Re: [Leica] Gnorw daed era uoy, tlaW

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Hi, John....you have put it eloquently.......and you are definitely 
on the right track....and I don't think there is a "truth"...unless 
someone IN ENGINEERING AT THE TIME could answer.  I don't think I 
was being "silly"....I never denied the existence of a tool....

Does it really cost $280?.....this is as big an insult as the 
price of the "leica" flexiclamp wrenches!!!....and no wonder 
that "independent" shops don't have them....that's so absurd 
that it ought to be illegal (and I'm a republican!!)...anyway, 
in about 1979 the old German I worked with had a machinist friend, 
who made me a set...as he did our shop....I paid for mine ($50--today 
probably $100) and still have them...they're hard aluminum, so they 
don't leave marks...hopefully, they'll outlast me....probably, since 
I use them once or twice a year...
I will say, Leica has always been more than willing to sell parts/tools, 
at a >PRICE<...to anyone....Dave Elwell at parts will go out of 
his way for you...no part numbers needed if you know what to 
ask for...so there's no problem with availability, but any independent 
would look to outside sources at Leica prices....

Jim may or may not have been "silly"..he seems to have a more-than-natural 
need to determine how I adjust RFs....and how I describe it to others..
I've known about the "tool" for years...I just came to the conclusions 
that you did, and also like to clean the windows in the top cover 
at the same time....as you owners know, a "haze" forms inside, and 
slightly lowers the RF contrast...I always clean this, and the 
outer RF optics, and give the starwheel a "speck" of lube with a
toothpick at the same time...keeps surface oxidation down and keeps 
the slow speeds smooth....I'm sure Leica has a $100 toothpick and 
some $10 q-tips, too...I've just not ordered them yet...I guess I 
really should use some $300/gram  oil on my toothpick, too....but 
I haven't gotten around to that, either...since my CLAs on my own 
cameras only last 15 years or so (don't know, haven't had 'em long 
enough)...I probably need to get some...

Since I replied anyway, I'll give you some horrific details of 
how I abuse these cameras...I don't use the eccentric, with or 
without the top on....I don't like to push in on the RF telescope 
that much...I actually use a small flat jewelers screwdrive to 
shove the telescope up or down FROM THE END (it's held by considerable 
friction)...I use a little loupe to check it (without the top on, 
you need a few + diopters over the RF to see the damn patch---
unless you're nearsighted enough...hehe)....at the same time, 
I can look for crud/rust where water might have seeped in around the 
wind stack or top cover...which I remove/treat with a (non-Leica)
child's toothbrush with a bit of WD-40 on it....then I write my 
initials on the inside of the casting with a pencil...

If the camera has a 'seal' screw, I use dark green putty in it..
so I'll recognize the camera in 10 years (it's happened once so far--
one of my co-workers owned an M2 that I'd CLA'd 15 years before--
I was happy to know that he was shooting it and it hadn't exploded 
yet.

Damn, all this talk make me look back fondly on camera repair....

Nah....

Walt


Sun, 5 Nov 2000, John
Collier wrote:

> We have two seemingly normal and well respected people going to the wall on
> the proper way to adjust the vertical alignment on the improved/cheapened
> a assembly. After carefully reading both of their posts, quite a
> few of which I have saved in my repair file, it is still apparent they are
> both right; and, both being silly.
> 
> Jim has correctly stated that the tool was designed to easily (relatively)
> do the adjustment with the top plate on. His invoice description strongly
> suggests that the tool was introduced while the M4-P was in production.
> 
> Walt has stated that the repair company he worked for, took the top plate
> off to make the same adjustment. Top plate removal on a M camera is easy as
> long as you have the right collet wrenches. Reading between the lines, Walt
> worked at this repair facility in the early eighties.
> 
> So here goes nothing....
> 
> The improved/cheapened viewfinder vertical adjustment mechanism was
> introduced with the M4-2 in 1978/9 (yes I know the official date was 1977
> but they were pretty thin on the ground until much later) so it would seem
> that the tool arrived after by quite a few years. The M4-P production ran
> from 1980 to 1986 and all we can say is that the tool probably was made
> available sometime during the M4-P's production life (otherwise they would
> have mentioned the M4-2).
> 
> I work in the automotive repair trade and have had the pleasure of
> practising my trade both from dealerships and independent repair facilities.
> The dealerships have access to, and have to buy, many specialised tools that
> usually help in the repair of their vehicles. Independents usually do not
> have access to, or the resources to purchase many of the special tools.
> 
> Things I now know to be true:
> 
> The improved/cheapened viewfinder was originally not meant to have its
> vertical alignment field adjusted.
> 
> Leica found that the adjustment was having to be made more often and this
> was costing them money in warranty repair time and shipping costs.
> 
> Someone designed the tool to save time after the introduction of the M4-P.
> 
> Independent repair facilities may not have been able to purchase the special
> tool or may have not been able to justify the expense as most of their
> repair work would have been on older cameras and the tool costs $280US.
> Independent repair people have always had to devise ways of doing repairs
> that require special tools without those special tools.
> 
> So WHO is RIGHT?! They both are. So WHO is WRONG?! They both are!
> 
> John Collier
> 
>