Leica M-A patch adjustment

[Robert_17]

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So I just got my hands on a brand new Leica M-A. It feels pretty solid so far, currently shooting with a 35 mm Summicron.

1. Photos seem to be well focused but what bothers me is when focusing very far away (i.e. all the way to infinity, say 300 m away) the objects seem to ve very slightly out of focus in my viewfinder. The pictures themselves seem to be ok, but it's a bit annoying looking in the distance and stuff seems to have a slight fuzz. Anyway, I'm new to the whole viewfinder rangefinder camera system but to my understanding this shouldn't affect the pictures as in reality, the focus ring is all the way to infinity so if the gearing is good which I believe it is then it's fine.

Let me know if that's right and also, whether it's worth adjusting. 

 

Thank you,

Rob

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[250swb]

Well two things, the focus patch doesn't go in-and-out of focus, the images simply align to say when something you've aimed it at will be in focus. If you mean the images don't perfectly align at infinity then it may need some adjustment. If on the other hand you mean the overall view through the viewfinder seems fuzzy you may need a dioptre on the viewfinder to correct your eyesight.

Edited September 20, 2021 by 250swb

[Vlad Soare]

If the images in the viewfinder do not align at infinity, then the rangefinder needs a bit of adjustment. My brand new M-A was the same. The lens would reach its infinity stop just a tiny bit before the images aligned. Mine did it exactly to the same extent with three different lenses, which proved that the issue was with the camera, not the lens.
You must check with an object that's truly at optical infinity, i.e. more than a thousand times the focal length. 
A tiny misalignment will not affect the sharpness of infinity-focused images, but may (or may not) affect the close focus, especially if the lens is long and/or wide open. The infinity stop of the rangefinder is the basis, the starting point, for its entire calibration. It will never be perfectly accurate close up unless it's perfectly well set up at infinity.

To fix this you need a 2mm allen key. The procedure is quite simple.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE7Yh5BgJ0I

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Vlad Soare

[Vlad Soare]

Just for the sake of completeness, there's more to rangefinder calibration than the simple infinity stop adjustment mentioned in the video I linked above. You can see here a more thorough discussion on this subject. A bit long, but a very interesting read nonetheless.

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/118043-m9-coincidence-at-infinity/#comments

However, it's very unlikely that the curve of the rangefinder movement (which is the most difficult part to correct and the thing that most of that thread is focused on) is wrong in a brand new camera. You're more likely to get away with just the infinity stop correction. In my case it was enough. Later on I took pictures with my 75mm APO-Summicron-M wide open at its minimum focusing distance, and they all came up razor-sharp. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Vlad Soare

[Robert_17]

Thanks, @Vlad Soare

That's very informative. I was wondering, did you have any other problems with yours?

First couple of films I developed also had some scratches running along the whole length of the film. Very fine and very straight. The pressure plate I checked and it s perfectly smooth. Check the image I attached.

Funny enough, the second batch of films, I developed myself and I couldn't see any scratches. Could that be because of the lesser quality of my developing (i.e. the camera still scratches but I just can't see them?)

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Edited September 20, 2021 by Robert_17

[250swb]

33 minutes ago, Robert_17 said:

 

Funny enough, the second batch of films, I developed myself and I couldn't see any scratches. Could that be because of the lesser quality of my developing (i.e. the camera still scratches but I just can't see them?)

 

Could the lab have scratched the first roll?

[a.noctilux]

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Welcome here Robert,

Are the scratches on the back side or emulsion side ?

Some new M-A have other problems

 

 

[Vlad Soare]

38 minutes ago, Robert_17 said:

I was wondering, did you have any other problems with yours?

Just one small cosmetic issue. The frame counter is slightly misaligned.

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I understand it's an easy and quick job for a repair technician, but I'm not going to send the camera abroad for that. I can live with it.
Everything else is just perfect.

No scratches with mine, but I did have some scratches on my first couple of films, which looked just like yours and were caused by the scanner. I've got a better scanner since. If the pressure plate is perfectly smooth, I think we can safely rule out the camera as the culprit. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Vlad Soare

[Robert_17]

9 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

Welcome here Robert,

Are the scratches on the back side or emulsion side ?

Some new M-A have other problems

 

 

Hi there,

I'm not sure I know how to check that as I only have the digital pictures. I don't have the negatives as I did not pick the up from the shop.

[Robert_17]

10 minutes ago, Vlad Soare said:

Just one small cosmetic issue. The frame counter is slightly misaligned.

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I understand it's an easy and quick job for a repair technician, but I'm not going to send the camera abroad for that. I can live with it.
Everything else is just perfect.

No scratches with mine, but I did have some scratches on my first couple of films, which looked just like yours and were caused by the scanner. I've got a better scanner since. If the pressure plate is perfectly smooth, I think we can safely rule out the camera as the culprit. 

Yeah, it seems to be perfectly smooth. The reason why I am not 100% convinced is that I have also developed some other rolls at that shop (albeit colour) and they did not present any scratches. Might it be they used another scanner for the B&W ones, that would explain it.

[Vlad Soare]

When you send your negatives to a lab, all bets are off. Too many variables. Could be a different scanner. Or a different person handling the film. 
If the film you developed and scanned yourself is fine, then all is well. Welcome to the club. It's a marvellous camera.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Vlad Soare

[Robert_17]

Yes, it definitely is. Happy to see how many people are still involved and interested in this type of photography!

[a.noctilux]

When you have the negative, the back side is not coated with emulsion, the brighter side is back side  (pressure plate ?).

This can say that the lab can scratch your film or as Vlad wrote, the scanning process.

As side note, even when I do the processing myself, some scratches can occur, when pulling the film out for example.

Dust can be anywhere also 🤢.

Edited September 20, 2021 by a.noctilux

[Robert_17]

Ok, that's good to know. Might go to the shop and see if they still have it and then check it out.

[Kenneth Cheung]

I bought a M-A and a MP recently.

Both of them are having the same problem as yours.

And I was told that, all old lenses will have different degree of alignment offset on the new camera.

You can try attach a modern lens on your camera, you should see no problem.

[Vlad Soare]

32 minutes ago, Kenneth Cheung said:

And I was told that, all old lenses will have different degree of alignment offset on the new camera.

You can try attach a modern lens on your camera, you should see no problem.

I can't speak for Robert, but mine used to exhibit the problem with modern lenses. A Summilux-M 35mm ASPH (aka. FLE) and an APO-Summicron-M 75mm ASPH, both bought brand new at the same time as the camera.
It also did the same with a Voigtländer Nokton 75mm f/1.5, which is also modern, but I guess one could argue that this isn't relevant since it isn't a Leica lens.

On the other hand, I can't tell for sure whether it really was a problem. It may well be that the focusing error would have been unnoticeable on film. I don't know. But I feel better now that I know it's fixed.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Vlad Soare

[Robert_17]

I'm not sure what you mean by modern lens. The lens I'm currently using is a brand new 35mm Summicron.

[poli]

My new m-a had the same problem. Patch was slightly off on infinity with all my lenses. I followed instructions mentioned above. All is fine now. 

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