GETTING RID OF MY M GEAR, STILL ADDING TO MY R COLLECTION

[Michael Geschlecht]

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Hello Everybody,

 

I think 1 reason this is an interesting Thread is all of the people Posting & commenting are accurate in terms of all of the positive they have said. This is why I use both.

 

A Tele-Elmar on an M3 is really almost as Ideal as a 90 which it is clear the M3 was designed around. Both 90 & 135 are large images w/ free space around them to better anticipate & compose that which surrounds the frame in use.

 

The larger free space for the 135 is a +.

 

For closeups to 1 : 1 w/ a Tele-Elmar I use my R10 aka a Minolta 101 w/ appropriate adapters which allow me to use a Tele-Elmar in a continuous unbroken focussing motion from Infinity to 1 : 1.

 

The lack of free space around the captured image is a +.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

[Posto 6]

I think that you are being very tough on Customer Service there. Others who have visited Customer Service in Solms will also be able to confirm the large efforts that Solms has made to try to keep the discontinued R cameras and the limited run of a few thousand DMR working for customers, including cannabilisation for some years.

 

The history of the DMR is pretty well covered in this Forum I think. Most importantly Imacon are now a direct competitor and this is old technology in electronic terms now too of course. None of this is new. They just can't get parts nor fix it for you.

 

Have you paid them for any servicing on the item? Most likely their initial assessment would not have involved disassembly, as that would be at some cost for no return when the PCB is faulty and there just are no more of them. I would expect that they would have returned the complete DMR to you at no charge? If they provide you with their commercial property in the form of their technical documentation, are they then liable if you damage it or hurt yourself but insist that you only did what their procedures say??

 

If you did pay for disassembly and shipping back to you, then had someone else diagnose and repair the PCB, it would be unreasonable to expect Leica Camera to then reassemble it with unknown third party modifications to the PCB and reassemble/test and guarantee any work (which they would need to do if they are charging you).

 

Anyone else holding one would be appreciative, I'm sure, if you can have it successfully repaired elswhere and report in here afterwards. Some users have been trying to buy units as spares or parts for some years too.

 

FWIW, I did very clearly tell Leica Service that any information and assistance was entirely at my risk, and that I waived my consumer rights. I also offered to keep any information confidential if requested by them. I agree that they are good people- it is just that I supsect that any exceptions to normal rules and procedures may need a bit more insistence and/or management assistance and intervention.As I am in Europe for the next 2 weeks, the item was sent from Germany, where I was visiting- I also waived any EU consumer rights for warranties, etc.

 

I would be really grateful for a little help from them on this- namely which of the four PCBs needs repair, and how the connectors lock and unlock on the boards.

 

Leica themselves freely admit they have an insurmountable problem with these PCBs; all I am asking from them is very basic technical information that could assist me in trying to get my units working again at my own risk.

[hoppyman]

I just read the other three linked threads and I can see now that you have bought at least two DMR quite recently and are quite aware of the limitations and history of he DMR. So you have bought them with that knowledge and the hope that you can get them repaired somehow anyway. Reading Mark Norton's (whose expertise is widely respected here) remarks, it does not seem hopeful.

I wish you well and I understand the desire to have a digital vehicle for the superb R lenses. I handled some of them only recently on an R9/DMR and was very impressed.

 

Personally I only disagreed with your remarks on the M system and about Leica Customer Service, else I would not have commented..

 

Good luck to you.. I suspect that you will end up in the same position as other enthusiasts who are trying to get the DMR working again. Others still have working units and/or spare units and are producing superb work with them. Doug Herr being the most prominent known to me.

[jaapv]

I have learned one thing over the last decades: never sell a Leica lens; you end up rebuying it at a higher price:(.

[Posto 6]

I just read the other three linked threads and I can see now that you have bought at least two DMR quite recently and are quite aware of the limitations and history of he DMR. So you have bought them with that knowledge and the hope that you can get them repaired somehow anyway. Reading Mark Norton's (whose expertise is widely respected here) remarks, it does not seem hopeful.

I wish you well and I understand the desire to have a digital vehicle for the superb R lenses. I handled some of them only recently on an R9/DMR and was very impressed.

 

Personally I only disagreed with your remarks on the M system and about Leica Customer Service, else I would not have commented..

 

Good luck to you.. I suspect that you will end up in the same position as other enthusiasts who are trying to get the DMR working again. Others still have working units and/or spare units and are producing superb work with them. Doug Herr being the most prominent known to me.

 

I actually do have an excellent working DMR, but would like a backup, and ideally to gain a bit more confidence that I can keep things going should I be unlucky enough for it to pack up.

 

Living in Rio, where electronics were until recently expensive and imported, has shown me that in many cases things like PCBs are actually quite salvageable by a good tech- I remember being told in 2004 that my expensive Panasonic Toughbook laptop was not economically repairable by Panasonic USA, and then getting it's board repaired by a specialist in the Edificio Central in Rio... I will keep you posted on developments, but do not usually accept "not really possible" as an excuse without first exhausting all the options (probably something I learned at work in Investment Banking).

[wildlightphoto]

I ... do not usually accept "not really possible" as an excuse without first exhausting all the options...

 

+1

 

It's mostly a matter of finding someone with the right skill set. For example I refused to accept Leica's official line that ROM lenses cannot be used on a Leicaflex SL and figured out how to make it work... and Michael Bass' DMR power supply options are well known on this forum.

[swamiji]

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I am looking at getting a DMR to provide a digital supplement my SL2's. In time I might get a second, as backup. The more I hear Leica speak about the new system at Photokina 2012 the less I am certain it will work as a replacement. It may be a good system on it's own, but not a R9/DMR replacement.

 

I however am not getting rid of any M equipment. I do not see a conflict between SLR and Rangefinder.

 

P.S. You can get 2 DMR with R8/9 for the price of one M9-P.

[Manolo Laguillo]

(probably something I learned at work in Investment Banking).

 

your writing in #1 denotes you are not a photographer, but somebody working in investment, as is finally visible because you are saying it.

 

I am a photographer, and never would think within the frame of mind you are in: when I use a camera for making photographs I don't care how others use it, or if they simply collect it, without actually employing it for making phtographs.

 

Not being a photographer is ok, there is nothing wrong with being it, or with not being it.

 

I fully respect your approach, of course, and find it very interesting, because it would have never occured to me. I say this without irony, please understand me well.

 

BTW, I bought last week a R6, for using it with the 28mm PC S-Ang in case the M9 (I use that beautiful R lens with it) would fail...