vertical line in RF patch

[infrequent]

my M6 RF patch seems to have a vertical line in it. it's clearly visible thru the VF. i also noticed that the line moves as i shift the frameline preview lever. any idea why this could be happening? surely not normal!

[infrequent]

bumping the post...

[infrequent]

just got back from shooting a roll and now it's a curved line instead of a straight one before. so it's likely a bit of rubbish like hair or eyelash. but where can it be..inside the VF assembly?

[Nugard]

I think it's in the viewfinder-rangefinder somewhere... I don't know what it could be, it don't really matters, but how to get rid of it... I don't know... Sorry... Did you cleaned all of the windows of the viewfinder-rangefinder?.. If so, then it should be inside...

[Justin Low]

Sounds like it's resting atop the frameline mask.

[infrequent]

nugard thx for the reply. i have cleaned the surface so likely something inside. a similar thing happened with my dSLR once. must be my luck!

[infrequent]

@justin - so it's definitely inside? any easy way of dislodging it?

[Justin Low]

Yes, it should be.

I doubt there's any easy way to remove it. There aren't any access points through which you could direct a blast of air (which in any case, would just blow the offending debris onto some other part of the viewfinder).

With the proper tools, it's not hard to remove the M6's top cover, and you'll have full access to the viewfinder optics and should be able to remove the debris easily. That said, I guess it's not something I would recommend due to the risk of damage (unlikely, but you never know?).

[Nugard]

Maybe try to shake camera a little... If you said, that after shooting it moves... So maybe if you shake it a little, it will banish?.. But be carefull
It's not the smartest idea, but it's the only one I have, if you don't want to send camera to the repair master...

[infrequent]

@justinlow - yeah..not sure on doing it myself. trying to contact a former leica repairman in adelaide. also find the 75mm frameline distracting especially with the 0.85 mag. might get both done at the sametime.

@nugard - that's what i tried at first! it needs more persuasion.

gents, your advice is much appreciated. other ideas are most welcome.

[Justin Low]

Good luck with it!

The framelines are quite easy to "black-out" if you have access to the frameline mask. Just apply thin slivers of opaque tape to cover the desired frames.