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

[philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)]

Apart from the gruesome story that your wrote down below, and from  
the fact that I would do exactly as Ted suggested,
I remember that my Digilux 2 did get hot on the top right side (as  
seen from the back). I don't remember the sound you mention, though.
I suppose 100 degrees is in F? Working with mine felt like about 122? 
F after having it on for about half an hour.
I never asked myself something about it (believing something like:  
sometimes battery operated tools heat up), and sold it after 2 years  
only because I wanted more megapixels.

But it indeed is very disgraceful of Leica USA not to answer your  
perfectly legitimate question properly.

Good luck,
Philippe



Op 5-jan-07, om 19:04 heeft joeaksa@attglobal.net het volgende  
geschreven:

> 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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