Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/08

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Re:m-6 film scratching.
From: COLBYG@ULV.EDU
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 08:55:16 -0800 (PST)

Hi, Jem,

	Thanks for the post...

> > Maybe your M6 can use the Leica cassettes, mine can but the later ones
> > can't. If you're unsure then look at the baseplate locking spigot, on the
> > inside of the camera (baseplate), if you see an ring with a gap in it then
> > this is the means to unlock the cassette...

	I'm a little uncertain what you mean by "...ring with a gap in it." The
locking device has a 1/2-inch gap in it, but that gap is clearly intended to
engage the camera body to lock the baseplate in place.
	My M6 is pretty new, I bought it from Don Chatterton last year, but
didn't use it alot until last summer, then didn't start scanning negatives and
slides until this fall. That's why I didn't notice the scratches until now.

> 	I suspect though, that if the film was fresh then the problem may be
> elsewhere. You haven't told us about your drying technique (and this subject
> was discussed extensively here recently) presumeably you don't squeegee or
> wipe the film with your fingers after washing and before drying? 

	I don't touch the film after it comes from the Photo-Flo, except to
gingerly hang it in the dryer. The drying cabinet is a big open box, like a
coffin on end. There's nothing inside to touch the film.

	The dust-in-the-camera problem seems like the only thing left except
the camera. We live and work in the lousy air of the Pomona Valley, about 30
miles east of Los Angeles. I've always had problems with dust inside view
cameras, but never a problem with dust on pictures or scratching film in 35mm
cameras until using the Leica. The dust problem with the Leica actually first
appeared in July, 1998, in Runnemeade, New Jersey. It was hot and humid, but
not dusty.

- -Gary
 colbyg@ulv.edu