I am sad...

[Doc Henry]

Dear All,
I am sad to know , for the first time that my LEICAFLEX SL (made in Germany-Weitzlar) goes back in Solms for a general revision with change of the battery support and calibration of the " light meter ", cleaning of the viewfinder .... after 38 years of use.

Have you this impression when you sent this camera for a revision or repairing?
It is my first reflex camera and the only one whom I bought in 1969 and whom I paid to credit (I was student).I do not like other marks for the quality of optics Leitz.
Since I used a lot and it is a wonderful camera : simple, mechanical as MP, clear viewfinder, selective measure : the base of the reflex according to me.....
I brought back many nice photos since 1969...
My impression it is there is something more than i cannot say (sharpness,good contrast) who can beat in my opinion other more recent cameras and even digital....

I wait now for his return with impatience.....
I am curious and i searched on Google about this camera, and I fell on an article of Douglas with its nice birds photos taken with Leicaflex SL ....
Leica Leicaflex SL - photo.net
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/

[Doc Henry]

Obviously it will not be easy for the technician to disassemble the camera....
it is rather complex....
Leica camera repair handbook ... - Google Livres

[UliWer]

Originally Posted by Doc Henry

Dear All,
I am sad to know , for the first time that my LEICAFLEX SL (made in Germany-Weitzlar) goes back in Solms for a general revision with change of the battery support and calibration of the " light meter ", cleaning of the viewfinder .... after 38 years of use.

Have you this impression when you sent this camera for a revision or repairing?
....

No sadness at all.

I bought a few screwmount cameras which needed some professional care. A camera is a piece of mechanics and optics which cannot last forever. So when you like it, you should be happy to do it - and yourself - the favour to get it on the best possible standards. Nothing has to be changed which could bother you. Just like cleaning your teeth.

[storybrown]

Originally Posted by Doc Henry

Dear All,
I am sad to know , for the first time that my LEICAFLEX SL (made in Germany-Weitzlar) goes back in Solms for a general revision with change of the battery support and calibration of the " light meter ", cleaning of the viewfinder .... after 38 years of use.

Have you this impression when you sent this camera for a revision or repairing?

I wait now for his return with impatience.....
Leica Leicaflex SL - photo.net
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/

Doc Henry!

I understand you. Your sadness is elegiac & a little prescriptive, resonant both of dependability & of your own care, in sending for the first time your SL for service -- in an advanced digital age in which much of the run of any company's digiworks have to be returned, so to speak, at once. And everyone speaks of "tools," while the workingman is especially proud and takes particular care of his ( -- look at the affection the Clint Eastwood character for his "tools" in his last movie, Gran Turismo, &c). LTMs, 'Flexes, M2-3, perhaps represent a different habitus or discipline of work -- & art -- than is now predominant, which of course has noted advantages & qualities proper to itself.

Your impatience is pointedly -- at this particular moment -- not for the next Big Thing, which will be replaced in a couple of years & forgotten in a couple more, but, rather, for the quick return of a familiar, sure instrument that will be as serviceable for the next 40 years -- and foreseeably, or so long as there is film -- as it has been for the last 40.

Something like that, I think.

[Doc Henry]

Hi Uliwer and Storybrown,

Thank you gentlemen trying to cheer my morale : it's so low right now mostly because of my work...and with apologies for the delay in responding.

Yes this camera has great sentimental value for me !
There is a proverb that says" when you love , it does not count"
Today i received a quote revision of the Leicaflex SL from Solms : my camera will be as new as at the beginning (I'll give you the details soon) for 1200 Euros and i will have a guarantee of one year .The camera will be back in about 2 weeks.I will show you some photos...
So i look forward to this return.I'll let you know when I will receive
Thank you all for your moral support !!!
Best regards
Henry

[Doc Henry]

Here is a picture of the "beast" before she went to Solms...
Leicaflex SL with his Summicron 50mm Germany
(taken with my M8 Lux 50mm)

[ro8881]

she's a real beauty and a beast...no wonder you miss her so much! and 1200 euros...that's really putting money where your heart is.
hope you get her back soon, and I am sure Solms will take good care of her

[ZoomP]

Originally Posted by Doc Henry

Here is a picture of the "beast" before she went to Solms...
Leicaflex SL with his Summicron 50mm Germany
(taken with my M8 Lux 50mm)

It's a beauty and the conditions mint for 38 yrs!!! They sure don't make things like they used to.

Look at it this way... It will be another 38 years or more when you get it back from CLA. You and your children will enjoy this camera in the future. Let's hope film production will last that long. :-)

[holmes]

Rather than sad be happy. Your camera is a mechanical device and at some time in its life will require service.I recently got involved with 'Rs' in addition to my 'Ms'. Since I had to purchase used equipment, I ran a roll of chromes through each. I'm a photographer not a technician. Anything I buy used gets sent to a technician. They can CLA, and what they find, or not find, lets me know if I got a good buy. I send each off separately. This way I can have two of my three 'Rs'. I have one back, a R6.2 and should have the R7 in a week or so. When it gets home I'll immediately bundle the second R6.2 off. And the other thing is there is a one year warranty with each camera serviced. You hope you never use it, but it's nice to know it's there.

[Doc Henry]

Hi Roland and ZoomP,
Yes it is a big sum but it left again for 40 years ...

Holmes
It is a beautiful piece entirely mechanical
except for the sensor that needs a small battery of 1.35 volts and that will be recalibrated to 1.5 volts.I also have a R4S and a R8 like you...which also give me very beautiful photos
Film is not dead....
one of my first pictures with the SL Summicron 50 and Kodachrome 64 slide .... in 1969
taken at the end of the afternoon...

and thanks for your moral support

[luigi bertolotti]

Originally Posted by Doc Henry

Here is a picture of the "beast" before she went to Solms...
Leicaflex SL with his Summicron 50mm Germany
(taken with my M8 Lux 50mm)

... so be happy !!! In few days she (it ??? nah...) will be at home again... just a short trip in a place where they really know how to treat her with due respect : YOU love her, but THEY know how to take care of...
I never had reflexes, but I understand well how one can feel when sending "away" a camera he's really tied to... the reason for I never sent to a lab my M2 with vague long times... M4 has them right, so the M2 can stay quiet and shoot 1/60 on...

[Doc Henry]

Originally Posted by luigi bertolotti

... so be happy !!! In few days she (it ??? nah...) will be at home again... just a short trip in a place where they really know how to treat her with due respect : YOU love her, but THEY know how to take care of...
I never had reflexes, but I understand well how one can feel when sending "away" a camera he's really tied to... the reason for I never sent to a lab my M2 with vague long times... M4 has them right, so the M2 can stay quiet and shoot 1/60 on...

Luigi,
Thanks for your kind and moral support

So Luigi my SL is back
I am so glad !
my Leica dealer and i receive today the camera
The camera is like new,
Here is the list of interventions :

Exchange of light seal
Exchange focusing glass
Exchange of the pentaprism
Adjustment of exposure (out of tolerance)
Repairing of the shutter brake
Repairing of the unit of measurement and
transformation processing power (batterie1,35 Volts to 1.50 Volts)

Parts:
Lens :116 Euros
galvanometer :78 E,
pentaprism :215 E

Manpower : 940 E

Certificate of guarantee 1 year with signature of the technician
Supported by carrier September 8,
received by my Leica agent September 29
So 3 weeks of waiting
I even entitled to a black bag to put the camera.
Very meticulous work
Work of professionals
Bravo Solms Customer Service !
I have to take pictures now
I put a roll of Kodachrome 64 like the first day

[luigi bertolotti]

Aha... happy end and a camera ready for the next 30 years !!! (I said a sort of lie when said "never had reflexes..." but my Contarex is really a beast out of any definition...)

[Doc Henry]

Originally Posted by luigi bertolotti

Aha... happy end and a camera ready for the next 30 years !!! (I said a sort of lie when said "never had reflexes..." but my Contarex is really a beast out of any definition...)

Yes Luigi,
it left for 40 New Years but it will be my children who are going to continue taking photos with this "jewel"
I really like this camera because it is very "basic"
Best regards
Henry

[hector_jorge]

Originally Posted by Doc Henry

Hi Uliwer and Storybrown,

Thank you gentlemen trying to cheer my morale : it's so low right now mostly because of my work...and with apologies for the delay in responding.

Yes this camera has great sentimental value for me !
There is a proverb that says" when you love , it does not count"
Today i received a quote revision of the Leicaflex SL from Solms : my camera will be as new as at the beginning (I'll give you the details soon) for 1200 Euros and i will have a guarantee of one year .The camera will be back in about 2 weeks.I will show you some photos...
So i look forward to this return.I'll let you know when I will receive
Thank you all for your moral support !!!
Best regards
Henry

I sent my "new" M3 to Solms in last July for a shutter low speeds adjustment and rangefinder cleaning. Leica saids that the rangefinder must be changed for the new model because they don`t have the replacement part anymore. They said too that the camera must be complete disasembled because it had "an excessive amount of oil inside" (a fool previous owner?) The final cost was Euros 1000.- As you can see, your price doesn`t seem to be too high.

[Doc Henry]

Hi Hector,

Thank you for this information and this message.
If I read well this link he nevertheless has a job there of taking down and reassembly of all spares parts....

Leica camera repair handbook ... - Google Livres

The installation of a new pentaprisme should not be easy too because it is well necessary to line up.
The repairing of the exposure speed must answer definite criteria with measuring devices
For your M3 it will be the same kind of job .
I will not be capable of making it because it is not my job and I prefer making it at Solms

Regards
Henry