Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

teknopunk.com dirk steffen 2010

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment 06. October 2009

After some time of writing these pages, I am pleased, to provide the very first documentation, that should help
people, who are less adventurous and do seek for information on technical matters beyond the manufacturers
manuals. Before we start, one word of caution, you must read and understand as my legal representative urged, to
have provided:

Disclaimer: The documentation, provided by me does only report the steps and procedures, I undertake at my risk
on my property. When you work on your equipment by yourself, you do this at your own risk. I can not be held liable
for possible damage, you might cause, by working on your equipment. If you have the slightest uncertainty about the
described procedures or working on your equipment by yourself, stop reading here and move along to meet your
Leica dealer of choice, who will have your camera shipped for service to Leica, which will result in the best possible
adjustment for your camera.

So as we cleared the formal things, let’s move directly to the interesting part. This documentation is about making
basic adjustments on your Leica M6 rangefinder in 5 easy steps with the minimal equipment and costs involved.
Having just acquired a used Leica M6 with 50mm Summilux lens, I found after viewing the first prints, that focus was
off ever so slightly. Further looking into this issue showed a slight misalignment of the rangefinder focus patch
according to the infinity stop and lens markings.

Symptoms of a misaligned rangefinder:

- “overlapping” of the rangefinder patch at known distance settings after focussing (a very far away target at the
mechanical infinity stop of the lens is easiest to test)
- out of focus photographs easiest seen at wide open apertures after perfect aligned focus, while taking the picture

There are 2 possible directions of misalignments - horizontal and vertical. This documentation deals with the horizontal
alignment only. I might get dirty and add a few details regarding the vertical alignment too as soon, as my M6 shows
first signs of being off vertically.

I do these things for my own pleasure and curiosity in technical and mechanical applications. If you, like me, took
apart every piece of equipment, you got for christmas since you were a child AND were able, to assemble it back to
working order, the few exceptions now and then included, this documentation might be for you. To prevent your Leica
M6 becoming one of those exceptions, you need the right tools for the job.

items, you need:

1 x Leica M6 classic

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

1 x Leica M lens
1 x tripod
1 x tape measure scale
1 x 5 meter
1 x string
1 x weight for string
2 x light stand
4 x clamp
2 x sheet of paper
1 x pen
1 x moon
1 x screw driver

Q: Why you should stop reading now and move along with the other guys, jumping ship after the disclaimer?

A: Trying to plumb your bathroom armatures by yourself, you set the house under water, ruined the wooden floor,
the house electricity and your postmark collection, worth more than your Leica gear and still do not admit the
fault.

A: As you could not find an exactly fitting screw driver for the rangefinder adjustment screw of your camera,
you tried to use a kitchen knife.

Q: Why you should keep reading?

A: As you could not find an exactly fitting screw driver for the rangefinder adjustment screw of your camera,
you used kitchen knife, which you have grinded in perfect fitting shape and measurement with an
angle grinder free hand. That’s the spirit - read on, for you, there is nothing to fear here.

1. Step - the right time, the right place

Ideally, you should do this during a clear night with a nice and shiny moon in visible sight.
You don’t have a moon in your part of the world? Don’t worry, your case is not lost as any other clearly visible,
contrasty subject, at least a few kilometers away will do. I found the beautifully lighted neon skyscrapers of Shanghais
skyline a perfect target for focussing at infinity.

You need some space for setting up a focus range with at least two different distances in the short range.
Which distance depends on the focus distance marks, displayed clearly on your lens. You will ideally need 1 meter
and something in the 3 - 5 meter range. If you life in a 2 x 2 meter shed, as you blew all your money for
mouthwatering Leica lenses - step outside! There is plenty of space.

For making the adjustments, you need a table with good light - a wooden box with a candle in the field does work too.

2. Step - setting up the scene

Prepare the two light stands or anything portable, that holds a focus target without moving - no, your drunk friend,
holding a cornflakes box doesn’t do well - tell him to beat it now.

Marking the two sheets of paper with one vertical straight line and a horizontal sinus graph works well. Clamp your
handmade new focus targets on your light stands in the same height - not too low (for you back aching old folks) and
not too high - your wife/ girlfriend might laugh at you, falling from a ladder while trying to read the focus distance on
your lens.

Prepare the tripod with your camera attached. A quick release system (Arca Swiss or whatever works for you) is
highly recommended, as you will have to mount/ unmount your camera a lot without changing precise setting on your
tripod during the next steps.

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

focus target Leica M6, quick release plate,

Markins M10 ball head

Set the tripod and focus targets the same hight. Take the string and weight and prepare a proper plumb bob, attached
to the center of your tripod, exactly marking the position of the middle of your tripod on the floor. The following point
is very important: adjust your camera, to have the film plane exactly in the center of your tripod, level the center post
and ball head, so your measuring device sits exactly in the same perpendicular axis to the floor. You want to check
back the distance from your cameras film plane to the focus targets with the help of another person.

precise tripod position camera facing 1 meter target

Take out the tape measure and line up your two focus targets and tripod. Line up your first target at the close focus
distance, marked on your lens (I took 1 meter with the 50mm summilux) and your second target at the 2nd distance (I
took 5 meter with the 50mm summilux). You should align your two targets in an angle towards your camera. This way,
you just have to loosen the panorama setting knob on your ball head and turn the camera to either target without
changing your precise settings.

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

note the panorama setting on the ball head, the whole setup
set for the 1 meter target at 3 clicks ccw

You’re done - now let’s the adjusting begin.

3. Step - checking rangefinder alignment

I start with checking the rangefinder at infinity focus, to see, in which direction and how far the focus is off. To do this,
it is easiest, to place one half of the moon on one horizontal border of the rangefinder patch and watch the moons
misalignment, when focussing the lens at it’s hard infinity stop.

The same checking procedure is done with your two focussing targets and camera on precisely aligned tripod.
The only difference to the infinity checking is, that you now use the lenses focus distance markings to set instead of
the hard infinity stop. I find it easiest, to precisely focus on the target and judge how much off the focus marking on the
lens barrel is.

checking focus distance after precisely closer look

focussing the 1 meter target

God thanks, we Germans still build lenses with precise markings opposed to the items, Nikon, Canon and other DSLR
manufacturers make these days - the focus markings and overall lens built of my cheap 90 mm Tele Elmarit M for
500,- EUR is way superior to my Nikon 300 VR, costing more than 6 x the price.

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

1.4 x magnifier on the 0.72 Leica M helps focussing

4. Step - turning screws

Prepare the right screw driver. This is the most important part of all procedures. I give you a few things, you should
consider, to NOT DAMAGE YOUR CAMERA.

The only screw, you will touch here is the one for horizontal rangefinder adjustment (obviously). Take your Leica M6
without lens attached. Looking directly into the lens mount from the front of the camera you can see the rangefinder
roller, which is engaged by the lens during changing the focal distance in operation. This roller has one big screw, you
can see, when looking under the roller from 6 o’clock.

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

the biggest screw you see is yours

You want a screw driver, that EXACTLY fits this screw head. When using a conventional screw driver be VERY
careful, as you approach the screw with an angle to the screw axis, resulting in easily slipping and damaging the
screw or worse.

When attempting, to turn the screw, be VERY CAREFUL, to not put any force on the roller arm, other than a
momentum around the screw axis. Do NOT bent the roller arm. Do NOT put force on the roller arm, as this results in
even worse rangefinder misalignment or damage.

The screw has a quite big resistance, which is needed, to hold its adjustment over time. Be prepared for this.
Concentrate on not slipping out.

The adjustments, you make will be VERY, VERY slight of an angle of the screw for a rather big adjustment on the
rangefinder patch. 1/2 º in turning the screw already has a substantial change of rangefinder alignment. Move slowly
and step by step. Make one slight adjustment. Attach the lens. Check focus. Repeat until proper alignment is
achieved.

5.Step - the last one and final thoughts

After having the infinity focus adjusted - check focus at your two different short range distances.

Now comes the big downside of this homemade adjustment: You adjust only the linear alignment, where on your
camera body the infinity focus is placed. With this adjustment, you have no influence on the following factors:

- how each of your differently calibrated Leica M lenses will behave at different focus distance
- progression of camera lens focus from close focus to infinity focus - infinity focus with your 75 summilux might be
perfectly fine, but quite off at 2 meter - sorry, no chance with this homemade recipe

To fix these issues, you only have one chance - send your camera and all lenses to a qualified service department.
Only adjusting each individual lens and your Leica M camera will lead to the best adjustment. Sorry, to disturb you
with the bad news.

Now here is the trade off (what I do).

Although, you cannot adjust each lens individually this way - you can adjust your camera, leading to the best
compromise with your M system, leading to a better image quality, than with no adjustment:

Q: You shoot your 50 mm mainly in the street at night wide open at 2 meter - 5 meter ?

A: Screw the proper infinity focus - you want to set your rangefinder, to have best alignment in the 2-5 meter range.

Q: What to do, if your 50mm and your 90mm are off in completely different directions?

A: Easy one - at which focus distances do you shoot each lens the most? Which of the lenses you shoot at which
aperture range the most? Set the rangefinder, to have the best compromise for good focus.

More weight have your most used, longer lenses, mostly used wide open. Lesser weight in this equation have your
lesser used wide lenses, shot mostly stopped down, as you probably won’t see that much of a misfocus as obvious as
with the longer, faster lenses, you use.

Q: I am not satisfied even with the most adventurous acquired compromise. What do I do?

A: Bad news for you - sent your camera and lenses in for a professional adjustment.

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Leica M6/ rangefinder/ horizontal adjustment

This concludes my short documentation on the horizontal rangefinder adjustment on my Leica M6. I hope, I could help
one or the other Leica M user and successfully scare away some, who would have made things worse after reading
the internet and getting the monkey wrench workout on their fathers precious, resulting at least in a nice pair of red
ears and an expensive Leica repair invoice.

Please do not contact me, after or before having messed with your camera - read the disclaimer on top and think
about, why Leica does not advise, to do this at home. Please consider a proper adjustment in their service facility,
which I highly recommend.

…
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