Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Greetings, I've recently endured *exactly* the same problem... > I've just noticed that my M6 seems to be leaving some very fine > scratches on film. The scratches run lengthwise across the negative... > ...they appear on a reasonable proportion of negatives. > They don't appear in the same place on the different negatives. > The scratches are so fine that I can't see them on a negative with a > loupe. However, they show up on a scan when enlarged. With both bodies loaded with slide film, I tested for the scratches. The scratches don't show up under loupes, but in computer scanning. The scratches tended to show up about the same place along the film with each test, at about the 10-15th frames, mostly, but everywhere else as well. The service technicians I talked with suggested several alternatives. Among the most highly regarded here...one suggested that I clean the pressure plate with isopropyl alcohol and blow out the camera (with the shutter open and the lens removed) with an air can. After doing this I *think* I have the problem solved, for now. Even so, one of the two camera bodies was very much harder to rewind than the other, making me wonder if the scratching could be coming from within the cassette, as the film base rubs the emulsion coiled inside the cassette. I sent that body for service. - -Gary S. Colby colbyg@ulv.edu