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S lens out of warranty repair experiences?


Winedemonium

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As a new S owner with one lens I am pondering other lenses, and this forum has been helpful in various posts I have made on that theme.

 

One matter I haven't asked though is the subject of second hand S lenses. 

 

As an M user I feel I know the deal with used M lenses. The fact that they are entirely mechanical/optical means most issues relate to aperture rings, focusing helicoid issues, alignment issues, haze, fungus, scratches, etc. A lot can be fixed by a good repair shop (especially here in Hong Kong where these guys are referred to as 'masters'), and the costs are often very reasonable for CLA work. 

 

But with S lenses we introduce motors and electronics. And I have heard of (and read here) experiences of failed motors, failed AF, etc. So when I see seemingly well-priced used deals on S lenses I feel more weary than with an M lens.

 

I would welcome hearing of any users experiences where something failed and had to be repaired out of warranty. Did you ever have an S lens beyond repair? If you had a successful repair, what work got done and what did it cost please?

 

Thanks.

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The customer service for Leica S is very friendly and helpful. But it still do not negate the fact that their product has some, dare I say serious quality issue. The parts/component they use for electronics are actually pretty poor or poorly planned or not well thought out, understandably that they are small company with not much experience in electronics. Part sourced might not be well compatible with each other, OEM parts might be of low quality that Leica is not aware of... etc etc etc.

Anyway, for the price they are charging, the quality should be better than this is.

My experience is mainly on the body. I purchased a new body around April, it arrived with a huge dead pixel brand new. I called Leica up and they arrange for me to replace a new one from the store I bought it from. During the process, they asked for the serial no. card, and to my horror, the card in the box is not the same in serial with the body, and you can tell it is a mistake as only 1 no. in the middle of the serial is wrong. Leica told me no matter, as this happen alot (what the hell??) So, I have waited 1 and a half months for my replacement body and upon turning it on, there's another dead pixel on the screen... but it's not visible on the LR through mapping. So I have decided to keep it. On this second order, I have also order the Contax adaptor, which came with the well-known 'not recognized lens upon turning on' issue. I have to unmount the adaptor and remount again everytime and prevent it from going into sleep mode. I have just confirm today with a friend who had this issue with the adaptor and he sent it back to Leica for replacement (which work fine now). I guess I have to do the same.

 

I have 4 S lens and hope that they might hold up a little better in terms of usage, but I doubt it.

 

All I am saying is this, all these problem shouldn't have happened in the first place, and they are just doing their job to keep their customer from walking out on the brand. It's the least they could do, really.

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There seems to be a problem for my Leica S 35mm lens. Everytime, when I put on my 35mm lens onto the camera for the first time, the aperture will not close down on the first 2~4 shots or do the DoF preview. I have to press a few times of the DoF preview button to engage the lock down (after a few times) and it will then initiate, and the function of the aperture will return as normal. Looks like I have to send this in for repair pretty soon.

 

So, of the 6 items I have for Leica S, 3 is broken so far....

Edited by xiaubauu2009
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