[Leica] Re: LUG Digilux 2 short inside or Leica repair issue

[rsphotoimages at comcast.net (Bob Shaw)]

Try calling New Jersey and asking for Ray Tomiselli (spelling may be 
off).

He's a VP, from New Jersey and has helped me in past.  Been with Leica 
for some time.

He has nothing to do with repair but seemed to be 100% Leica guy and a 
good head on his shoulders.  My dealer referred me to him to "adjucate" 
and R9 warranty issue, which he resolved very satisfactorily.

If you dare, tell him Bob in Seattle sent you (hopefully not the Kiss 
of Death).

Let us know how you make out.

Regards,

Bob


On Jan 5, 2007, at 10:04, joeaksa@attglobal.net wrote:

Esteemed group,

I have lurked on the LUG for several years now, posting from time to 
time but rarely.

I have used Leica camera's since I was 5 years old (have proof!) having 
started
shooting with my Father's M2 way back in the late 1950's. I now have 
one of most
every model Leica made (and a few duplicates) until the M6 era and use 
them from
time to time. Saying this just to give the list some history, I am not 
new to using a
Leica and have owned and used them for over 45 years.

Almost two years ago I was browsing the LUG email list on a Friday and 
saw a list
member selling a Digilux 2. We chatted a bit and after 10 days or so 
had a like new
camera in my hands. Fell in love immediately and still feel the same 
way about the
camera.

I travel for a living and took it out with me last spring. We were in a 
shuttle in London
and the driver forgot to latch the rear door. My camera bag, along with 
others, went
rolling out the rear door when he took off. We stopped and put 
everything back in the
car and continued to the airport. The drivers company agreed to make 
everything
right and they have paid the repair bill for the camera and bag.

Upon arriving home found that the on/off switch on the Digilux 2 was 
stiffer than
normal so I sent it into Leica USA. Asked them to please email me when 
they had an
estimate as I travel for a living.

Over a month went by and no email. I returned home from being in Hong 
Kong and
Singapore for two months to find a letter from Leica. Then found 
another one telling
me to please respond or they would return the camera. Noted right on 
the first repair
invoice were the notes "please email estimate to xxxx" but for some 
reason they did
not send me an email.

I then called Leica and gave them a credit card number for the repair. 
Again asked
them to please email me when it was shipped out as I did not want the 
camera to be
left sitting at my doorstep as UPS does at times, especially if I was 
out of town again.
Not a problem I was told. A month or so went by and no email. I head 
out of town
again and guess what? The camera was shipped to my house with no 
notification
what so ever. Luckily a friend was there to pick up the notice before 
the camera was
returned to the sender and call UPS.

Opening up the package I found the on/off switch to work perfectly. I 
then charged
the battery and inserted it and a memory card into the camera and 
turned it on.
Worked great and I proceeded to take a pic or two to try it out.

While holding it up to my face I noticed a popping inside the back of 
the camera,
about an inch below the on/off switch. You could hear and feel it, and 
it reminded me
of a flash unit recharging. Never seen nor had that happen before 
inside any camera.
Sounded like a capacitor charging, then discharging, over and over 
again. After a
minute or so the back of the camera on the right lower side started to 
get warm so I
removed the battery and memory chip and it stopped.

Hmmm, could be a bad battery so I charged my extra battery (both 
genuine Leica
batteries, no clones here) and inserted it in the camera. Nothing out 
of the ordinary at
first so I turned the camera on again and waited. After a minute or so 
the popping
started again. Again the back of the camera started to get warm. 
Something was not
right with the camera and I was not going to have it burn up like the 
laptops we have
seen on the nightly news so I turned it off and removed the battery.

Sent the camera back to Leica in New Jersey with a description of the 
problem. No
word for weeks. Finally I call. The gent I need to talk to is too busy 
to talk to anyone
right now. Left my number. Two days later he calls and says that there 
is nothing
wrong with my camera. I ask him about the popping noise and heat in the 
back of the
case. He says that there is no problem with the camera. I tell him to 
put a battery in
the camera, turn it on and let it sit for a few minutes. He says that 
they will do this
and get back to me in a day or so. I have not heard back from him 
since, and its
been over 3 months.

Finally I call Leica again and talk to someone, but not the boss. They 
say that they
will get to the bottom of this and get back to me. Someone calls and 
tells me that
they are working on the camera and that they will get back to me. 
Finally after the
camera had been at their facility for weeks I receive an email from 
someone telling
me that it was being shipped back. I asked about the problem and they 
say that
"there was nothing wrong with the camera."

Guess what? I return home around Christmas after being overseas for two 
months
again and after charging the battery once again insert it into the 
camera. Same
damm thing with both batteries. I have shown this to two separate 
photographers and
both say that they would not trust the camera and that eventually 
something is going
to burn up inside. Also a friend has a IR digital therometer. We let 
the camera stay
on for a minute and recorded the temps. Top part of camera was about 74 
degrees,
while the area below the switch was 80, then 90, finally up to 100 
degrees before
switching it off. Clearly something is getting hot in this area and its 
not good.

Am really at wits end on this. I have used Leica camera's all my life 
and they are the
best that they are, however my experience with Leica USA has really 
soured me at
this time. For many years I lived in Germany and used the Leica Factory 
repair
service and they were excellent. I had hoped for the same excellent 
service and
assistance from Leica USA but between their lack of communication and 
poor
service I am starting to feel that its time to send anything needing 
repair to Germany.
If the camera had "no problem" then why was it kept at the repair 
facility for over a
month? Why no communication? I am paying for this, its not a free 
service, yet they
act like they are doing me a service to take my money and then return a 
non-useable
camera. At least the camera worked before I sent it in, just with a 
sticky on/off switch.
Now I cannot even use it.

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen with their Digilux 2? Any 
suggestions
as to what to do here? I cannot use the camera as it is.  Does anyone 
feel that this
could be two separate batteries defective and causing this?

Really would appreciate some suggestions here.

Thanks in advance,

Joe Abrahamson
Phoenix Arizona




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