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M8 free shutter replacement


bruno7

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Hi guys,

 

So, after two wonderful and problem-free years with my silver M8 and Biogon 35/2 my shutter broke today...

 

When I bought the camera it had about 17 thousand actuations, today little over 24 thousand.

 

I've read many times that this shutter should go for at least 100K actuations. And although I never thought this would happen to me, it did.

 

I spoke to a local dealer here in Prague and was told that they can send it to Solms, wait for a repair price estimate and that it would take about one month to get it back.

However they were not able to tell me even a rough price for a shutter repair.

 

So I called directly to Solms and was told that shutter replacement on M8 is free of charge.

 

Free of charge!

 

The gentleman on the phone told me they will replace it for free as it is not my fault. And after my surprise respond he said: "This is Leica service."

 

Is this even possible these days?

 

Can there be any glitch there? Like they will call me back and tell me that the sensor is gone, too? Or maybe they'll charge me 400€ for overall camera check and sensor cleaning?

 

What is your experience from the last few months?

 

Is this a result of some legal actions? I have a feeling that they always charged for shutter repair/replacement.

 

 

Thanks for help!

 

 

David

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Thats good to hear too, my friend Lorenzvs (also on this forum) had his M8 for a few months, and the shutter broke, didn't look as severe as yours though... but he send it in and got it back within 1 month, free of charge as well! :) also got CLA'ed in the process.

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Well I had a shutter problem, the one where it just keeps trying to reset. I didn't get that fixed for free. And on top of that, the sensor needed to be replaced. The camera had about 2000 clicks, hardly used and never abused. Total cost was about $1500, and I never felt confident using the camera after that.

I am pretty sure that the reason they charged me was that I wasn't the original owner. I really felt that a camera that had developed problems like this, with such little use, should have been repaired free. Those issues should have been viewed as manufacturing defects.

I did try to argue my case, however they weren't going to budge. I did have it fixed and never had any more trouble, but it was one of the things that kept me from updating to the M9. I never liked the shutter of these cameras. I was so used to the smooth shutter of the M3 I used for 30 years, that I was somewhat shocked when I first tried the M8. Now I am waiting to get the M240 (with warranty) because to me it appears that they have the shutter figured out.

I still love the Leica experience, and can hardly wait for the M240.

 

Sorry for the long post, know you know my M8 story.

 

Paul

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I am new to Leica M digital, although not to Leica in general. Sorry if this has been covered before but do the M8 shutter problems also apply to the M8.2 ? I know the shutter of the 8.2 was modified to reduce noise, did this include whatever, presumed, modification to the M8 is referred to in this thread?

 

Mike

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Mike-S:

Shutter failures can happen with any shutter...

I have had a M8 and M8.2 never had problems, so I don't know.

 

you'll probably hear less about M8.2's breaking down becauase there are simply less of them around! ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Well,

 

I am happy to announce a good news!

 

I got my M8 back after one month in Solms.

 

These are works that were done on my camera:

 

Replace shutter

Repair shutter mechanism

Repair winding mechanism

Adjust range finder

Clean range finder

Adjustment of all parts

Cleaning and end control

 

And the price?

 

Zero. None. Free of charge.

 

I still can't believe the service they provide. I even got a sort of repair certificate signed by Leica engineer. ;-)

 

Six year old camera. Which other company would do this?

 

And it only cost me insured shipping - about 60$.

 

Truth is that this repair is without any warranty and the next similar repair will be a paid one.

 

But - I have a new shutter now, everything's adjusted and cleaned - I'm not worried that the same thing would happen anytime soon.

 

And the best thing - the shutter is now much smoother, quieter and with beautiful sound!

 

I love Leica!

 

:-)

 

 

David

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sounds like Leica service to me. My M9 is at Solms at the moment having it's sensor replaced for free, after marks started to appear on it shortly after i bought it, second hand and outside of warrantee.

 

Needless to say, you'd not get this from any other camera maker, and I'm in little doubt that Leica will be my manufacturer of choice for a very long time.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
My M8 has gone off to Leica with a faulty shutter. I await the result with interest.

 

Shutter and rewind repaired free of charge as goodwill. Camera cleaned and adjusted as well. Reasonable charge for power switch repair and sensor fault which I didn't even know about. Returned yesterday in excellent condition.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a good news . My M8 bought second hand had a very bad broken shutter and I came to know all the M8 shutters will fail down due to it's fastest 1/8000th speed. (So that's why all the new M cameras never keep to this level of hi speed shutter, and never go beyond the 1/4000th second.) So I decided to upgrade it to 8.2 and I had to pay £800 and it worth that money invested on the camera and it is far more better in performance than the M8.:D

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This is a good news . My M8 bought second hand had a very bad broken shutter and I came to know all the M8 shutters will fail down due to it's fastest 1/8000th speed. (So that's why all the new M cameras never keep to this level of hi speed shutter, and never go beyond the 1/4000th second.) So I decided to upgrade it to 8.2 and I had to pay £800 and it worth that money invested on the camera and it is far more better in performance than the M8.:D

All ? :eek: Are the ones that don’t break faulty?

 

In reality the number of shutter failures on the M8 is the same or even lower than on the M9. The shutter curtain speed was halved to get the noise down, no other reason.

Edited by jaapv
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I've been the recipient of two free shutter replacements.

 

My M8 arrived new with a broken shutter - replaced no questions asked.

 

I purchased a 2nd-hand M6TTL/LHSA. The shutter jammed. Sent it in, replaced free of charge.

 

The lesson is that Leica appears to take some effort to determine if a fault is in manufacture, or from abuse, and not to charge for items not the customer's responsibility. This is a much more costly way of doing business than other manufacturers, who charge a set fee regardless (out of warranty) and swap and dispose of defective subassemblies with no attempt to determine the root cause.

 

Eric

 

P.S. Other free out-of-warranty repairs have included the M7 DX reader, M7 meter circuit, and MP and M7 eyepiece dust clean/seal.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Well,

 

I am happy to announce a good news!

 

I got my M8 back after one month in Solms.

 

These are works that were done on my camera:

 

Replace shutter

Repair shutter mechanism

Repair winding mechanism

Adjust range finder

Clean range finder

Adjustment of all parts

Cleaning and end control

 

And the price?

 

Zero. None. Free of charge.

 

I still can't believe the service they provide. I even got a sort of repair certificate signed by Leica engineer. ;-)

 

Six year old camera. Which other company would do this?

 

And it only cost me insured shipping - about 60$.

 

Truth is that this repair is without any warranty and the next similar repair will be a paid one.

 

But - I have a new shutter now, everything's adjusted and cleaned - I'm not worried that the same thing would happen anytime soon.

 

And the best thing - the shutter is now much smoother, quieter and with beautiful sound!

 

I love Leica!

 

:-)

 

 

David

 

 

 

 

:confused::confused: always been free of charge…???

 

 

:eek::eek: why the hell they charged me more than 750 euros, one and a half year ago!!!!!!

 

(this was including a new lcd screen = 60 euros)

 

 

 

sam

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All ? :eek: Are the ones that don’t break faulty?

 

In reality the number of shutter failures on the M8 is the same or even lower than on the M9. The shutter curtain speed was halved to get the noise down, no other reason.

 

Have you ever heard or seen any M9 shutters broken in to pieces like M8 ? Me I have not seen any. Shutter failure and the broken shutter is the not the same ( Like my camera shutter gone in to pieces )

 

I think it is a well known failure on M8 and later it was upgraded to adjust the problem. Otherwise not a single known history of upgrading a shutter of a originally design camera is not there to hear. and that is why Leica has changed it idea not to continue it higher shutter speed as that shutter was composed of two material ( in two different shutter curtains ) which was not resistive to the speed and vulnerable for breaking to pieces . It is different than failing getting in to brittle to pieces. I think it is nothing to do with this NOISE you are talking here. :roll eyes:

 

M8 was the Very first Prototype of all M cameras which is shining on the present level and no one can deny it. :D

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