sksaito Posted October 28, 2011 Share #1 Â Posted October 28, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Are there service specialists who can CLA M3 or M4 cameras and put the L or C seal back on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 28, 2011 Posted October 28, 2011 Hi sksaito, Take a look here Leica "L" or "C" seal. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
250swb Posted October 28, 2011 Share #2 Â Posted October 28, 2011 Wouldn't that mean they are involving themselves in forgery? Â http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42851&page=2 Â Post #43 tells you that the seals actually mean something. Â Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sksaito Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share #3 Â Posted October 28, 2011 I've read the post. Thank you. I guess so. That would be forgery and would be misleading. When I look at these seals, sometimes the letter is not clear as if the seal had been scored or scratched. I don't know what material these seals are made from and what effect time has on them. Makes me wonder if they were messed with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
koray Posted October 28, 2011 Share #4 Â Posted October 28, 2011 Are there service specialists who can CLA M3 or M4 cameras and put the L or C seal back on? Â One time a well known Leica specialist told me a story: Another "specialist" contacts him to request help on a Leica M camera which he/she could not repair. So my friend accepts and receives the camera, only to see the L seal still intact. Calls back and asks how the other specialist had accessed the innards when the L seal is still intact. Answer: "Oh easy, I have an L seal stamp, so I put it on" . My specialist doesn't care if a camera has the L seal or not. This story tells a lot, I think. Â Koray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc_braconi Posted October 28, 2011 Share #5  Posted October 28, 2011 One time a well known Leica specialist told me a story: Another "specialist" contacts him to request help on a Leica M camera which he/she could not repair. So my friend accepts and receives the camera, only to see the L seal still intact. Calls back and asks how the other specialist had accessed the innards when the L seal is still intact. Answer: "Oh easy, I have an L seal stamp, so I put it on" . My specialist doesn't care if a camera has the L seal or not. This story tells a lot, I think.  Koray :D:D Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/165047-leica-l-or-c-seal/?do=findComment&comment=1828876'>More sharing options...
sksaito Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share #6 Â Posted October 28, 2011 Jeez Luiz! I've never seen such a thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted October 28, 2011 Share #7 Â Posted October 28, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) If I saw a fifty year old camera for sale with an original raised 'L' seal I would try to negotiate the price down because it would definitely need a service. Otherwise you are buying a paperweight no matter how original it is. Â Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 28, 2011 Share #8 Â Posted October 28, 2011 I'd rather have a functioning camera than one that's 'box original'. Â Don't worry about the seal! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsambrook Posted October 29, 2011 Share #9  Posted October 29, 2011 If I saw a fifty year old camera for sale with an original raised 'L' seal I would try to negotiate the price down because it would definitely need a service. Otherwise you are buying a paperweight no matter how original it is. Steve  When Leitz serviced cameras at Wetzlar through to the 1980s at least, did they not apply the same seal? Or was it a different one?.  My M2 still has the "L" seal and works perfectly. Well, it gives correct exposures and focuses accurately. So it's hardly a paperweight. I acquired it around ten years ago from a friend who bought it secondhand in 1971. As he's no longer with us I can't ask him if he ever had it serviced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest henjenn Posted October 30, 2011 Share #10 Â Posted October 30, 2011 I have about 11 Leica M3's and M2's and six of them have the L seal still intact...... and they are all almost dead on. Only 1/2 second and 1 second are off by a fraction in some of them. I check them all the time. Only issue I have with them is that there viewfinders get a bit dusty, but it doesn't bother me enough to ruin the L seals. A read online once, a reputable leica repair tech ( one who we all know ) said that there is a way to remove the top plate without damaging the seal. I think you have to cut the screw from the inside. Sounds like too much trouble for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted October 30, 2011 Share #11 Â Posted October 30, 2011 I think you have to cut the screw from the inside. Sounds like too much trouble for me. Â If you knew what it takes to remove the top plate of an M camera you would know that it is impossible. Somebody has been telling you a big fib. And I think your big fib should go no further into Leica mythology. Â Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest henjenn Posted October 31, 2011 Share #12 Â Posted October 31, 2011 I saw Elvis tonight too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted October 31, 2011 Share #13 Â Posted October 31, 2011 I have a black painted m4- however I was told it was not painted by Leitz but by a Korean company. The paint job seems to me to be better than the original Leitz paint... absolutely perfect- but the serial number of the camera is not in the painted range. Â Interestingly the cameras L seal is perfectly intact: however it seems that they must have disassembled it to paint it? Surely? Â On another note I know a Leica trained camera tech. He has his own seal- with his own symbol. He can identify the work of other Leica trained techs but their unique seals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJohnE Posted October 31, 2011 Share #14 Â Posted October 31, 2011 A dumb question. I have owned LTM and M cameras,(though have none now to check) for nearly 60 years. Where are those seals? I must have seen 'em, but cannot remember. Dim John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted October 31, 2011 Share #15 Â Posted October 31, 2011 its on the front of the bayonet mount at the top- have a look- looks like a black dot- if you look close you can see the seal- (or lack of seal) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
koray Posted March 6, 2012 Share #16 Â Posted March 6, 2012 A lovely quote from an ebay auction of a used condition M3: Â " ...L seal intact! Vulcanite is intact all the way around! The shutter is functioning wonderful at all speeds.. really sounds great, definitely this camera has been CLA'd and taken care of!.. " Â Â K. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabears Posted March 6, 2012 Share #17 Â Posted March 6, 2012 I found this, times ago : Â "The camera was never used, still sealed in the plastic bag. I've taken some photos last week and both the rangefinder and shutter are ok. Curtains are perfect". Â cheers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted March 6, 2012 Share #18 Â Posted March 6, 2012 Though presumably the presence of an intact "L" seal is not incompatible with the possibility of a recent CLA (followed by resealing) by Leica at Solms... I actually don't know - can anyone confirm? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted March 7, 2012 Share #19 Â Posted March 7, 2012 Though presumably the presence of an intact "L" seal is not incompatible with the possibility of a recent CLA (followed by resealing) by Leica at Solms... I actually don't know - can anyone confirm? Â This is what I found in the depths of my hard drive, among many other tidbits of more or less useful (or useless...) information: Â Raised letter 'L' indicated a camera manufactured by Leitz Wetzlar up to the M4-2 (excluding the CL). A recessed letter 'L' indicated a camera serviced by Leitz Wetzlar up to about 1982. Â So - there you have it.... Â Â Cheers, Â Â Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted March 7, 2012 Share #20 Â Posted March 7, 2012 So presumably a camera serviced in Solms will no longer be "L"-sealed there... Interesting, I would have thought that an L-sealed, official repair would command a premium today, and justify sending your camera to Leica instead of elsewhere. Â Anyway, many thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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