M-P Type 240 Rangfinder Fungus/Watermarks/etc...?

[AllNoAll]

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Hey, 

So I just purchased a pre-owned silver M-P Type 240 from the Leica SoHo store. It was delivered today, and as always I look through all optics with a flashlight. I'm not sure what the spots in the rangefinder window from the front are, but I'm worried they are fungus. I have attached the photos I took here. I did send the photos to DAG and to the store. DAG wrote back the below. I. haven't heard back from the store, but I just sent them the email around 5pm today. Any thoughts? Do you think this is Fungus? I think I got a decent price on the camera. Looking through the viewfinder it looks perfect. Am I worrying about this for nothing? Thanks in advance.

"Allan,

Can't really tell from your photos just what that is, doesn't look like fungus and much of it is between optics that's not good to remove. I would pass on this repair.

 

regards,

Don

DAG Camera Repair"

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[jdlaing]

Have you tried cleaning it with an alcohol wipe?

[AllNoAll]

6 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

Have you tried cleaning it with an alcohol wipe?

It’s inside. Not on the outside.

[Mute-on]

Just return it. If DAG wouldn’t accept it for repair, you shouldn’t  accept it at all.

Good luck!

Edited December 10, 2021 by Mute-on

[cboy]

Looks like mould growth... probably improperly stored. No way to clean unless it's serviced$$

Edited December 10, 2021 by cboy

[AllNoAll]

2 hours ago, Mute-on said:

Just return it. If DAG wouldn’t accept it for repair, you shouldn’t  accept it at all.

Good luck!

That’s not was DAG was saying. He was saying that he wouldn’t bother repairing it. He told me to ignore it, and use it as it is in his last email to me.

[Mute-on]

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I see. Ok, so what are you asking?  If it doesn’t bother you, keep it. If it does, send it back. 

It could be fungus (although Don thinks not), but even if it is, what difference does that make? Fungus is not contagious.

It would bother me, so I’d still send it back. 
 

 

[AllNoAll]

6 hours ago, Mute-on said:

I see. Ok, so what are you asking?  If it doesn’t bother you, keep it. If it does, send it back. 

It could be fungus (although Don thinks not), but even if it is, what difference does that make? Fungus is not contagious.

It would bother me, so I’d still send it back. 
 

 

It bother me too. So the Leica SoHo store is going to get the problem taken care of! Great service on their part!

[Herr Barnack]

6 hours ago, Mute-on said:

I see. Ok, so what are you asking?  If it doesn’t bother you, keep it. If it does, send it back. 

It could be fungus (although Don thinks not), but even if it is, what difference does that make? Fungus is not contagious.

It would bother me, so I’d still send it back. 
 

 

Even though Don doesn't think it's fungus, I can't think of what else it would be.  It certainly doesn't look like water damage.

Fungus may not be "contagious," but left to its own devices, it will grow and spread.

Glad to hear that Leica store SoHo is going to take care of this for you.  I would want it resolved, too.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Herr Barnack

[jrh68uk]

Hi Allan,

I would be *really* interested to know the outcome of this.

I have exactly the same inside my M240 (to a much lesser extent compared with yours, but very similar in appearance) and also my black MP (about the same extent as yours), whereas my M7 and chrome MP are not at all affected. All are kept and used in the same manner and so I've been puzzled about this for a few years. I've looked at individual spots under magnification and would agree that they don't look like typical fungus but am curious as to what else they might be. I've been keeping a very careful eye on both my affected cameras and they don't appear to be changing noticeably with time; nor do either of the others show any signs of this beginning.

I would expect an official Leica repair to be an expensive viewfinder internals replacement so have not (yet) enquired as the spots don't affect the view during normal use, but if yours ends up simply having an internal clean it might prompt me to get mine looked at. Just knowing what it is would be most useful, though.

Cheers.

[jrh68uk]

On 12/10/2021 at 3:40 PM, AllNoAll said:

So the Leica SoHo store is going to get the problem taken care of! Great service on their part!

Just wondering whether you've received any news yet from Leica. Still very curious to know what this is.

[AllNoAll]

4 minutes ago, jrh68uk said:

Just wondering whether you've received any news yet from Leica. Still very curious to know what this is.

I do have additional information. The camera was not sent to Leica service, but to a 3rd party servicer. They took apart the rangefinder, and the problem actually ended up being rangefinder separation. It was not cost effective for the retailer to cover the repair, so I returned the camera. It was honestly great service on the part of Leica SoHo, but I can't keep a camera with rangefinder separation. The technician did state it most likely would not have gotten worse, and I couldn't tell looking through the rangefinder through the eyepiece.

[jrh68uk]

3 hours ago, AllNoAll said:

I do have additional information.

Oo-er. Thanks very much for posting this update. Separation would make sense (rather than fungus) but I'm a bit alarmed at having this in two of mine. Yours is the only other report of exactly what I see in mine that I've ever been able to find, so either I've done something I can't fathom to trigger it in two of my four bodies, or I'm just unlucky. 

In use I can prett much ignore it, so unless it really deteriorates I'll just carry on and hope it doesn't start to show in either of the other two. Sounds like any fix would likely be expensive VF optics replacement which I'm not prepared to fork out for as things stand. 

Thanks again.

 

[AllNoAll]

On 1/26/2022 at 3:32 PM, jrh68uk said:

Oo-er. Thanks very much for posting this update. Separation would make sense (rather than fungus) but I'm a bit alarmed at having this in two of mine. Yours is the only other report of exactly what I see in mine that I've ever been able to find, so either I've done something I can't fathom to trigger it in two of my four bodies, or I'm just unlucky. 

In use I can prett much ignore it, so unless it really deteriorates I'll just carry on and hope it doesn't start to show in either of the other two. Sounds like any fix would likely be expensive VF optics replacement which I'm not prepared to fork out for as things stand. 

Thanks again.

 

That does strange that two of your four would have this! I think it would be just as strange if two out of four cameras had the same of any problem though (that one person owned). Ya, it sounded like to fix it they had to replace the VF optics, which can’t be cheap.