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Slight alignment delay while focusing from infinity to closest distance. Leica M4


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Hello Friends, 

I recently noticed that my M4 has a slight delay while I am focusing from infinity to 0.8. The patch would not align, it's quick but i can tell there like a millisecond lag. I found out that the rangefinder roller is a little stiff when a push it back. Is this something i can fix myself or do i need an expert to CLA my camera? I bought it 6 months ago.  No idea when it was last CLA'd but it is in excellent condition. 

Thank you in advanced!!! 

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I would rather go with a tiny drop of surgical spirit on the axis, under the roller arm. Afterwards push arm few times to mobilize, you might need to repeat tha action few times, as spirit will vaporize it might be sticky again at the beginning. But really a smal drop, not to let spirit reach inside the rangefinder

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The suggestion of a tiny drop of spirit under the roller arm might be a quick, but not particularly long lived fix. I'd vote for a CLA which should have your camera smoothly buzzing along for many years....and it's probably due anyway...well worth the time and expense. I had my M4 for 43 years with one CLA due to my clumbsiness...a great body!

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A little lube/alcohol in the roller arm and hinge can't be bad and if it doesn't work you'll have to send it for a CLA anyway, so nothing lost. Spray something like WD40 into a container and put a cocktail stick in to transfer a droplet of the liquid to the roller and roller arm hinge.

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I would not use surgical spirit which has various undesirable additives, which may cause problems after the alcohol evaporates. My choice would be switch cleaner fluid such as Servisol. This is basically 99.99% iso propyl alcohol with a tiny percentage of very thin electrolyte oil dissolved in it. This then acts as a lubricant to the moving parts of a switch when the IPA evaporates. This comes in an aerosol but for purposes such as this, I would squirt from the aerosol onto a good quality fine pointed artist's paint brush to apply, after shaking off any excess. As long as you only apply in tiny quantities to the pivot points on the RF arm, it is not going to do any harm. Using something like an illuminated sensor loupe would be a great help. 

Wilson

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