Leica R4 sometimes doesn`t meter corretly

[TheJukub]

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I am using a R4 serial number 1561062 with two elmarit-R lenses (35 and 90). My issue is the following: sometimes the camera will tell me it will expose the foto with a time like 1/8 or 1/4 when in reality it should be somewhere like 1/500 or 1/1000 (for example when i point it at a light in order to check weather the problem is there). Then, when I keep on half-pressing the trigger (not the right word, i`m not a native speaker) or any of the buttons that will turn on the light metering, the proposed exposure time will kepp on slowly dropping to the point where it doesnt show up on the „screen“ and only the little triangle lights up. However the triangle in the bottom left that sais weather the foto will be correctly exposed doesn’t. It does this no matter the brightness of what i am pointing the camera at. It does so no matter in what mode I am in. Also the batteries are completely pletly fresh and the battery check light does not get dimmer when i press the battery-check button.  At first I thought it had something to do with the lens, since it seemed to had gone away after reinstalling the lens a couple of times. However that has now stopped working and the problem occurs no matter which one of the two lenses I use. It also doesn`t go away with time. Maybe the connection with the lens on the camera itself is a little defect. My idea was that some nob isn`t making contact with the camera and therefore the camera doesn`t know what kind of lens is attached. Also, whilst the camera still shows an exposure that I can see, turning the aperture ring „correctly“ impacts the exposure. I really enjoyed taking the 26 pictures I made so far and would like to keep on enjoying the camera as the beautiful piece of history that it is. Any sort of input regarding this would be phenomenal, thanks in advance!

Jakob

PS: one little correction: just now, switching the programs a couple of times has fixed it (not permanently of couse), rendering most of the above useless. Il keep up anyways to give you a accurat description of what happened

Edited January 27, 2022 by TheJukub

[earleygallery]

Assuming it's not old batteries, the electronics can become faulty due to the circuit boards deteriorating over time (amongst other things).

Check the shutter speeds on manual - do they operate correctly? lf so you can always resort to manual metering or 'sunny 16' to carry on using the camera.

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[Doc Henry]

Jakob , the optics mounted on R4 must be "R only" with "control cam" ** this allows you to make a preselection of diaphragms 

and old optics from earlier cameras like the Leicaflex are not suitable  but Leica can modify by installing the cam. 

How are your 35mm and 90mm ?  on my R4S I only use the 50 mm " R Only" lens with control cam  and it works.

Best

Henry 

** read the  R4  instructions on page 50

[TheJukub]

First of all, thanks for your efforts. 
Secondly, yes, both of the lenses have this cam. Is it possible that the cameras counterpart isn’t quit right and therefore not working correctly? In order to fit the described symptoms, I imagine this „cam“ is slowly slipping against something, therefore slowly reducing the automatic exposure.

I know that some kind of error occuring just randomly at any given point and disappearing without exactly knowing why always seems like some kind of electrical problem but I still think is is something mechanical because of the following reasons:

1. the problem does seem to go away when I reattach the lens a couple of times.

2. When shooting in manual all the times work

Maybe if someone could tell me what said cam interacts with and how that works I could take a loom at that.

Also, I read that there are some contacts in the camera bottom that can corrode. I don’t see how that could cause that fading away of the times but it would e plain why it woks somestimes and then doesn’t. 
As always, I’m gratefull for any help!

jakob

 

[TheJukub]

Also, these two pins or whatever you want to call the are pretty scratched up, especially the upper one, which is also loose (maybe its not supposed to be)

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[Andreas_Kreuz]

vor einer Stunde schrieb TheJukub:

Also, these two pins or whatever you want to call the are pretty scratched up, especially the upper one, which is also loose (maybe its not supposed to be)

I think, that is the problem; they may be misaligned.

[TheJukub]

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Do you mean in the direction in which they are meant to move or towards/away from the middle of the circle?

 

[davidmknoble]

@TheJukub, a couple of thoughts.  First, meter with the lens wide open, then stop down.  If it meters properly wide open, and not when you stop down, there might be a problem with the cam mechanism inside the camera.  

Also, the Nikon F2’s - about the same aged camera - would wear out the contacts under the shutter dial.  So, when you change shutter speeds, the camera contacts would not register and the meter would not know what shutter speed was selected.  So, the electronics worked, but the contacts wore out.  Try lower light and slower shutter speeds as these are not typically used as much and may have a better chance of not being worn out.  See if the meter works there.

Obviously, be sure you have brand new batteries in just to rule out that problem!  Good luck….