Re: Leica ain't perfect...

[eesyliu_at_eenw02po@smtpgwy.polyu.edu.hk]

     I understand what it means perfect. In the old days, we have little 
     choice. Retina, Contax, Exata, Agfa, etc. Nikon and Cannon are still 
     young. Many friends of mind got problems with the new Leica (M6, M5, 
     R6, R4,etc.) However, it is rare to have problems with (unusual 
     problems or careless problems such as your screws) elder models. I 
     guess that for the old models, the workers are not pushed to make a 
     large number of cameras and they are really enjoying their work. They 
     used to paid attention and be careful to their job. For the time 
     being, I think it is not the thing.
     
     Michael
     eesyliu@ee.polyu.edu.hk

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Leica ain't perfect...
Author:  leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us at SMTP
Date:    1/9/97 7:36 AM


> From: "Nicolas Levinton" <nicolev@jet.es> 
> Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 00:37:20 +0100
> Subject: Loose M6 Range-viewfinder eyepiece
     
> When I came home from buying my M6, I started touching every single
> milimiter...  ... mistakes, I unscrewed the Range-viewfinder eyepiece.. 
<snip> ...
     
>... downtown Buenos Aires. Suddenly, I realized that the eyepiece was missing, 
and that without it I couldn't shoot looking through the finder...
<snip> ...
     
> So, in conclusion: If you unscrew it or change it for another one, screw it 
> really hard.
     
 Hi Group -
     
 I lost the same eyepiece in Edinburgh, Scotland in the 
 Summer '95 and it make my M6 useless for the rest of my 
 trip to southern Europe. Unlike Nico, I had NOT fondled 
 any `mm' of my M6, the damn thing just fell out somewhere. 
 Having only one M-body and there being no such eyepieces 
 available on some of the islands I later visited, it 
 really screwed up my photography for the rest of my trip!
     
 Returning to the States, I bought a new one ($75) and 
 Leica (NJ) suggested I use a VERY SMALL amount of glue 
 to fix it in place. I'm sorry I didn't listen to them. 
 I thought `no glue holding my M6 together! Well one day 
 last October, I lost the damn thing again this time on 
 campus (mind you that by then I periodically insured
 that it was firmly screwed on!) Fortunately, I back-tracked 
 my steps and found that little buzzard on the sidewalk, 
 undamaged. Now I've put a little (VERY LITTLE) amount of 
 Duco cement to fix it in place. Pain in the neck!
     
 But then I've also lost two of those flash sync plugs 
 (that plug into the flash sync connector at the center 
 rear of the camera) and two of the $40 lens caps (OK, 
 these losses were probably my stupidity). And I've 
 noticed that the battery cover (at front) has also come 
 loose once - but did not lost it (yet!).
     
 I met someone in Salzburg who told me that he once 
 lost the little screw which holds the plastic handle 
 on the film advance lever in place. It's a very short
 screw and unusual thread, so I check mine periodically. 
 And have, as yet, never lost mine.
     
 But with that first loss -- same as Nico's loss - I lost 
 my Leica "Innocence". I had often imagined that the Leica 
 was the world's finest camera. Non-sense. Maybe there is 
 no such thing as the `finest'. The Leica is a good camera 
 but it's got some bad or even weird features, like pieces 
 of it falling off every once in a while! We sometimes put 
 up with a lot. I wonder what Oskar Barnak, the immaculate 
 engineer, would say?
     
 Amazingly, I've NEVER had pieces fall off of any other 
 cameras that I've used over the years - mostly Nikons. 
 But like sticking with an old friend, I seem to always 
 hang onto my Leica. Maybe it's silly.
     
 -- Wolfgang
     
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    Wolfgang Sachse                             Cornell University 
    sachse@msc.cornell.edu      http://www.msc.cornell.edu/~sachse
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