Rangefinder cam sticking on M10-D

[sinjun]

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Today the rangefinder on my M10-D suddenly started sticking, in that turning the focus ring on the lens no longer results in patch movement. Taking the lens off and examining the rangefinder cam, I found it to be sticking, i.e. the spring loading is not returning it to its outer position. I can push it back with my finger though there is clearly some friction opposing movement, and when pushed in again it still will not return on its own.

Can anyone suggest a fix that I might try for this?

[Tessar.]

What lens are you using?  I had problems with the focus cam on my 35mm f/2 7artisans lens and my MD262, because of the lens design.  Try dismounting the lens gently and re-mounting it with the lens focused out to it's min. focus distance.

[sinjun]

14 hours ago, Tessar. said:

Try dismounting the lens gently and re-mounting it with the lens focused out to it's min. focus distance.

Thanks for the suggestion but it didn't work.

 

9 hours ago, blackpaint-R said:

Is it Every lens?

Yes, it's lens independent. The problem is quite clear even without a lens mounted in that the cam sticks rather than moving freely back and forth. I just wondered if anyone else had encountered this and there might be a simple DIY fix. If I had to guess the reason it would be that something was caught in the cam mechanism and impeding it, but I can't see anything.

[Tessar.]

I'm not sure if you have the same problem that I had without seeing your camera but and this isn't easy to convey in words... 

When I had the problem with the 7Artisans lens I was horrified that on the 262 body the arm with the cam on the end was sticking and impeded in its movement (when the lens was removed).  What I did (and I don't really recommend it with hindsight) was I noticed the cam was a bit higher than usual in the space it occupies and the cam on the lens had very slightly marked the paint on the bottom of the arm i.e. the cam on the 7A lens had somehow pushed the mechanism up as it hadn't aligned properly when the lens was mounted and focussed.  I very gently pulled the arm mechanism down a fraction and the arm became free moving again and I was able to mount and accurately focus my other lenses without issue.  But as I say, I was lucky with this and I could have easily caused some expensive damage to the camera.  Needless to say I didn't mount the 7A lens on the MD262 camera again, but strangely it was ok on my MP.

I would say the safest thing would be to take it in as blackpaint-R said previously.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Tessar.

[a.noctilux]

@sinjun,

take it to a repair shop (Leica if possible)

I think it can be a DIY* ... but it can be something I experienced on my M4 long ago (one of it's kind in my decades M use), without notice the spring failed to do it's job.

 

* I took the lens out, then do some roller gentle in/out a couple of times

[sinjun]

OK, it's working now. I did some gentle manipulation on the roller, pushing it in and out with slight downward pressure on the arm, replaced the lens set at minimum focus and everything seems OK. I really don't know if any or all of these things helped but it seems perfectly OK now. I thought perhaps there could be something small caught somewhere between the arm and the throat of the camera which was dislodged, but I didn't see anything. So thanks to Tessar and Arnaud for the suggestions!

PS the lens I had mounted was a 50mm summilux asph and immediately before a 35mm summaron, so I wouldn't have expected them to cause the problem.

[Tessar.]

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23 minutes ago, sinjun said:

OK, it's working now. I did some gentle manipulation on the roller, pushing it in and out with slight downward pressure on the arm, replaced the lens set at minimum focus and everything seems OK. I really don't know if any or all of these things helped but it seems perfectly OK now. I thought perhaps there could be something small caught somewhere between the arm and the throat of the camera which was dislodged, but I didn't see anything. So thanks to Tessar and Arnaud for the suggestions!

PS the lens I had mounted was a 50mm summilux asph and immediately before a 35mm summaron, so I wouldn't have expected them to cause the problem.

Glad it worked for you!  

[Tessar.]

3 hours ago, blackpaint-R said:

Oh my goodness. 
 

can you imagine mounting a $300 lens on a $10,000 camera and it breaks the camera?!!!! Jesus Christ!

Yeah, that 7A model has a weird sort of adjustable cam.  There are a few mentions online!  I was quite relieved when the MD RF started working properly again.  Luckily it didn't put the rangefinder out of whack either!