Jump to content

Look After Your MATE!


marknorton

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Getting into a London taxi this afternoon and my Crumpler bag, reasonably well padded fell off my shoulder, 2ft 60cm to the ground. The M8 and 24mm Elmarit inside were fine, so was the MATE (28-35-50 Tri-Elmar M, first version), at least cosmetically.

 

Closer inspection showed the MATE focus and focal length rings jammed solid - not just stiff, locked solid - and the aperture ring very stiff. No external sign of any damage at all.

 

This lens has never missed a beat and was one of the first - at least 10 years old would be my guess - but it's clear that these early lenses at least are not able to withstand even a modest drop in a padded bag.

 

Given the MATE is discontinued and has the most complex mount of any M lens, it will pay to treat yours with the greatest care and I expect the cost to repair mine will be substantial - and, no, I don't do insurance.

 

One more thing to add to the list: 2 M8s for upgrade, 1 lens for coding, 2 lenses for focus alignment, now one MATE for a mount rebuild. Going to be expensive I think...

Edited by marknorton
Typo
Link to post
Share on other sites

I dropped my M8 with MATE attached onto hard pavement last fall. The lens ended up with some cosmetic damage as well as sticky focal length ring. Sent camera and lens to Solms for repair as well as some M8 upgrades. The work took about 3 months and cost around $1200. The good news is that everything seems as good as new. I initially tried to get some well respected independent repair shops to take it on, but nobody wanted to deal with a Tri Elmar, so it seems that Solms is the best bet.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your comments. It's definitely not a do-it-myself job and I'm not surprised other repairers will not touch it. It will go back to Solms along with my other items so we'll see how much Leica want to charge to fix it. Key to know for other MATE users though is that the lens is not especially robust and needs treating with care.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Thanks for your comments. It's definitely not a do-it-myself job and I'm not surprised other repairers will not touch it. It will go back to Solms along with my other items so we'll see how much Leica want to charge to fix it. Key to know for other MATE users though is that the lens is not especially robust and needs treating with care.

 

Thank you for this information based on your - very unfortunate and regrettable - bad luck. Hope the repair cost of the MATE is not too shocking. Since I nearly always take the MATE and the WATE and a 35/1.4 aspherical for travels with one M8 and one M8u, this is very pertinent information for me. I will put the MATE and the WATE into additional protective bags inside my padded small photo bag.

Teddy

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...