M6 - Do I need a CLA?

[Nachtmsk]

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Hi

I have an M6 TTL that I bought new about 20 years ago. I've used it but not as often as I'd like. It works perfectly.  I'm wondering if I should send it in for a CLA.  I read someplace that said Leica M cameras should go in for a CLA every 10 years. I don't know if this is accurate and it's not something I had ever thought about honestly.

 

Thanks
Mike

 

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[Pyrogallol]

If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.

Wait another 20 years and see if it is still working perfectly.

[250swb]

Wait until you have a problem, using it is the best alternative to a CLA.

[DenverSteve]

Actually, you should follow Leica's advice.  Like my Rolexes and Leicas, you don't wait until there's a problem to have a factory recommended CLA done.  Better to prevent a small incident so it doesn't cause a major one.  You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires. 

[250swb]

1 hour ago, DenverSteve said:

Actually, you should follow Leica's advice.  Like my Rolexes and Leicas, you don't wait until there's a problem to have a factory recommended CLA done.  Better to prevent a small incident so it doesn't cause a major one.  You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires. 

So, what exactly is Leica's advice? Or is this a parameter you've just invented?

 

[Anbaric]

If they do have any advice, it doesn't seem to have been important enough to put in the M6 user manual.

[earleygallery]

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1 hour ago, DenverSteve said:

Actually, you should follow Leica's advice.  Like my Rolexes and Leicas, you don't wait until there's a problem to have a factory recommended CLA done.  Better to prevent a small incident so it doesn't cause a major one.  You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires. 

Bald tyres or brakes that don't work could kill you and others. A slightly slow running shutter speed isn't going to kill anyone. A camera isn't a car.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[Mute-on]

12 hours ago, DenverSteve said:

Actually, you should follow Leica's advice.  Like my Rolexes and Leicas, you don't wait until there's a problem to have a factory recommended CLA done.  Better to prevent a small incident so it doesn't cause a major one.  You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires. 

This point doesn’t require the car analogy to be salient. In fact anyone who has experience with the type of complex engineering that goes into a mechanical watch, or a mechanical camera, knows that if you don’t service it until there is a problem, it will require more parts replaced to bring it back to operating condition than had it been maintained earlier. This assumes the parts are available, which, in the case of discontinued watches and cameras, may not be the case. Then what? You have a paperweight.  Pay now, or pay later, but at some point you will have to pay.

I would service the camera as preventative maintenance, but that’s just me. If you are fundamentally cheap, just keep using it until it breaks, then hope it can be repaired properly, and you have the wherewithal to pay for it then. 

[Ouroboros]

12 hours ago, 250swb said:

So, what exactly is Leica's advice? 

 

Page 126 in the Leica Manual for Upcoming YouTube Experts says ignore Rolex owners and anyone else who buys part-worn tyres.

[250swb]

1 hour ago, Mute-on said:

if you don’t service it until there is a problem, it will require more parts replaced to bring it back to operating condition than had it been maintained earlier. This assumes the parts are available, which, in the case of discontinued watches and cameras, may not be the case. Then what? You have a paperweight.  Pay now, or pay later, but at some point you will have to pay.

 

You have a sticky shutter button, what else needs replacing while the top is off, everything? Or do you have a special insight into which parts will go wrong and when? But in terms of un-necessary work I'd like to be your repairman, I guess he could stretch a CLA into a full rebuild with such loose criteria. It is certainly a complex camera but I think there'd be universal outrage if sent to Leica for a CLA they started loading the fee for parts based on anticipated redundancy like a cam belt on a car or knowing how long a watch has been ticking. 

[Danner]

Every fifty years, whether it needs it or not.

[Pyrogallol]

16 hours ago, DenverSteve said:

Actually, you should follow Leica's advice.  Like my Rolexes and Leicas, you don't wait until there's a problem to have a factory recommended CLA done.  Better to prevent a small incident so it doesn't cause a major one.  You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires. 

I wore a Rolex everyday for 40 years and it never had a clean or service after the first few months. 40 years later I sold it for a good profit, even after taking inflation into account. Spent the money on Leicas!

[BradS]

Every competent and honest repair technician will tell you that if it is working perfectly to keep using it. There's no need to futz with a Leica that is working correctly.

Edited November 7, 2022 by BradS

[pippy]

16 hours ago, DenverSteve said:

...You don't wait until your tires, or brakes, are bald and cause you an accident to buy new tires...

No; you don't. You replace tyres, brake-pads (etc.) when the existing ones are worn and need to be replaced. You do not, however, replace tyres, brake-pads (etc.) when the existing tyres, brake-pads (etc.) are all in perfect working condition.

The OP wrote at the start of his post;

"I have an M6 TTL (.........) It works perfectly...."

If the camera is working perfectly it does not need a CLA. What could a CLA achieve? Would the camera work better than "perfect" in any way?

Philip.

[Al Brown]

There are two kinds of people.
Some service their Leicas when broken.
Some service their Leicas when they hear they should be serviced.
Leica looooooves the latter.

[shirubadanieru]

Not my words, but advice I got from the most respected Leica repairmen in Japan and by some of the largest Leica dealers in Japan: 

- Change the grease in your lens every 4 years. If you don’t do this, issues with the helicoid, focus accuracy, etc. may arise.

- Do a CLA of your camera every 8 years if you use it on a regular basis. If you leave it at home most of the time, it may need a CLA before the 8y mark.

[colint544]

I bought an early Leitz M6 back in 1998. The serial number showed it to be a 1985 camera. I had no idea if it had ever been serviced. I used it fairly constantly until 2014. It never gave me any trouble. I know the current owner of the camera, and she reports that it's still going strong, although the meter is beginning to play up a bit. But mechanically it's still fine. Neither of us has had the camera serviced, and possibly it's gone its entire life without a service.

Edited November 7, 2022 by colint544

[Mikep996]

"

 Change the grease in your lens every 4 years. If you don’t do this, issues with the helicoid, focus accuracy, etc. may arise.

- Do a CLA of your camera every 8 years if you use it on a regular basis. If you leave it at home most of the time, it may need a CLA before the 8y mark."

 

OH NO!!!  My 1984 M6 is overdue by nearly 5 CLA's and the 1984 Summicron lens by nearly 10!  I don't understand it, they both work perfectly!  🤔

Wonder if at the next overdue CLA they will both dissolve like a vampire exposed to the sun? 😱  

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Mikep996

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[shirubadanieru]

19 minutes ago, Mikep996 said:

"

 Change the grease in your lens every 4 years. If you don’t do this, issues with the helicoid, focus accuracy, etc. may arise.

- Do a CLA of your camera every 8 years if you use it on a regular basis. If you leave it at home most of the time, it may need a CLA before the 8y mark."

 

OH NO!!!  My 1984 M6 is overdue by nearly 5 CLA's and the 1984 Summicron lens by nearly 10!  I don't understand it, they both work perfectly!  🤔

Wonder if at the next overdue CLA they will both dissolve like a vampire exposed to the sun? 😱  

 

It’s not a rule, just the advice from someone who does repairs his whole life and is the most respected person at his job here. He is also not saying that your camera or lens will break if you don’t do a CLA. You may as well go on and use your stuff forever without even CLAing it if that works for you and you see no negative impact in your files. What I take from his advice is that if you want to keep your gear at its most pristine and working flawlessly (ie as close to new as possible), then a regular ‘check-up’ even if just to change the oil will do no harm and is recommended every few years.

A similar example is with mechanical watches, in which you’re recommended to do a CLA every few years…now I don’t care if my watch is delayed by a few seconds or so every year, so I probably wouldn’t see the need to follow that advice to the letter…but I do know some people are really picky with how accurate their watches are, so they are probably sending their watches every few years to do a CLA as recommended. Same with cameras / lenses…some people are picky about dust / helicoid movement, etc…others just care about ‘if it’s not broken then it’s ok’. 

The beauty of ‘advice’ is that it’s up to each person to choose if they want to listen to it or not..so do whatever works for you  

Edited November 7, 2022 by shirubadanieru

[BradS]

The only service that  a Leica M film body that is "working perfectly" needs is to have the finger prints wiped off with a soft cloth.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by BradS