M6 - strange lightmeter behaviour

gewitterkind · 10-14-2006

Hi there,
i just received my black M6 i got from ebay, and it's all fine, except for one thing: every now and then, the lightmeter gives a different readout for the exact same situation i metered a few seconds before. If i take the battery out and put it back in a few seconds later, everything's fine again. Odd.

Sometimes it even begins to flash, as if there's not enough light, when there quite obviously _is_ enough light - for example, when pointing it at the sky. The battery-workaround works in this situation, too.

I'd like to know if this is a known behaviour, for example for a nearly dead battery. I haven't had the chance to change it, due to stores closing earlier on saturdays over here in germany.

The guy i got it from said that it's been CLA'd and converted to the MP viewfinder before he sold it, and apart from this lightmeter-thing, it's really in excellent shape.

It would be pretty cool if it wasn't any serious failure. I do have a money-back guarantee if the cam doesnt work normally, but i'd really like to keep that cam - it's a serious case of instant-love *g*

Thanks in advance for any replies, tips, whatsoever.

Dougg · 10-14-2006

You might try the old trick of rubbing a pencil eraser around on both electrical contact points (inside surface of the cover too) in the battery well to clean off any dirt or oxidation that might hinder the proper flow of power. Good thing to do, before resorting to the repair tech.

jaapv · 10-14-2006

Try changing the battery.

gewitterkind · 10-14-2006

Hmmhmmm, at least no 'yeah, i know this problem, your camera is f***ed' reply yet *g*

thanks for the replies, though, i'll try that. i'm just a bit nervous cause i lost my trusty minolta xg-m due to a dead meter.

mad_boy · 10-15-2006

I experienced strange lightmeter behaviour twice.
Both times a new battery solved it.

Hopefully this is the same in your case
(I have my fingers crossed)

Mad_boy

Trius · 10-15-2006

Does the M6 use the SR44W (Everready 357, etc.) battery? If so, make sure you use a "real" SR44 or true equivalent, not an alkaline of the same form factor. The voltage drop of an alkaline is gradual near end of life, where as the SR44W and other silver-oxides drop voltage more quickly at end-of-life. With an alkaline you get erratic behaviour at end-of-life, which may be what's happening here.

gewitterkind · 10-15-2006

hmm, the battery has '3V DL1/3N' written on it, it's made by Duracell.

Ben Z · 10-15-2006

Beside changing the battery and cleaning the contacts inside the battery compartment, also carefully wipe down the gold contacts on the back flap door and inside the doorway, that's where the ISO communicates to the meter and if they're intermittent from dirt it could cause erratic readings. I would do these things ASAP so if the problem isn't cured you can settle up with the seller as to how to handle it.

clintock · 10-15-2006

The battery part number you describe is a lithium cell. Lithium cells have a very odd death spiral and will almost always make things act funny as they get dead.
I think you'll get better use out of a stack of two silver oxide buttons (357 etc).

gewitterkind · 10-19-2006

*sigh*

i replaced the battery, and it's not gotten any better. wish me luck with dealing with the seller...

gewitterkind · 10-23-2006

Just in case anyone's interested: The seller will have the cam checked by Leica in Solms for me. As soon as it's fixed and i know the reason for the malfunction i'll post it here in case anyone is going to have that very problem in the future.

Terry Astor · 10-23-2006

Brand new MP bodies are supplied with a lithium 3v battery. Does Leica at Solms know something we do not?
Takis

Kim Coxon · 10-23-2006

I did have a similar problem on my M6. The problem lay in 2 busted diodes in the meter circuit. It was a simple and inexpensive (in Leica terms) fix by CRR. Look on the bright side, you get the camera checked for free by Solms!

Kim

gewitterkind · 11-06-2006

aaaaaargh

i got the cam back. it was checked by Leica, and it was sent to me with their repair bill, on which you can read that the cam works flawlessly. there was also a little ribbon with a plastic thingy on which you can read 'Leica' on the one side and 'customer service' on the other side.

so i was happy for like 2 and a half seconds - okay, that was a lie, i need a bit more to load film - and then i got pissed off again.

first frame (a christmas tree i shot in my studio, pretty evenly lit with or without the strobes on) reads a 30th at 2.0 - after taking the shot and advancing, the meter flashes to show that there's not enough light. wtf?! that's exactly the same problem i had. I mean, if it takes me _one_ shot to find out that it's still not working, _why_ in the name of all ... didn't Leica see it? Is their customer service _that_ bad?

Oh, and after taking a second frame of the very same setting, the meter even showed a reading that was different from 'not enough light flashing' and and 30th/2.0

I'm seriously pissed.

jaapv · 11-06-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by gewitterkind

aaaaaargh

i got the cam back. it was checked by Leica, and it was sent to me with their repair bill, on which you can read that the cam works flawlessly. there was also a little ribbon with a plastic thingy on which you can read 'Leica' on the one side and 'customer service' on the other side.

so i was happy for like 2 and a half seconds - okay, that was a lie, i need a bit more to load film - and then i got pissed off again.

first frame (a christmas tree i shot in my studio, pretty evenly lit with or without the strobes on) reads a 30th at 2.0 - after taking the shot and advancing, the meter flashes to show that there's not enough light. wtf?! that's exactly the same problem i had. I mean, if it takes me _one_ shot to find out that it's still not working, _why_ in the name of all ... didn't Leica see it? Is their customer service _that_ bad?

Oh, and after taking a second frame of the very same setting, the meter even showed a reading that was different from 'not enough light flashing' and and 30th/2.0

I'm seriously pissed.

You'll have to return it to Leica

I hade a similar problem with my Digilux2- it came back far worse than I sent it. It earned me a letter of apology, a free battery and a more than perfect camera - after I had cooled down...

gewitterkind · 11-06-2006

hmmyeah, i just sent it back to the seller. the problem for me is to trust an object that has once failed. i know i would always be wondering whether the lightmeter works or not, and that would hinder me from working with the cam the way i want to.

it's happened to me with a motorbike: once the brakes failed, i could never ever trust that bike again. not even after it had been repaired.

oh, and i don't want to always have to deal with the seller till the cam works.

the person who sold me his 35 summicron has offered me a M6 TTL, i guess i'll go with this cam. the TTL does work without batteries, too, right? Only the TTL flash capabilities are not working without the batterie, right?

SolaresLarrave · 11-06-2006

Yes, gewitterkind, the M6TTL is just like the M6, only with TTL flash metering (and a couple of milimeters taller; almost unnoticeable). Hence, like with the M6, should you run out of meter juice, the camera still works perfectly.

BTW, I have two. They're great... and a bit newer too!

lushd · 11-06-2006

Amen to that - my M6 batteries shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the choir invisible yesterday. They behaved very oddly towards the end and new ones sorted it straightaway. If you're not using it set it on B which isolates the meter circuit and stops their life draining away.