Re: [Leica] M-6 Scratches on Pressure Plate

[Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be>]

FWIW, I have an M6 in the 2432xxx range, and an M6HM (bought new in December),
and neither camera scratches film. I do see scratches on almost every roll of
film that I have processed commercially (i.e. slide or C41) but my B&W
negatives, which I process myself, are usually pristine. And I scan them, so it
would have shown up. I have resigned myself to the fact that film processed by
an industrial lab will usually have some scratches or other defects.

From reading all the posts on this topic, I have concluded that there is indeed
a problem with some M6s, but let's be careful--if you have scratches on film
processed by a lab, chances are that it is the lab and not your camera that is
at fault. Unless you do the test with examining the film after running it
through the camera.

Nathan

DonjR43198@aol.com wrote:

> Is the problem with scratches on the pressure plate a wide spread problem or
> has it been noticed by only a few?  I am picky when it comes to photo
> equipment and had not noticed the scratches my M-6 pressure plate put on the
> film.  However, I had run only one or two rolls through it, had the film
> processed and it was returned in a single length with the idea of making
> color prints from the Kodachrome 25.  I had been lazy and just cut it into
> strips of 6 negatives and slipped them into the negafiles.
>
> LUG alerted me to the potential problem and upon checking the M-6 negatives,
> the film scratches were very pronounced.
>
> I wonder how many M-6 users have not examined their film to determine if the
> pressure plate is causing a problem.
>
> This afternoon Leica USA advised the cost of a new plate is $38.00 and the
> cost for polishing the pressure plate in the camera would be in the two
> figure range but the price has not been set so far and the wait is about
> three weeks.
>
> If anyone has an idea how many problem M-6 pressure plates there are, it
> would be helpful to know.



- --
Nathan Wajsman
Overijse, Belgium

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