Re: [Leica] Demo or Repaired Leica ??

["4Season" <4Season@boulder.net>]

- -----Original Message-----
From: Harrison McClary <harrison@mcclary.net>

>Leica lenses are fabulous, the M6 is a nice little box, the R8, if it
>worked, was a great camera. But the total lack of concern for doing a
>repair job right I found INEXCUSABLE.

Hmm, that reminds me of a time in the mid-80s when I sent a Minox C into
Leitz  for battery leakage repairs. It came back clean and fresh-looking,
and totally dead. I think it went back at least twice thereafter, and never
actually showed signs of life thereafter. An attorney volunteered to write
'em a letter (guess he was pleased with the work I did on his Ferrari 308
electricals) and they promptly sent me a brand-new Minox LX as replacement!
A year ago, I sent an Elmar in for Passport service, and thought the work
looked like it was done by someone laboring under a quota
system--competently done, but with the bare minimum needed to get things
working again. That was partly a test to see if they'd replace metal that
was bent out of shape, but I guess the answer is "only if it can't be bent
back and filed".

Regarding "demo" gear-I always somehow suspsected these were actually
factory-refurbished goods. Guess it was the fact that they always look like
new. I tend to *prefer* these, figuring that these have, in essence, gone
through QC twice, and they're cheaper too.

I haven't had good luck with German electronics overall (Gossen Luna Star-F,
Minox C, Leica R4s) and have felt almost forced to learn to repair some of
these things by myself. But where I've gone in, the results have been
excellent, and I've had no problems whatsoever since. Lots of silly things,
like pressure-fit contacts (LCD displays) and switches which need adjustment
and cleaning even when new, despite being nice gold-plated phosphor bronze
parts. Some of the best quality microelectronics that I'm seeing seem to
come from Taiwanese companies, though not especially cheap. No, I don't
really care for repairing cameras instead of being out photographing, but
sometimes, if you don't do it yourself, it'll never get done right, or
you'll be without the camera for too long. I admit that I plan on buying
another M body, just so that I can enjoy the luxury of having someone else
do maintenance, without having to fret that The Master will take 4 or more
weeks to get the job done! Found a very clean M3 with new shutter curtains
and refurbished RF assembly, and am dangerously tempted right now...

By the way, it'd be great if we could get periodic LUG updates on the
backlog status of our favorite repair persons. Good for us, and probably
them too--less "feast or famine".

Jeff