Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/10/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Geoff, I hope you noticed the emoticons at the end of my email about 'fiascoes and boycotts'. No, I don't own a DMR but I do own several M-mount cameras and a stable of M and R-mount lenses and I just hope Leica doesn't decide to cease production of parts for them when sales drop to 10% of those of the M8/M8.2/M9. I don't think a lot of hot-shoe adapters are ordered the Nikon F3 either, it being a dinosaur of the film-era, but Nikon still caries them in their catalog. I just think Leica needs to take better care of their customers than they apparently have with the DMR owners. I don't care if they only sold one unit, they should still support that one customer the best they can, and in my opinion they dropped the ball here. Won't stop me from using my M and R lovelies, mind you, but in my opinion customer support is paramount in today's economy, and it does make me wonder whether or not I should buy another Leica product. Just my 2 cents. James Laird On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Geoff Hopkinson <hopsternew at gmail.com> wrote: > James you don't even have a DMR but you are talking about fiascos and > calling for boycotts!. As linked, Leica has located a company who will > restore the batteries and recommends them after a technical audit. Remember > that there were only ever a couple of thousand DMRs made (I don't know how > many are still in service) and production stopped because too few people > were interested in buying one. Specifically, from Stefan Daniel sales were > only around 10% of the M8/M8.2 for the couple of years that they were > available. > > Of course Leica never made the batteries either. As far as I know it is > usual for batteries to be made by specialist companies. If there was a > sufficient commercial demand for new units, then as you say any battery > maker could produce them. Commercial reality is different to opinion! The > severance of relations with Imacon (now Hasselblad) who were the actual > maker of the DMR has since meant that no new production (for the DMR) could > take place even if there was a demand. > > When you actually talk to the Customer Service people in Solms you find out > they they have made large efforts to support servicing for the R8/R9 and > DMR, even cannabalising some units to get others back serviceable. I'm told > that recently parts supply may have improved a little there. > > My example about Nikon of course was meant to say that hardware does > inevitably change, nothing more. I don't have any Nikon axe to grind. I > owned quite a bit of gear from the AI era and am well familiar with the > evolution of their products. > > Actually I would say that Leica Camera has an excellent track record in > maintaining compatibility and service support for discontinued models. > Again, when visiting Solms I was shown drawers of parts for screw mount > Leicas for example. > > Cheers > Geoff > http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman > > > On 17 October 2010 03:58, James Laird <digiratidoc at gmail.com> wrote: > >> mehrdad, >> >> Absolutely. My point(s) exactly! You EXPECT spare parts to be >> available from any manufacturer, ESPECIALLY from one that charges what >> Leica does! And you know damn well they can contract SOMEONE to make >> them. Ain't that hard. >> >> James Laird >> >> On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 11:53 AM, mehrdad <msadat at gmail.com> wrote: >> > geof here are some point to consider >> > >> > >> > 1) people pay a lot more for leica when compared to canon and nikon. >> > 2) batteries can be made anywhere and don't need a special relations >> > with >> > hassleblad >> > 3) i heard from the horses mouth @ PMA when they told me hold on to your >> > stuff, a new R is coming >> > 4) then on/off switch for an r system equivalent or compatible has been >> used >> > for a while , not good >> > 5) u expect spare parts be available for your camera for a while, in the >> > case dmr, how can u not have the batteries, besides charging for it, it >> is >> > good pr >> > 6) thanks to george l for keeping the leica r relevant on this list >> > >> > >> > On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 12:06 AM, Geoff Hopkinson <hopsternew at >> > gmail.com >> >wrote: >> > >> >> James as you mentioned you don't own an R8 or R9 or DMR module so you >> may >> >> not be aware of all of the detail on this issue. >> >> The company that did make them has severed its relationship with Leica >> >> Camera since they are now direct competitors. So Leica simply does not >> >> possess the manufacturing capability to produce more even if it made >> >> commercial sense. In fact they were not a commercial success when >> offered. >> >> Somewhere between 2 and 4000 in total is often mentioned as an estimate >> >> Leica Camera now recommend >> >> http://www.akku-mainz.de/product_info.php?products_id=192 >> >> >> >> >> >> Maybe you could also call for an uprising against Nikon for changing >> >> the >> >> lens mount so that those tens if not hundreds of thousands of AI and >> >> AIS >> >> lenses would no longer meter on most Nikon SLRs now made ;-) Hardware >> does >> >> evolve. No need to call for a Jihad ;-) >> >> >> >> Geoff >> >> http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Leica Users Group. >> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > ?------------------------------------- >> > ?regards, mehrdad >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Leica Users Group. >> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >