy]

16 minutes ago, gabrielaszalos said:

Don you reckon it might be better to only shoot 36 frames? I always get 37...

It depends how careful you are when you load. I like the satisfaction of starting the film off with the minimum amount of leader and routinely get 37½ or so frames per roll (there's almost always a bit of a frame on the roll – usually the best photograph😀) but that's because I'm a bit of an arse. (I also usually lose a frame or two on the roll beaqcuse I've either left a lens cap on or accidentally fired the camera whilst putting it into my bag). If you stick to 36 you certainly won't 'jam' the wind mechanism as you try to rip the film from the cartridge (it doesn't actually jam, just gets a bit stiff to release).

Edited March 24, 2020 by wattsy

[gabrielaszalos]

Thank you everyone for the kind words (of relief) and insights.

Wattsy, I do the exact same and get about 37 and a half. I guess what I could do is to stop advancing further once I get to 37. My habit has been to keep advancing until it's not possible to advance anymore. Maybe that'll help. Next time I shoot shot 37, I'll just leave it and not advance.

[Matlock]

56 minutes ago, 250swb said:

You don't need to freak out, just stop reading posts by doom merchants who want you to believe their problem is a universal problem and that Leica's are always going wrong, they are reliable cameras.

Oh come on. It is a well known fact that the only way to get a Leica to work correctly is to have a CLA about every 3 days. 😆

[250swb]

18 minutes ago, gabrielaszalos said:

Thank you everyone for the kind words (of relief) and insights.

Wattsy, I do the exact same and get about 37 and a half. I guess what I could do is to stop advancing further once I get to 37. My habit has been to keep advancing until it's not possible to advance anymore. Maybe that'll help. Next time I shoot shot 37, I'll just leave it and not advance.

Honestly, you don't need to be that careful, just shoot until the film stops because sometimes you get 39 on a roll. You now know it isn't a problem, so don't continue to treat it as a problem.

[gabrielaszalos]

For what it's worth, I spoke to Leica and the reply I got was:

Quote

[...] the problem you described is not normal. It is possible that a pin inside is loose or misaligned. To determine the exact cause of the problem, we have to check the camera in our service facility.

This sucks.The thought of me having to send a 2 month year old camera into service is not very pleasant. Furthermore the thought of giving an expensive camera to a courier is also concerning. I'll probably not do that and continue using it until the problem actually stops me from doing so.

[250swb]

1 hour ago, gabrielaszalos said:

For what it's worth, I spoke to Leica and the reply I got was:

This sucks.The thought of me having to send a 2 month year old camera into service is not very pleasant. Furthermore the thought of giving an expensive camera to a courier is also concerning. I'll probably not do that and continue using it until the problem actually stops me from doing so.

My own opinion is that Leica are just playing safe, this is how their customer support works. There are plenty of things on a Leica camera that if you wanted to make an issue of it they would say 'send it back'. And then they check it and you then get told 'it is working normally'. You perceive a fault and they won't try to diagnose it from a distance. But at some time or other everybody will get the same resistance from the rewind lock, and if somebody hasn't already had it happen (often it's many times depending on how long they've been using Leica cameras) then it will eventually. I have had it happen on M2, M4, M4-P, M7, and MP. They were all working perfectly at the time. 

If it's completely locked up and won't shift at all the rewind lock does need looking at, but for it to happen one time.........it just doesn't make sense to make a fuss about a common occurrence. That's my 2 cents.

 

[gabrielaszalos]

Honestly I suspected so too, that's why I said I wouldn't send it yet. It sounded more like "let us have a look at it". I don't have a choice anyway since they're closed with the pandemic now. Wow, you sure seem to have a lot of cameras

I plan to visit Wetzlar sometime, and I might do that after this virus thing is over and have them take a look at my camera while I'm there.

[250swb]

7 hours ago, gabrielaszalos said:

Honestly I suspected so too, that's why I said I wouldn't send it yet. It sounded more like "let us have a look at it". I don't have a choice anyway since they're closed with the pandemic now. Wow, you sure seem to have a lot of cameras

I plan to visit Wetzlar sometime, and I might do that after this virus thing is over and have them take a look at my camera while I'm there.

Shoot more film! 😄

[RayD28]

14 hours ago, 250swb said:

My own opinion is that Leica are just playing safe, this is how their customer support works. There are plenty of things on a Leica camera that if you wanted to make an issue of it they would say 'send it back'. And then they check it and you then get told 'it is working normally'. You perceive a fault and they won't try to diagnose it from a distance. But at some time or other everybody will get the same resistance from the rewind lock, and if somebody hasn't already had it happen (often it's many times depending on how long they've been using Leica cameras) then it will eventually. I have had it happen on M2, M4, M4-P, M7, and MP. They were all working perfectly at the time. 

If it's completely locked up and won't shift at all the rewind lock does need looking at, but for it to happen one time.........it just doesn't make sense to make a fuss about a common occurrence. That's my 2 cents.

 

+1

[Mute-on]

Had a similar experience on my MP (or was it M2?). Anyway, it’s not an actual lockup, just tension at the wrong point. Once cleared (with a second press against the rewind lever) it’s highly unlikely to reoccur. 

I’d be 99.9% sure you have nothing to worry about. 

J

[gabrielaszalos]

For what it’s worth this happened to me again, so it might after all be a problem, but as long as it works, I will abstain from sending the camera in and be without it. 

[Bangrossi]

My M6 TTL also have same problem. The rewind lever always snap back, but only when the shutter fully cocked or not fully cocked. The only workaround is to push film advance lever a bit. This way the R lever will stay and not snap back to normal position. Then, I can start rewind the film.

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Hallo,

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[Mute-on]

That is normal, particularly if you reached the end of the roll half way through advancing the film. The gears are just held in place by the film and need to rock back a millimetre to allow the rewind lever to engage. Happens on occasion on my M2 when I read the end of the roll mid wind. I don’t force it, just gently rock the rewind lever until it moves into the rewind position freely.