Leica M4-2 Light Leak?

Oatcake

Oatcake

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Matt
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I appear to have a light leak on my Leica M4-2. Can anyone confirm?

It's appeared on mulitple rolls, on multiple films both off-the-shelf and bulk rolled, but not on every shot. If I'm shooting fast, taking a few shots of the same scene there is no leak. At night nothing shows. It shows up worse when there is a time gap between shots, which makes me think it's a light leak. The marks are perfectly aligned to the frames, so I am discounting developing as that would be much more random.

Pictures to follow.
 
The fact it also appears on blank frames when I have accidentally triggered the shutter in dark conditions with the camera set to f16 and 1/1000th makes me definitely think it is a leak. The camera is under warranty, so I figure I'll just send it back for repair.
 
The intriguing thing is that it goes into the inter-frame gap as well. Not sure why this seems significant but it does! Presumably rules out stuff coming in through the lens!

What do the seas look like?
 
Yup, looks like the light seals are shot. Simple and cheap to fix.
 
Defo looks like a light leak mate.
 
Thanks for taking a look guys.

Having done a bit of research I'm pretty sure it's a leak. I read somewhere online that the M4-2 has some internal seals that you can't see. The base and back doesn't have seals, it's just a tight fit. The camera is well used, so I guess it's just showing it's age. I had hoped buying one that had been really worked all the kinks would've been ironed out, but I guess it's backfired on me. Red dot are very good and offer a 6 month warranty, so I guess I'll just have to send it back to them for repair.
 
That's a fair point. I haven't had chance to check yet. That was next on my list. I need to rip through this film first though. 30 pictures of the cat coming up.
 
NickT said:
I haven't a clue what those parallel stripes on the first two frames are, however the dark areas on the other frame look like light may have got past puckered up shutter curtains. With the lens removed and the back open, do the curtains look puckered when the shutter is cocked and uncocked? There is no light coming through the back of the camera, as light doesn't reach the sprocket holes.
Click to expand...

I decided those parallel stripes must be part of the picture and not the light leak! Though they are indeed weird... ;)
 
ChrisR said:
I decided those parallel stripes must be part of the picture and not the light leak! Though they are indeed weird... ;)
Click to expand...

You are correct sir. Luckily I took two frames of the same thing. The second one doesn't have the leak cos it was taken in a dark environment straight after the previous frame.

IMG_1405.JPG
 
OMG, that looks like Dave Myers, the hairy biker. :D
 
It's at a placed called camera obscura in Edinburgh. It's full of all these optical illusions. This a self portrait combined with a portrait of the missus.
 
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