Alexander-HH Posted May 9, 2023 Share #321 Posted May 9, 2023 Advertisement (gone after registration) vor einer Stunde schrieb Huss: I just replaced the loose knuckle lever with an MP film advance lever. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Cool! Could you please also post a picture with the lever folded in towards the body? 🙏 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 Hi Alexander-HH, Take a look here I love my M5. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Huss Posted May 9, 2023 Share #322 Posted May 9, 2023 1 hour ago, hepcat said: That looks quite handsome, actually. Well done! I'm going to use it for a while and then be honest with myself and decide if I like it more than the OG lever. The M5 has a different form factor compared to the other Ms. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted May 9, 2023 Share #323 Posted May 9, 2023 4 hours ago, Huss said: I'm going to use it for a while and then be honest with myself and decide if I like it more than the OG lever. The M5 has a different form factor compared to the other Ms. Well, keep us up to date on your impression and decision. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 10, 2023 Share #324 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) On 3/12/2023 at 12:01 AM, Kl@usW. said: This seems the place to ask: I sold my M5 ( together with a steel rim Summilux ) sometime in the late 90´s of the last century because of... ennui and recurring problems with the sticky meter, ah, and upcoming AF... Hate myself for this and maybe it´s the time for putting a band aid on that festering sore: - after all the years: what are the weak points to look after when hunting for a nice M5 ? - are there spare parts for the camera ? -for the meter ? - did you modify the meter for 1,5 volts or do you use adapters ? -any suggestions ? thank you for your answers, K. Just saw this. From my experience the rf prism/thing that controls the focus patch is prone to de-lamination. The tell-tale sign is tear drop marks on the rf patch when you focus. Happened to mine. Then it went from one day being completely fine, to the next day having separated (the camera was always treated delicately) and the RF patch was now a black unusable rectangle. The fix involves replacing the frame set with that from an MP, and some other stuff that the experts do. Sherry from Golden Touch repaired mine. The need to use an MP frame set is unfortunate as it adds frame lines I did not want - 28 and 75. I later had the 75s masked off. Don/DAG did that. I had the voltage adjusted in mine so it uses regular 1.5v batteries. One other thing that M5s are susceptible to is a weird occasional light leak that results in a small triangular patch on the bottom left corner of your image. Leica actually had a service bulletin in the 1970s detailing the fix, but that bulletin is now super hard to find, and of course if you contact Leica customer service they are completely useless and just say 'we don't service the M5'. Mine had that light leak - and I know of at least two other cameras with the same - and I had it repaired. Unfortunately the repair lasted maybe 5 years before it started doing it again. Now I get that light leak about 4 times on a 36 exp roll. I cannot figure out rhyme or reason why, but as I scan my film I can clone it out. The camera is always in a half case, so no chance of anything coming through the back. This is coming from the rf window on the right front of the camera. pic showing the light leak: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 10, 2023 by Huss 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/84399-i-love-my-m5/?do=findComment&comment=4768349'>More sharing options...
M9reno Posted May 10, 2023 Share #325 Posted May 10, 2023 4 hours ago, Huss said: Just saw this. From my experience the rf prism/thing that controls the focus patch is prone to de-lamination. The tell-tale sign is tear drop marks on the rf patch when you focus. Happened to mine. Then it went from one day being completely fine, to the next day having separated (the camera was always treated delicately) and the RF patch was now a black unusable rectangle. The fix involves replacing the frame set with that from an MP, and some other stuff that the experts do. Sherry from Golden Touch repaired mine. The need to use an MP frame set is unfortunate as it adds frame lines I did not want - 28 and 75. I later had the 75s masked off. Don/DAG did that. I had the voltage adjusted in mine so it uses regular 1.5v batteries. One other thing that M5s are susceptible to is a weird occasional light leak that results in a small triangular patch on the bottom left corner of your image. Leica actually had a service bulletin in the 1970s detailing the fix, but that bulletin is now super hard to find, and of course if you contact Leica customer service they are completely useless and just say 'we don't service the M5'. Mine had that light leak - and I know of at least two other cameras with the same - and I had it repaired. Unfortunately the repair lasted maybe 5 years before it started doing it again. Now I get that light leak about 4 times on a 36 exp roll. I cannot figure out rhyme or reason why, but as I scan my film I can clone it out. The camera is always in a half case, so no chance of anything coming through the back. This is coming from the rf window on the right front of the camera. pic showing the light leak: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! I had exactly the same annoying leak on my M5 years ago. Indeed, the leak is from the front (the small rangefinder window, if I remember correctly). Malcom Taylor fixed it. It would be worth phoning and talking to him about what to do. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 10, 2023 Share #326 Posted May 10, 2023 10 hours ago, M9reno said: I had exactly the same annoying leak on my M5 years ago. Indeed, the leak is from the front (the small rangefinder window, if I remember correctly). Malcom Taylor fixed it. It would be worth phoning and talking to him about what to do. It is a common occurrence with the M5, and my leak was actually fixed for a few years! No idea why it came back - I treat all my cameras with kid gloves. I am holding off fixing it for now as I have poured so much money into this camera w CLAs, repairing the separated RF, fixing this light leak etc. If it happens only a few exposures per roll, I can live with it. FYI DAG was not able to repair it, Zachs Camera Repair made the fix. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 10, 2023 Share #327 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) 22 hours ago, Alexander-HH said: Cool! Could you please also post a picture with the lever folded in towards the body? 🙏 I found an old pic with the original lever - sorry I don't have a better one! - but it gives you an idea vs the MP lever. Note the camera is wearing a half case in the old pic, which makes the camera seem thicker and disguises how much the lever sticks out. The only place the MP lever comes into contact with the camera is where it touches the hotshoe. It floats above the rest. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 10, 2023 by Huss 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/84399-i-love-my-m5/?do=findComment&comment=4768795'>More sharing options...
M9reno Posted May 10, 2023 Share #328 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) 40 minutes ago, Huss said: It is a common occurrence with the M5, and my leak was actually fixed for a few years! No idea why it came back - I treat all my cameras with kid gloves. I am holding off fixing it for now as I have poured so much money into this camera w CLAs, repairing the separated RF, fixing this light leak etc. If it happens only a few exposures per roll, I can live with it. FYI DAG was not able to repair it, Zachs Camera Repair made the fix. Yes, I was able to trace at least part of your M5's story through several other forums, thanks to Google. Cleary a design flaw, as with me and many others it is the same triangular leak in the same corner (bottom left) of the frame. In your case it seems that at first the rather superficial repair using a felt strip (as detailed in the Leitz-issued technical note) was attempted, which had the advantage of not requiring the dismantling of the camera, but Zachs afterwards did have it apart. Malcolm's fix for me, if I remember correctly, involved taking off the top and adding extra blacking and baffling in the rangefinder mechanism near the small rf window. But you have set me wondering if that fix also was just temporary, so I should take out my M5 soon and check it out. Edited May 10, 2023 by M9reno 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 10, 2023 Share #329 Posted May 10, 2023 1 minute ago, M9reno said: Yes, I was able to trace at least part of your M5's story through several other forums, thanks to Google. Cleary a design flaw, as with me and many others it is the same triangular leak in the same corner (bottom left) of the frame. In your case it seems that at first the rather superficial repair using a felt strip (as detailed in the Leitz-issued technical note) was attempted, which had the advantage of not requiring the dismantling of the camera, but Zachs afterwards did have it apart. Malcolm's fix for me, if I remember correctly, involved taking off the top and adding extra blacking and baffling in the rangefinder mechanism near the small rf window. But you have set me wondering if that fix also was just temporary, so I should take out my M5 soon and check it out. Zachs took my camera apart! I saw pics of it in pieces. DAG just did the simple adding more felt strips w/o stripping down the camera which did not work. Maybe I just got unlucky? And your fix is permanent. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted May 10, 2023 Share #330 Posted May 10, 2023 2 minutes ago, Huss said: Zachs took my camera apart! I saw pics of it in pieces. DAG just did the simple adding more felt strips w/o stripping down the camera which did not work. Maybe I just got unlucky? And your fix is permanent. Yes, hopefully - I'll check it out. I love my M5 but there seems to be a hell of a lot of empty space in there compared to other Ms. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 10, 2023 Share #331 Posted May 10, 2023 M5 with the Lomo Minitar 32 2.8 aka Da Beast. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/84399-i-love-my-m5/?do=findComment&comment=4768808'>More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 11, 2023 Share #332 Posted May 11, 2023 13 hours ago, Huss said: I found an old pic with the original lever - sorry I don't have a better one! - but it gives you an idea vs the MP lever. Note the camera is wearing a half case in the old pic, which makes the camera seem thicker and disguises how much the lever sticks out. The only place the MP lever comes into contact with the camera is where it touches the hotshoe. It floats above the rest. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Ok, I took off the MP lever, and put the original one back on my M5. Here's why - the shutter speed dial around the shutter button actually makes the original and MP lever sit higher up than on other Ms. Now as the MP lever is thinner than the original lever - because it does not have the thick plastic thumb tab on the end - the MP lever can ride up on top of the hot shoe if you are not careful. The original lever cannot, as the thickness of the plastic end piece does not allow for enough clearance to ride up over the hot shoe. To sum up - with the M5 the original lever is better. Now I have a spare almost new MP lever if anyone is interested. I don't want to return it to DAG as it has been mounted - for 15 exposures! - on my M5. This lever will fit any M apart from the M7. And will be offered at a discount from new. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 11, 2023 Share #333 Posted May 11, 2023 Edit to the above - MP lever from the M5 going to a new home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skahde Posted May 11, 2023 Share #334 Posted May 11, 2023 If you ask me, the hinged original lever is a better fit to the boxy shapes of the M5 anyway. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 12, 2023 Share #335 Posted May 12, 2023 6 hours ago, skahde said: If you ask me, the hinged original lever is a better fit to the boxy shapes of the M5 anyway. I think you are right. The fact that it works better on that camera seals the deal. I hope this has been valuable to anyone else thinking about replacing the lever on the M5. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted May 12, 2023 Share #336 Posted May 12, 2023 On 5/11/2023 at 1:09 AM, Huss said: Ok, I took off the MP lever, and put the original one back on my M5. Here's why - the shutter speed dial around the shutter button actually makes the original and MP lever sit higher up than on other Ms. Now as the MP lever is thinner than the original lever - because it does not have the thick plastic thumb tab on the end - the MP lever can ride up on top of the hot shoe if you are not careful. The original lever cannot, as the thickness of the plastic end piece does not allow for enough clearance to ride up over the hot shoe. To sum up - with the M5 the original lever is better. Now I have a spare almost new MP lever if anyone is interested. I don't want to return it to DAG as it has been mounted - for 15 exposures! - on my M5. This lever will fit any M apart from the M7. And will be offered at a discount from new. Thanks for the update. I'd wondered how you'd like it. It looked good cosmetically, but I don't think I'd have cared for it in practice either. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted May 12, 2023 Share #337 Posted May 12, 2023 Apropos to nothing mentioned anywhere in this thread... I was asked in another venue how the M5 compares with the Canon 7, size-wise. Having JUST gotten my M5 in the mail yesterday, I thought I'd do an informal comparison. FWIW, my assessment is that the M5 and Canon 7 are functionally identical, dimensionally. There may be millimeter or two difference here or there, but functionally it's surprising how close they feel to one another in size and form-factor. Anyway, here's a couple of impromptu iPhone photos showing the comparison. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 4 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/84399-i-love-my-m5/?do=findComment&comment=4770316'>More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted May 12, 2023 Share #338 Posted May 12, 2023 Nice comparison shots. On the issue of functionality, there is one fundamental difference between the M5 and Canon 7, the Canon can only take LTM lenses, whereas the M5 can take both M mount and LTM lenses (with an adapter). 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted May 12, 2023 Share #339 Posted May 12, 2023 16 minutes ago, spydrxx said: Nice comparison shots. On the issue of functionality, there is one fundamental difference between the M5 and Canon 7, the Canon can only take LTM lenses, whereas the M5 can take both M mount and LTM lenses (with an adapter). Don't misunderstand... there are a number of operational differences, although there are probably more similarities than differences, at least in gross terms. But the question posed to me was solely about size, and if there were any significant differences in size. And it's my conclusion that the sizes are so similar as to render any differences to be functionally negligible. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted May 13, 2023 Share #340 Posted May 13, 2023 On 5/9/2023 at 6:07 PM, Huss said: Just saw this. From my experience the rf prism/thing that controls the focus patch is prone to de-lamination. The tell-tale sign is tear drop marks on the rf patch when you focus. Happened to mine. Then it went from one day being completely fine, to the next day having separated (the camera was always treated delicately) and the RF patch was now a black unusable rectangle. The fix involves replacing the frame set with that from an MP, and some other stuff that the experts do. Sherry from Golden Touch repaired mine. The need to use an MP frame set is unfortunate as it adds frame lines I did not want - 28 and 75. I later had the 75s masked off. Don/DAG did that. I had the voltage adjusted in mine so it uses regular 1.5v batteries. One other thing that M5s are susceptible to is a weird occasional light leak that results in a small triangular patch on the bottom left corner of your image. Leica actually had a service bulletin in the 1970s detailing the fix, but that bulletin is now super hard to find, and of course if you contact Leica customer service they are completely useless and just say 'we don't service the M5'. Mine had that light leak - and I know of at least two other cameras with the same - and I had it repaired. Unfortunately the repair lasted maybe 5 years before it started doing it again. Now I get that light leak about 4 times on a 36 exp roll. I cannot figure out rhyme or reason why, but as I scan my film I can clone it out. The camera is always in a half case, so no chance of anything coming through the back. This is coming from the rf window on the right front of the camera. pic showing the light leak: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Just shot a roll of Acros. Zero light leaks. So weird. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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