M4 jammed

Rico · 08-03-2012

No, I didn't drop it.

Had just loaded film, and was advancing to Frame 1. Shutter didn't close after the second firing, and that was it. Mechanically, the gear-train is completely locked, and no amount of jiggling of advance lever or sprocket drum has any effect. Other mechanisms like ST and film rewind are okay. I managed to salvage my fresh Ektar 100 back into the can. Vacation had to continue with the Nikon D3000 in its plastic glory.

Richard G · 08-03-2012

Commiserations. Sounds like a job for someone capable. Might be simple to fix...for that person.

Rotarysmp · 08-03-2012

If the second cutain didn't close, it is probably just a felt light seal come unstuck, blocking the second curtain.

Open the back, and look closely the the top and bottom seals and leading edge of the second curtain. It should be obvious which seal has come unstuck.

The locked up gear train is normal. It is in the middle of a very long exposure

Don't try to force anything. You can use a jewellers screw driver to carefully ease the seal back under the shutter curtain, so the shutter can close. It will just jam again on the next shot though, so you will need to fix it.

This happened on my M2 in spring. Each company I asked for a quote offered a CLA. This is understandable, as here in Europe they have to offer a 2 year warrantly, but the camera only cost me €250 ten years ago, so I made up the special tools, and fixed it myself. Turns out my camera is in much better condition internally than externally. It has had an expensive CLA at some time which obviously involved replacing a lot of worn out parts, as I could find no evidence of wear ( the outer shell tells a different story).

You have to strip the camera down a bit to remove the light shield, upon which the light seals are glued.

Here is a link to my write up.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-...y-repairs.html

This is not a differcult repair. You can buy the special tools over ebay.
search for "leica tools"

This is a good way to take away the fear. It is much more robust inside than you think.

Rotarysmp · 08-03-2012

This is what a loose light seal looks like...

between the old US Army M2 manual, and the other repair guide which are linked in the other tread, it is easy enough to fix.