Re: M4 slow shutter speeds - kaput

[Fred Ward <fward@erols.com>]

lynn vavra wrote:
> 
> My slow shutter speeds on my trusty M4 just went dead.  What's the problem
> and what's it gonna take to fix.
> 
> Any imput on who repairs Leica in Los Angeles?

Lynn,

We had this discussion a couple of months back. This is usually caused by 
age (of the camera, not you) and the lubricant Leitz uses.

I have had that problem with every M Leica I have ever owned. What you do 
is find the last shutter speed that works (say 1/30 or 1/15), shoot a few 
frames there, then see if you can go down one speed. If you can, and it 
works, then work them by firing a few blank frames at every slow speed.

The fix....  before it happens, shoot a few slow speeds every month. That 
keeps them working. If you wait too long and they hang up, you need a 
lube job.  

All right, now let all the crazies on here blast away at the high quality 
of all things Leica and that the lubricant cannot possibly be at fault. 
And someone will have a 30 year old Leica that has never failed at slow 
speeds. But bear this in mind.... I own, have owned, use, have used, and 
I believe I have had experience with every professional-quality camera 
ever made.... this was my life for 40 years. And M Leicas are the ONLY 
camera that I had problem with. If you do a little regular work (firing a 
few frames a month), it is not a problem. This is not a big deal, just an 
annoying one. I do not believe this is a tolerance issue. The people I 
know who work on Leicas say all they need to do is use a different 
lubricant (like Rollei, Hasselblad, Canon, Nikon, Contax, Minolta, etc) 
already do. 

OK, I am now ducking.  Come on Marc and Eric, INCOMING!!!!!

Fred Ward