RE: [Leica] Rangefinder patch flare

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

In response to Bill...
I wish I had the answer...Being a user, not collector, I have simply placed
a small black ink dot in the center of the illumination window, hoping to
achieve that no flare/visible rangefinder patch balance. It helps, but it
doesn't solve the problem entirely.

B. "Who agrees that a rangefinder fix for the M6 is far more important than
anything else that Leica could do at this point to "improve the camera" D.
;-)



- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Bill Larsen
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 1:43 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Cc: cbabing3@swbell.net
Subject: Re: [Leica] Rangefinder patch flare


Ouch.  You had to bring this up.  My most recent method is to first make
sure
that the glass is all clean.  This usually helps but doesn't eliminate the
problem.  My current "field expedient" method is to remember to bring along
a
roll of scotch "transparent" tape and a black marker.  Often, just taping
over
the fresnel light window helps greatly.  If I need more help, I will place
black dot in the center of the tape and make it bigger until I hit a balance
between eliminating most of the flare and still being able to see the
framelines and focus patch.

The tape comes off as soon as I am through shooting.  The only other way I
have used is to focus on something that is the same distance and hope that I
have enough DOF to mitigate errors.  Hopefully BD will weigh in on his
current
method.

Regards, Bill, who would like Leica to eliminate this problem before they
add
any bells and whistles to the M series  --- else stop producing fast lenses
that they claim will work with the M body.

Kip writes:


|At the risk of posting something on topic these days, and with apologies
|if I've ignored an answer that has been provided previously, but is
|there an easy self-help solution for the rangefinder patch going white
|on the M6 when the light strikes it from a certain angle?  I've read
|comments about this phenomenon since I subscribed to the list, but
|haven't been bothered by it until recently (my daughter has begun riding
|in horse shows in indoor arenas, where the sodium vapor or some other
|type of intense ceiling lighting frequently blanks out the rangefinder.)
|
|I gather the problem stems from the ribs in the translucent panel, and I
|know that if I cover the panel completely I lose the frame lines.  Is
|there some other well known temporary cure that keeps the frame lines
|but tones down the flare in the rangefinder?
|
|Sorry for the interruption.
|
|Cheers,
|Kip
|
|