Leica M6 2022 - Bayonet a bit loose

[Jewl]

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Hi all,

today I got a new M6 2022. I attached my 35mm Lux and realized that the bayonet seems to be a bit loose as compared to my M11. Has anyone with the new M6 experience whether this is normal? Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/69bs89m0lzrern8/IMG_9237.MOV?dl=0

I can feel the lens slightly moving when leveraging the focus tab! 

Thanks,
Julian

[250swb]

You mean the lens moves a bit in the mount? This was normal on film bodies, it doesn't affect focusing or anything.

[logan2z]

I don't have a new M6, but I've never felt any play in the mount of my M-A or M4.  This doesn't sound normal to me. 

@Huss Have you experienced this with your new M6?

[Anbaric]

It's certainly not a feature of the original M6!

What is actually moving? Is the lens not fully locking into place and moving relative to the mount, or is the mount ring itself loose?

Edited December 2, 2022 by Anbaric

[Jewl]

Yeah the lens is moving a bit in the mount. Not the ring itself on the body is loose. The store manager from Germany checked this with their colleagues in Wetzlar and sent a video across where a similar behaviour can be observed! It is not hindering from taking pictures but it is just a bit looser than on the M11 for example. 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Jewl

[250swb]

14 minutes ago, Jewl said:

Yeah the lens is moving a bit in the mount. Not the ring itself on the body is loose. The store manager from Germany checked this with their colleagues in Wetzlar and sent a video across where a similar behaviour can be observed! It is not hindering from taking pictures but it is just a bit looser than on the M11 for example. 

 

If there was no tolerance at all built in it wouldn't take long to discover that some lenses lock into place and others won't, it is just the tolerance you can feel, and with some lenses you'll feel a fraction of rotation more, some less, and some none at all.

[Jewl]

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Here with a 50mm lens: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4v59dxyaroexs7r/technician leica lens mount test.mp4?dl=0

[LocalHero1953]

Rotational movement is common in the M mount and should be harmless, as long as it locks.
Side-to-side or up-and-down movement (i.e. off-axis) shouldn't happen, and would cause optical errors.

Edited December 2, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[Huss]

3 hours ago, logan2z said:

I don't have a new M6, but I've never felt any play in the mount of my M-A or M4.  This doesn't sound normal to me. 

@Huss Have you experienced this with your new M6?

Nope, not with my Lux FLE 35.  But maybe it would with other lenses which I have not tried yet.

With my other M cameras and M lenses, there is a difference with tightness mixing and matching between them.  That is just due to the fact of differences in manufacturing tolerances on the lens mount and on the camera mount.  And don't get me started with the Leica branded LTM-M adapters!  I have one that will not lock on to some of my M cameras, but is fine on the others.  And that is the official Leica product!  Which is why I now only buy cheapo Fotodiox ones, as those have been perfect.

Bottom line - normal.  Just go out and shoot.

[Huss]

2 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Rotational movement is common in the M mount and should be harmless, as long as it locks.
Side-to-side or up-and-down movement (i.e. off-axis) shouldn't happen, and would cause optical errors.

Exactly.

[Danner]

That would not bother me, FWIW.

[LocalHero1953]

The M-mount and its tolerances were specified 70 years ago, so variation is to be expected. And there is plenty of documentation of light leaks around the mount in long exposures.