justkane Posted April 28, 2020 Share #1 Posted April 28, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello, Newbie post here! I purchased a really beautiful M7 back in February and initially sent it in to service for a shutter curtain and rangefinder calibration after finding flaws in the first few rolls back from the lab. The work was done in March and all seemed well. Now there's a new super weird and annoying problem and I'm curious if any technicians and fellow M7 owners have experienced this. When powering on, the first shot seems to lock up the shutter halfway when using electronic speeds snd auto mode. It sounds like the soft click of the front curtain opening for a long exposure, but never completes the exposure with that louder clack. I am able to complete the exposure jam by switching to one of the mechanical speeds and press the release. It then clacks and allows me to advance again. Here's the weird part: as long as I keep the power switch on, I can now capture normal electronic shutter speeds without issue. Once I turn it off and then on again, that first powered frame will lock up. I've changed the batteries (using Duracell DL 1/3N CR1/3N 3v Lithiums), the battery gate and contacts appear clean, the meter appears to be displaying and working normally. Literally just the shutter lock up on the first powered frame is the issue. The service technician is a bit stumped by this issue and has suggested that I keep the power switch on and only advance when ready to shoot, or live with the oddity to avoid having to pony up for what could be the need for a new circuit board. Anyone have experience with this issue? What is the going rate for a trip to Leica for a new board and CLA? Would it be less of headache to sell the body at a low price and live another day with an M6 or MP instead? Yes, I do dream of an MP... Thanks in advance! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 Hi justkane, Take a look here M7 Shutter Jam - only first frame after powering on?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted April 29, 2020 Share #2 Posted April 29, 2020 To start with - what kind of technician is this? He is supposed to sort this as a follow-up to his repair, and being stumped is a lame excuse. I cannot imagine this being one of the reputed Leica specialists. Of course you can send it to Leica, but it will in all likelihood not be cheap and will certainly take time. If I were you I would cut my losses and send the camera to somebody like DAG, to be properly repaired. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkane Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted April 29, 2020 5 minutes ago, jaapv said: To start with - what kind of technician is this? He is supposed to sort this as a follow-up to his repair, and being stumped is a lame excuse. I cannot imagine this being one of the reputed Leica specialists. Of course you can send it to Leica, but it will in all likelihood not be cheap and will certainly take time. If I were you I would cut my losses and send the camera to somebody like DAG, to be properly repaired. Hi, well this is awkward. The technician is in fact Don of DAG. He's extremely helpful and attentive to the issue, but he's also offering alternatives to sending in to him since he may not be able to identify the problem and would have to possibly replace the board if there isn't a simple fix. He's updated me with trying a few troubleshooting methods and to report back. Don is great, I'm not gonna diss him...just wanted to see if anyone has experienced this with their M7. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giannis Posted April 29, 2020 Share #4 Posted April 29, 2020 It sounds like a circuit board issue. Those things are not fixable, unless you have the exact schematics of the circuitry, a multimeter and a soldering iron, of not a full reflow oven. In any case, it's much easier and cheaper to replace the whole circuit board than trying to even diagnose the problem, unless it's a very simple board with few components. Was this issue caused after a repair? If yes, there might be some blame on the repair person. You should get the camera fixed, the M7 only has 2 mechanical speeds, and if the electronics fail it's barely usable with 2 shutterspeeds and no meter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilm3 Posted April 29, 2020 Share #5 Posted April 29, 2020 Just to make sure...is the lens cap off the lens when you turn the camera on and autoexposure is on? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 29, 2020 Share #6 Posted April 29, 2020 6 hours ago, jaapv said: To start with - what kind of technician is this? He is supposed to sort this as a follow-up to his repair, and being stumped is a lame excuse. I cannot imagine this being one of the reputed Leica specialists. Of course you can send it to Leica, but it will in all likelihood not be cheap and will certainly take time. If I were you I would cut my losses and send the camera to somebody like DAG, to be properly repaired. Well, if Don cannot solve it, other than replacing the circuit board, Leica cannot do better, I suppose, only more expensive... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkane Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted April 29, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) 8 hours ago, jaapv said: Well, if Don cannot solve it, other than replacing the circuit board, Leica cannot do better, I suppose, only more expensive... I think he might have remote solved the issue, believe it or not. Don directed me to turn the power on, jam it by exposing in an electronic speed, un-jam it by switching to a mechanical speed, then advance, and instead of switching off, pull the batteries out while power switch is on. I did that, put them back in, Took an electronic speed shot and NO JAM! Next I switched off and waited 30 mins to be sure, switched on, took an electronic speed shot and NO jam. Something seems to have fixed it by pulling power manually and resetting the circuit voodoo. I managed to run out of film on this test so I’m not 100% sure of the fix, but I will report back. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 29, 2020 Share #8 Posted April 29, 2020 Amazing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted April 29, 2020 Share #9 Posted April 29, 2020 Hah - the battery equivalent of "unplug it and plug it in again." Tech repair 101, lesson 1. BTW - you should be able to test the fix further without film in the camera. Film Leicas "dry-fire" very nicely with no film installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkane Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted April 29, 2020 1 hour ago, adan said: Hah - the battery equivalent of "unplug it and plug it in again." Tech repair 101, lesson 1. BTW - you should be able to test the fix further without film in the camera. Film Leicas "dry-fire" very nicely with no film installed. So far it's working really well dry. I find it amazing that even in the simplest electronic system you can fix a problem by pulling the batteries while on. Brilliant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Ricoh Posted April 29, 2020 Share #11 Posted April 29, 2020 Don is a genius! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham (G4FUJ) Posted April 30, 2020 Share #12 Posted April 30, 2020 15 hours ago, adan said: Hah - the battery equivalent of "unplug it and plug it in again." Tech repair 101, lesson 1. Yup, I'd definitely go with that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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