Support of discontinued lenses (related to MATE discontinued)

[enboe]

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Having the good fortune of owning a 1st-gen Tri-Elmar, which gets used quite frequently, I find the MATE discontinuance a little worrisome. Do I need to start taking extra measures to protect my lens? Heavens forbid, is it time to put on a UV filter to protect a potentially-irreplaceable front element?

 

Does anyone know what Leica's policy is on stocking of spare parts, especially glass elements, for their discontinued models?

 

Thanks.

 

Eric

[Shootist]

Having the good fortune of owning a 1st-gen Tri-Elmar, which gets used quite frequently, I find the MATE discontinuance a little worrisome. Do I need to start taking extra measures to protect my lens? Heavens forbid, is it time to put on a UV filter to protect a potentially-irreplaceable front element?

 

Does anyone know what Leica's policy is on stocking of spare parts, especially glass elements, for their discontinued models?

 

Thanks.

 

Eric

 

 

I would think they don't stock glass for any lens as a spare part. Just how many front elements of any lens gets scratched, I wouldn't think to many. Not that it doesn't happen but the cost of stocking extra glass for each individual lens Leica makes would be cost prohibitive. What they may do if you were to send a lens in for front element replacement is use one that is in stock for the production of a new lens. Once that particular lens is out of production they wouldn't order any more glass for it. Now if they had glass blanks that was for another lens and it matched the optical formula of the one you needed then they may grid that blank to work in your lens. But this would be on a per incident work order and if they didn't have any blanks that could be ground to that lens specs then you are SOL.