Disappearing frame lines at infinity

[adli]

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Received my M11 yesterday. To my horror the frame lines disappear when the lens is close to or at infinity. If I focus down to 5-6 meters, the frame lines reappear. 
 

in addition, the frame lines are dimmer at close focus that at 2-5 meters.

This seem to happen to all my lenses, have tested 5-6 different lenses.

 

Any clue on what’s going on?

 

 

[hmzimelka]

Holy smokes! 

Ok, with no lens attached, what frame lines appear? And then if you actuate the roller cam with your finger, do they disappear once you depress if far enough?

[adli]

 

35mm frame lines with no lens.  And the frame lines disappears when the roller is pressed back to where it stops.

 

[hmzimelka]

That really sucks. I think something in the rangefinder must be masking the frame lines when they move to correct for parallax. 

Are the frame lines somewhat accurate ?

Seems you'll need to send the camera in for an exchange. 😬

Edited May 15, 2022 by hmzimelka

[lct]

Does moving the frame selector change anything?

[adli]

13 minutes ago, lct said:

Does moving the frame selector change anything?

 

It changes the frames as expected when the frame lines are visible. When they are not visible around infinity, moving the frame selector does not change anything.

 

[lct]

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Did you check cleanliness of the brightness sensor? Just curious given that the frame lines brightness depend on that sensor. 

[adli]

1 minute ago, lct said:

Did you check cleanliness of the brightness sensor? Just curious given that the frame lines brightness depend on that sensor. 

 

It is clean. And the transition from frame lines to no frame lines is very distinct when I change focus.

[lct]

I would ask for an exchange or a refund then but i would not accept a repair the body being new.

[hdmesa]

9 hours ago, adli said:

Received my M11 yesterday. To my horror the frame lines disappear when the lens is close to or at infinity. If I focus down to 5-6 meters, the frame lines reappear. 
 

in addition, the frame lines are dimmer at close focus that at 2-5 meters.

This seem to happen to all my lenses, have tested 5-6 different lenses.

 

Any clue on what’s going on?

 

 

Is your finger getting in the way of the window that brings light to the viewfinder?

If not, flick the frame lines lever once – it will unstick whatever's going on.

Edited May 15, 2022 by hdmesa

[adli]

29 minutes ago, hdmesa said:

Is your finger getting in the way of the window that brings light to the viewfinder?

If not, flick the frame lines lever once – it will unstick whatever's going on.

 

It's not my finger.

It is consistent across all lenses.

It happens at the same focus distance every time.

Flicking levers, changing lenses or switching camera on/off does not help.

It seems to be the illumination for the frame lines that switches of when focus gets close to infinity.

[hdmesa]

Sounds like an exchange is in order.

[adan]

Sounds like something weird is going on with the parallax-correction linkage in the (rather complex) mechanical frameline assembly.

Some may forget that focusing an M lens does move the framelines as a whole - up and to the left when focusing to infinity; down and to the right focusing closer - to adjust for the viewfinder overall seeing the world from a point 4.5cm up and to the left of the lens on the front (i.e. parallax). At long distances that 4.5cm difference is irrelevant, but at 1m, subjects' heads might get cut off without the movement.

Frame selection moves a mask that reveals/hides framelines depending on what lens is mounted - or via the selector lever on the front.

So there are two separate movement mechanisms in the viewfinder, which have to stay coordinated as one focuses.

Sounds like the selector-mask may be slipping to an "in-between" position that blanks out all the frameline "slots," as the whole set of lines move with focusing.

Which is a fault and should not happen - send it back.

I would not think focusing would "turn off" the LED illumination - the mechanical focus or selection movement and the electrical LED power are completely independent systems. It would be like your car sound-system turning on and off if you pushed the brake pedal. But I suppose anything is possible.

Edited May 15, 2022 by adan

[adli]

 

The camera is now being shippet back to Leica from the vendor as DOA (dead on arrival).

 

[jaapv]

10 hours ago, adan said:

But I suppose anything is possible.

It is - I once had a loaner Renault Megane. I had to turn on the windscreen wipers to operate the navigation system. 

[adli]

New replacement camera arrived today. Works like a charm 🙂

 

[hmzimelka]

1 hour ago, adli said:

New replacement camera arrived today. Works like a charm 🙂

 

Excellent!