Athenos Posted October 20, 2013 Share #1 Posted October 20, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello, I hope I'm in the right sub forum for my questions, thoughts and rant on the matter. If it is in the wrong sub forum, can a moderator move it to the correct one? Keep in mind that this the first time I'm sending a Leica for repair, so I have no previous experience on the matter. Also my text turned out to be over 500 words, which is much longer than intended, sorry! I have a Leica M6 TTL 0.72 with a frame level preselector that is not working as intended. The 28/90mm frames are not showing at all when I try to switch the selector. When I try to change between the 35/135 and 50/75, both options are showing at the same time. I essentially have mashup of 35/50/75/135. I decided to send it in for CLA as I had just bought it second hand (used) and I couldn't tell when it was last in for a check-up. I sent it in to a local photo store that said they would send it to another company that does Leica repairs in Norway and sends things they cannot fix themselves to Solms. Company is called Fotocare AS. Anyways on to my questions. 1) Does anyone have any experience with the time it takes to receive the estimate Leica sends out? either directly or through another company (third party). 2) Anyone here have any experience with the repair tracking service about its accuracy? My estimate was sent out almost two weeks ago according to the Leica repair tracking service. I have yet to hear anything from either Leica, Fotocare or the local photo store I originally delivered my camera to. Fotocare has yet to respond to any attempts of contact by me over the past couple of days. I have started to think they are on vacation. The reason for me contacting Fotcare in the first place is because they have this online service thing, were they say on their webpage that this is where the customers can answer price estimates and see the progress of repairs. No told me this when I delivered the camera. I was originally quoted "a couple of weeks" by the photo store when I delivered the M6. when I contacted Leica customer service about spare parts, I also asked about the estimate that was sent. They told me Fotocare were the ones that should contact me. They also said it would take about 10 weeks from when it was sent for the camera to be back in my hands with a delivery sometime in mid December. Also my camera disappeared from the Leica tracking service yesterday. My conclusions: 1) Never trust anyone about the time it is gong to take to fix something. Because there is no incentive to be accurate. 2) Having something fixed that is not Canon/Nikon in Norway is hard, because there is neither official local support nor third party technicians left if there ever was anyone. 3) Make sure the tings you buy on the internet is actually 100% mechanically working. It is better to pay $200 for a mint camera instead of having to send something in for repairs. Which probably end up costing more anyways. 4) Try and send stuff directly to Leica, even if the customs office is trying to rob you off the Import tax again, which I already paid (I have the receipt). I would rather be in direct contact with Leica than the mess i have ended up in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Hi Athenos, Take a look here Leica M6 TTL repair. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
philipus Posted October 20, 2013 Share #2 Posted October 20, 2013 Welcome to the forum Athenos. I'm sorry you're having trouble with your camera and that the repair is taking so long. I just had my TTL serviced. I sent it in directly from here in Holland to Leica Customer Service in Solms. Within not more than 3 days from CS having received the camera (based on the Dutch post office's tracing system), CS emailed me an estimate with information on the necessary and additional works to be carried out. After I emailed back my decision as to what was to be done with the camera, CS took approximately four weeks to carry out the work. When I spoke with them on the phone I was told that it would have been faster if I had not also sent in a lens for repair. Sending in lens and camera adds about 7-10 working days apparently. It seems correct to me because in parallel with sending in the TTL I also send in my M4 (only) and that was returned within the space of two weeks of my decision about the additional work. Just so I understand - did you receive an estimate, then, from Solms or from Fotocare? If from the latter I would call them and ask if they need to send it to Solms and how long that would take. Good luck Philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 20, 2013 Share #3 Posted October 20, 2013 A faulty frame selector should be a simple repair, I would have looked for a local repairer rather than sending the camera back to Leica. The problem here is that there are too many links in the chain. Your contract is with whoever you left the camera with and who you will be paying the bill to - if that's the camera shop then speak to them asap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smb Posted October 20, 2013 Share #4 Posted October 20, 2013 I sent mine to Sherry Krauter at Golden Touch for a CLA/upgrade MP viewfinder/broken advance/black Leica dot. Took about 4 weeks. Others are DAGcamera & yyecamera.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 20, 2013 Share #5 Posted October 20, 2013 I was originally quoted "a couple of weeks" by the photo store when I delivered the M6. when I contacted Leica customer service about spare parts, I also asked about the estimate that was sent. They told me Fotocare were the ones that should contact me. Leica will give Fotocare a quote for the repair. Fotocare will give you a quote which will probably be the Leica quote + a margin for themselves. That's why Leica won't give you the price directly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athenos Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted October 21, 2013 I called the the local photo store where delivered my camera and told them my difficulty contacting Fotocare. the the guy at the photo store responsible for Leica, called the general manager of Fotocare and asked about the quote and why it was taking so long. Some waiting around and I get my quote sent from the local photo store: Arbeidsestimat: - Necessary labour costs - adjust mask / mask carrier - adjust range finder - clean range finder - the spare parts used for this repair. - cleaning and end control - necessary materials - mask carrier Total pris: 4840 NOK Which is around 600 euros. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 21, 2013 Share #7 Posted October 21, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) That's similar to the amount I was quoted for a CLA on an M2, although independent repairers are much less expensive in my experience. However that should include a general service - not just repair of the frame lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 21, 2013 Share #8 Posted October 21, 2013 In the UK for older M cameras that need the RF re-silvering there is CRR at Luton. However Peter is quite backlogged with work and will not take on new until he has a slot to work on it. I have my M4 booked in for late December (hopefully!) for the RF mirrors to be re-silvered, an RF re-calibrate, light-seal check and a clicking/rattly rear door curing. I think I am right in saying that re-silvering the RF mirrors is one of the few jobs that Malcolm Taylor doesn't do. Malcolm has five of my lenses at the moment. Four for just coding and my Summicron-C for a clean, barrel figures repainting and coding (as a 50mm Summicron III). Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted October 21, 2013 Share #9 Posted October 21, 2013 Hi Wilson, The OP's issue is the frame line masks sticking, rather than a rangefinder problem as such. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 21, 2013 Share #10 Posted October 21, 2013 Hi Wilson, The OP's issue is the frame line masks sticking, rather than a rangefinder problem as such. James, My post on CRR was just for additional info on M RF repairs in the UK for anyone else who might need it. The OP's camera seems to be sitting in Solms in any case. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
normclarke Posted October 23, 2013 Share #11 Posted October 23, 2013 Wilson, Malcolm Taylor did a complete r/f service for me several years ago including a mirror resilver. I believe he has the 'gear' to complete this task. Best, normclarke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share #12 Posted October 23, 2013 Wilson,Malcolm Taylor did a complete r/f service for me several years ago including a mirror resilver. I believe he has the 'gear' to complete this task. Best, normclarke. Norm, I spoke to Malcolm on my M4 earlier this year and he suggested CRR to me. Now it may just be that he was very busy at the time. It is annoying if he could have done it, as I have just sent a large box of other stuff to him for service. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
normclarke Posted October 24, 2013 Share #13 Posted October 24, 2013 Wilson, I think this may be an age problem. Best, Norm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.