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experience Anti-Flare modification in M6


the.ant

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I'll have to send my M6 send for CLA because the viewfinder is maladjusted. Since I saw that wIll van Mannen also offers a modification to the viewfinder to reduce the flare, I was wondering whether anyone has made experience with this? Is it worth the money? Does the viewfinder get much darker?

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A fairly well-known camera repair shop near Tokyo offers this modification, which actually appears to be quite simple, though it seems this is their own patented way of doing the upgrade.

 

The page is all in Japanese, but the photos are self-explanatory.

 

http://www.kanto-cs.co.jp/repair/m6/index.html

 

For what it's worth, I can offer this summary. They say that Leica Japan (not sure about Leica in general) does the MP upgrade by enlarging the hole where the light from the rangefinder mirror enters and then inserts a small lens to minimize flare. This makes a small portion of the bright frameline darker, especially the tele frames. This method does not entirely eliminate flare.

 

Their patented solution is to insert a tube through the hole and secure it with a glass plate. The tube is black on the inside to eliminate any stray light and white on the outside to minimize the shadow it casts on the bright framelines. This solution elminates both flare and the shadow cast on the bright framelines almost completely.

 

Not sure this is at all pertinent to the way anybody else does the upgrade, but it might offer some insight into the issues involved.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Tjeerd! I still have to send my camera in, so I think I'll save the money and just have it CLAd.

Also, they informed me that it would reduce the brightness of the viewfinder, which I would not like.

 

So, I think I'll rather save towards a M3.

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You will probably find that, if your M6 hasn't been CLA'd for a long time, when you get it back, the viewfinder experience will be greatly improved anyway.

 

Leica CLA'd my M2 a couple of years ago, and just by cleaning it and replacing a slightly damaged fresnel window, the experience was transformed.

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