[Leica] M6 meter problem

[Bryk Oliver]

Sonny wrote:

"I don't think batteries will cause an error. My experience is that when the m6 battery went, it just stopped metering.

Are you certain the ISO is correctly set?

You can check the meter to see if it is in the ballpark by using Tina's Sunny 16 yard card trick.

Point the camera at grass in sunny light, and it should be about f 11 - 16 at the shutter speed that corresponds with your ISO.  The meter arrows should line up, or be close enough.

Obviously there may be no grass there this time of year, but you can do the same thing with a general scene.

These tests are better than film, because there's always a chance the film is old or there was a processing error.

from my iPad

Sonny Carter”

Thank you (and Tina) for the test protocol.  

At 2 PM we had brilliant sunshine and clear sky; the grass was green after several days of intermittent rain.

The results are: M6, ISO 400, Summicron 50mm, no filter, f/16: two red triangles at 1/60 sec.

I repeated the test on gray asphalt, comparable to a gray card, with similar results +/- 1/2 stop depending on viewing angle.

It seems that the exposure errors are my fault. My hands are no longer steady at shutter speeds slower than 1/250 sec.

f/8 and be there!

Thank you for your help,

Oliver