Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/01/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Fri, 9 Jan 2009 Gary Dalton <grdalton@hotmail.com> wrote: >Before all of that. I need to know if the M2 still works. This particular >"hammer" hasn't been used in 20 years, and the "hammerer" (me) >has never >used this particular hammer before... (or shall we call it a "hammera" at >this point?) >So, to start with, I'm going to shoot with each of my five lenses at >different f-stops and speeds. I'll record that data and compare it with >>the prints to see what I've got... >How's that sound for a starting point? ================================================================================================= I think you might worry about the camera speeds more than the lenses not working. I would say, use one lens to conduct a shutter test. Find a non-varying subject and lighting level that allows you to use speeds from, say, 1/1000 at f/2 to 1/15 at f/16. Use each combination and see if the resulting densities appear pretty much the same. (At f/2 there might be some vignetting, but the center should be close to the other pairings if all speeds are good). If you have a CRT monitor,put on a blank screen, take off the back door and lens, hold the camera vertically close in front of the TV, and, starting at 1/60, fire the shutter. At 1/60, you should see almost a full frame image of the screen. As you change to each faster speed, the slit should halve the image, so at 1/125 there should be only a half frame, etc. Do this multiple times for each speed, to catch the bright patch in the center and average the results. The 1/1000 speed frequently goes off spec when the first curtain slows up, so you might not see much, or anything, which means it is getting sticky. For slower settings, (no TV for this) under room lighting, look at the camera from the front as you fire the shutter. If the first curtain is getting lethargic, you can actually see it failing to clear the film aperture before the second curtain comes across. If the gear train hesitates, or doesn't reset until you start to wind the lever, you've got trouble. You should check for pinholes in the shutter curtains too, just in case. Alan Alan Magayne-Roshak, Senior Photographer UPAA POY 1978 University Information Technology Services University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/