Dreadful experience of buying Leica second hand.

[LotharZhou]

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Recently my friend bought a second hand black M8u(Serial number 3110542) from one of the seller on the forum, my friend based in China, thus they asked the seller to post the M8 to me in Frankfurt.

 

Everything went smoothly and I got the camera from Holland, it is indeed near mint condition, cosmetic wise. After two days testing the camera, not only the hotline shows up at ISO2500, but the shutter failed and shows typical shutter fail, drive block on the LCD. It's an upgraded 4000/1 shutter.

 

Of course the seller subsequently denied any of these fault, and since the camera is out of warranty, a huge repair bill is expected.

What an annoying experience, lesson learnt!

[Magnum Image]

When was the shutter replaced?

[LotharZhou]

I believe it was in late 2008.

When was the shutter replaced?

[Magnum Image]

Well that's a dead end. It does suck but that is the chance you take not buying from a dealer that gives you a warranty. I know, my M8 shutter faulted about 2 months after I bought it off eBay. I actually got a fault a few days after receiving the camera but I took the battery out and it started working again. As much as it hurts when it does happen I think a 4-6 year lifespan is about normal for these shutters and I think one should always keep that in mind when buying an M8. Doesn't help the sting I know.

[LotharZhou]

Thanks for sharing your experience, I have already tried everything including bang the bottom plate to get the shutter working again, no luck, it's permanently jammed.

Off to solms and wait for the rest.

 

Well that's a dead end. It does suck but that is the chance you take not buying from a dealer that gives you a warranty. I know, my M8 shutter faulted about 2 months after I bought it off eBay. I actually got a fault a few days after receiving the camera but after taking the battery out it started working again. As much as it hurts when it does happen I think a 4-6 year lifespan is about normal for these shutters and I think one should always keep that in mind when buying an M8. Doesn't help the sting I know.

[lct]

Sad experience but buying expensive stuff w/o a serious warranty is always risky.

[efix]

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Best of luck! They are known in Solms to be rather forthcoming re. the price they charge if you keep nagging (politely).

 

Btw, I bought my M8 used, too, back in 2010. It has a very early SN, so I gather it's an early model from 2006. Had no problems whatsoever with it so far. Yes, the sensor shows the age: some hot pixels causing vertical lines which I fix with PixelFixer, and banding at ISOs > 640 (and sometimes even at base ISO when the sensor gets hot). No problem though with any of the mechanics so far, and 99% of the pictures it takes are absolutely perfect.

 

I guess buying used stuff that you have not properly tested beforehand always is kind of a lottery game.

[LotharZhou]

Yeah, thanks for the advice, I will see what I can do to get the price down a bit, if it's ever possible. The purchase was between two different countries, so testing the camera was rather difficult.

 

Best of luck! They are known in Solms to be rather forthcoming re. the price they charge if you keep nagging (politely).

 

Btw, I bought my M8 used, too, back in 2010. It has a very early SN, so I gather it's an early model from 2006. Had no problems whatsoever with it so far. Yes, the sensor shows the age: some hot pixels causing vertical lines which I fix with PixelFixer, and banding at ISOs > 640 (and sometimes even at base ISO when the sensor gets hot). No problem though with any of the mechanics so far, and 99% of the pictures it takes are absolutely perfect.

 

I guess buying used stuff that you have not properly tested beforehand always is kind of a lottery game.

[Jeff S]

lesson learnt!

 

Rules that have worked for me over time:

 

• Always buy from reputable dealer
   
  
• Always get some form of written warranty
   
  
• Always maintain full replacement insurance that covers all circumstances, including theft, damage and user fault
  

 

Jeff

[Wolfgang Esslinger]

Rules that have worked for me over time:

 

• Always buy from reputable dealer
   
  
• Always get some form of written warranty
   
  
• Always maintain full replacement insurance that covers all circumstances, including theft, damage and user fault
  

 

Jeff

 

This all comes at a price, of course.

[earleygallery]

Not knowing who the seller is (some people simply register here to sell stuff, others are regular forum members) put yourself in the sellers position.

 

If he genuinely sold a fault-free camera (obviously the shutter was working OK when you received the camera) then it's understandable that he/she is reluctant to be involved.

 

This is the problem with selling/buying and expensive digital camera. They can fail suddenly. I would never buy one without a warranty.

 

At least the repaired camera will be good as new.

[LotharZhou]

It's simply very true, can't always rely on good will and honesty.

 

This all comes at a price, of course.

[LotharZhou]

I don't doubt the seller is a genuine leica user, the problem about the famous M8 shutter fault I read on the forum, it's the shutter sometimes can recover on it's own or periodly refunctioning after changing battery or by shaking the camera etc. I wouldn't know of course.

 

Hope solms gets it fix soon.

 

Not knowing who the seller is (some people simply register here to sell stuff, others are regular forum members) put yourself in the sellers position.

 

If he genuinely sold a fault-free camera (obviously the shutter was working OK when you received the camera) then it's understandable that he/she is reluctant to be involved.

 

This is the problem with selling/buying and expensive digital camera. They can fail suddenly. I would never buy one without a warranty.

 

At least the repaired camera will be good as new.

[jaapv]

Well, things might not be as bad as they look. If the sensor can be remapped and the shutter is simply a stuck flipper the cost might not be too high. Wait and see what Solms has to say.

[LotharZhou]

That's what I am hoping for, fingers crossed, thanks Jaap.

 

Well, things might not be as bad as they look. If the sensor can be remapped and the shutter is simply a stuck flipper the cost might not be too high. Wait and see what Solms has to say.

[Studio58]

He should have bought mine (only 2,000) actuations) but declined because I wanted bank transfer not Pay Pal.

[LotharZhou]

Totally, life is unpredictable, some buyers from China have more problems using bank trasfer, the charges, the different banking policy etc.

 

He should have bought mine (only 2,000) actuations) but declined because I wanted bank transfer not Pay Pal.

[Studio58]

Totally, life is unpredictable, some buyers from China have more problems using bank trasfer, the charges, the different banking policy etc.

 

Yea understood. I am just very wary of PayPal is all. I do use it to purchase I should add.

[andybarton]

I am wary of PayPal payments from people I don't know, especially for big ticket items.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[LotharZhou]

Seems like I should be more careful in the future as well.

 

I am wary of PayPal payments from people I don't know, especially for big ticket items.