A small child hanging over a zoo railing and kicking his feet back just kicked my M6 out of my hand this afternoon. It went sailing and landed on tarmac. Result? Mint SBOOI viewfinder dented and scratched, dented baseplate, and body is bent- the rounded metal edge on which baseplate fits (i.e. lip of film well) is pushed in a couple of mm at the rounded corner.

I cannot pull out the film cartridge or put in a new one, so the body dent has to be removed.

This is the only M6 body, indeed only camera I currently have access to in Tokyo and I have a trip of a lifetime-to Kyoto, Japan- coming up in 6 days.

A number of questions come to mind-my ability to find a competent Leica repairman and communicate in Japanese the urgency is near nil.

1. Can I push the dent out myself without distorting the body permanently to the point of creating light leaks or an unflat film plane? I think so, because the dent is on the lip of the body, in the rounded curve, well away from the film gate. Time is of the essence and so I may well have to do this.

2. Has this happened to anyone else? What was the remedy/how good was the repair?

3. Anyone know of a really good Leica repairer in Tokyo?

4. Morbid curiosity compels me to ask y'all how much you think my M6TTL.85 just depreciated ;-)?

On the bright side, I am indeed fortunate in that I will have a 'user' camera that I can forthwith take anywhere, abuse any way, and not have to worry about cases etc. :-)

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 03, 2001

Answers

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but it is not the end of the world. I have an old M2 with lots of dents and it works fine. With the judicious use of some basic tools, one of them being a pair of pliers you can most likely straighten out that bent lip for the base plate, at least to get it in serviceable condition. Be sure to place a rag between the teeth of the pliers so as not to mar the camera finish anymore that it already is. Wish I could be more help.

-- Steve LeHuray (icommag@toad.net), April 03, 2001.

Really sorry to hear about what's happened to your Leica. Try calling this number in Tokyo during office hours for a Leica repairer: 03-3801-3507 (sorry, I don't have the company name and address in English, but you could call to find out.)

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), April 03, 2001.

Did you happen to still have a passport warranty on the camera, as it is supposed to cover things like this.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), April 03, 2001.

Andrew,

Why would a warranty cover an accident? I thought that is what insurance is for. If you crash your car while under warranty it is not covered, your insurance has to pay for it. Please set me straight.

-- Steve LeHuray (icommag@toad.net), April 03, 2001.

Leica's Passport Warranty is supposed to cover damage caused by accidents as well. That's one of the greatest advantages to buying Leica USA, as opposed to buying 'gray'. That's also one of the advantages to paying for Leica USA's extended warranty coverage to increase coverage to 5 years. However, this won't help Mani get his M repaired for his trip to Kyoto.

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@worldnet.att.net), April 03, 2001.

Hi Mani,

1) I did a couple of searches on Yahoo and then called Leica USA for you. Leica USA referred you to: Leica K.K, 2-8-8 Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0064, Tel. 03-3292-9821, Fax. 03-3292-9777.

Please note that Leica USA actually gave the following tel. no. for Leica K.K., but this was different than what I found afterwards for them in Yahoo. 03-3292-9810.

I also found the name /Kanto' in a search on Yahoo, as the largest Leica Repair Co. in Japan and the current Leica distributor. I don't know if they're related to Leica K.K. or not and couldn't find anymore info. on them.

2) You may also want to refer to Ed Romney.com before you attempt to repair it yourself. He sells reapir manuals and tools. He refers his Japanese customers directly to Cosmo System Labs, but their site is in Japanese.

I also found a Leica repair site at: mediajoy@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp.

3) Re: the specifics of warranty coverage for accidents in my previous post, the Passport Warranty DOES cover repairs due to accidnts, but the Extended Warrranty DOES NOT (after the 1st 3 yrs. covered under the Passport). 4) If all else fails, you might consider buying a Bessa or Konica RF body, until you can get your M repaired when you get home.

Good luck. I hope this helps!

Ken

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@worldnet.att.net), April 03, 2001.

The correct spelling for the Leica repair co. & dist. in Japan is: Kanto.

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@worldnet.att.net), April 03, 2001.

Perhaps if the repair can't be done in time you should consider buying another used M6 from the states and having it sent to you express freight. Then sell your damaged M6 once it has been repaired.

-- sam smith (ssmith@hotmail.com), April 03, 2001.

The reason I mentioned the passport is that sometimes I overlook the obvoius. I once was ready to buy a new stereo componenet because the one I had broke, when I found out it had a 5 year warranty and had only been made for 4 years. They fixed it for free even though I had no receipt. I was thinking if he did have the passport, he could have picked up a new camera quickly like Sam mentioned, and had the other one repaired/replaced and sell it later. I have assumed at this point the camera was not covered under passport.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), April 03, 2001.

Mani: I had the same thing happen to an M3 twenty years ago. I was climbing and fell on the M3. The viewfinder was damaged, and I could not remove the film. I took a pair of pliers to the body and carefully straightened it out. The marks from the pliers are still there after 20 years and a trip to Leica USA for repairs. Leica did not make any subsequent repairs to the body film cavity, only the viewfinder. Try the pliers, then take a quick roll of film at low aperature settings, f:2 or 1.4 in close and far away and have it processed at a 1 hour or overnight facility to see if your rangefinder is okay. Good Luck and enjoy your trip.

Mark J.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logic@gci.net), April 03, 2001.

Mani, if you have access to any woodworking tools, even small hand tools and some sandpaper, consider this. Shape a block of hardwood to conform to the curve of the undamaged end of the camera. Then hold the wood block against the damaged end and tap the metal into the block with a small tool like a plastic-tipped ball peen hammer until it conforms to the block. Better yet, shape two blocks, one to fit the inside, and one for the outside, and tap the wood blocks rather than directly on the metal. This will transfer the curve of the good end to the damaged end--if it works. It's the least invasive procedure I can think of, and I think it's what I would try first if I had to do it. Good luck.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 03, 2001.

Mani, if you used two blocks, you could press them into the damaged area by drawing them together with a C-clamp, to avoid damaging the camera by the shock of the hammer blows.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 03, 2001.

Many, many thanks one and all, for your prompt and very thoughtful suggestions. I shall now find it easy to have another camera body in time for my trip 5 days from now, thanks to everyone's help and advice.

Bob, I tried your suggestion first, vaguely remembering tapping out a dent in my car's fender about 20 years ago. Only, I used a broom handle which has an almost identical curve, and tried pressing the dent out. No luck, because the body metal is actually quite thick. I was reluctant to tap the metal because of fear of misaligning the rangefinder. If I had access to more tools, (such as the c-clamp) it would have been the way to go, clearly.

Steve and Mark, I did try the pliers idea and straightend out the body enough to get the film out, and get a near perfect fit of the baseplate. I'll have to see if the new body is light tight. I could not help slightly marking up the lip though, despite using bits of cardboard. The curve is almost perfect, and appears to be so to the naked eye.

With a new baseplate the camera will be basically a clean used camera...

Hoyin, many thanks for the address. Will follow up for repairs or a quick checkup.

KL Prager, many thanks (a million!) for the great efforts excercised on my behalf. I'll use this contact to check out the RF and insides, if they will do a quick check.

Andrew, actually I bought the Leica overseas, and the USA passport did not apply. But at today's prices in the States, it seems worthwhile for overseas residents to buy via internet from the States.

Sam, sensible suggestion. Like many Leica users, I am afraid I am rather tempted to see the upside in this accident-namely, an excuse to acquire more Leica equipment/another body/a half body leather case/a paint finish etc. etc :-)

In a way, as I said, I'm kind of relieved my camera has been baptized.

I must emphasise that I am overwhelmed by the very prompt advice and efforts by so many to be of help! This is a great forum and wonderful community.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 04, 2001.

I dropped an R4s from ten feet when a ladder slipped (notice I blame the ladder) and the base plate and lip was badly damaged like your M6. Judicious use of pliers , small hammer, and a block of wood managed to get it working but not pretty. The camera still works fine and I am even more impressed with Leicas. Good Luck !

-- Anthony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), April 04, 2001.

All's well...

A postscript to my little adventure. I shot off a roll of film on my dinged M6, using a wide open Summicron, focused at various distances, and the rangefinder is spot on target. So, just a couple of little permanent dents on body and baseplate, after all that worry.

Many thanks again to all for helping :-)

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 06, 2001.

Mani,

That's great news! Hope you capture many great photographs on your trip to Kyoto. Let us know what happens if you have anyone in Japan do repairs to your M6.

Take care,

Ken

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@worldnet.att.net), April 06, 2001.

Mani,

Just out of curiosity, when the child kick your M6, did you have a camera strap around your neck?

-- Eric Laurence (Edgar1976@hotmail.com), May 20, 2001.

CASE FOR EVEREADY CASE

I am afraid, you probably still need to send the dented and bent camera to Leica Service for checkup, to see whether the high precision film plane has being skewed or not. A hundreds of millimenter bent or warp of the film plane will cause ALL your precious M lenses to deteriorate in performance.

An ever ready M case would have protect the camera from dent and scratches.

I always carry my camera in ever ready case-- every ready to protect.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), May 20, 2001.

Eric,

I always carry my M6 with the strap over my shoulders/neck. But I had taken it off meaning to unload the film, and had it in my hands for a mere 10 seconds or so, distracted by a jumping penguin from proceeding with unloading it!

I used to carry my cameras in hand for many years (without mishap) but gave up a couple of years ago-it just adds to fatigue.

Martin, thanks for the advice-I must admit I've been putting off the CLA, as the chromes seem OK.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), May 20, 2001.