DMR structure, parts and assembly instructions and experiences

[Posto 6]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Has anyone ever obtained any parts manuals, or assembly/service instructions from Leica for the DMR? Also, is there anyone in the forum who has ever dismantled, repaired, or worked on these units, and who could therefore provide useful information and pointers for future reference? I am of course talking in the context of the fact that Leica have run out of many parts, and the only options involve cannibalizing old units and/or removing boards to attempt repair by specialists.

 

I believe that the building up of a general store of such information would be increasingly relevant and useful over the coming months and years. As some of you my remember, I have been on the lookout for at least a couple damaged units to keep as spares, and was quite surprised to have already found two donor units in about two weeks. These requirements may be more urgent than generally realized if my experience is not a fluke, as otherwise many dead DMRs may start getting "binned" before they can be "rescued" for use as donor units.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[dave_d]

Servicing the DMR back yourself is going to be limited to mostly mechanical parts. One important tool you will need that is not available is the software used for mapping the defects of the image sensor and writing the new map to the camera firmware. This will have to be done anytime a sensor or an electronic board is replaced. Each CCD has pixel defects so mapping is a requirement.

[Posto 6]

To a degree, that is not necessarily so much of a problem if one exchanges the sensor together with the board. This is possible if one has donor units with the correct parts to hand (eg from an body-accidented DMR) to use as a donor. Quite doable, with a little patience- I have already found one such donor unit.