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Yet again another Leica disappointment


Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

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I am not sure whether you can deduce anything from the handwritten note that comes with it...

 

Mine said:

 

Auftrag 849856

SN 4145328

Motor Einbau 27.03.2012

Herkunft USA

Motor Nr 213.

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Eion

You know being an old roughneck the only spammers in my tool bag was a 36 and a few flogging spanners so decided against it.

Good new on my current lens. I got a call from Sven Kupfer today from Leica and after talking with him for a good 20 minutes Leica have informed me that my 120 lens will be on its way to KL tonight and that as soon as my 30mm lens arrives in there factory they will repair and send it back out the next day........... I'm back loving Leica again

That's a pity, Neil. You do have the right tools - A 36" Stilson is definitely capable of taking the lens apart. With a cheater bar, they can take anything apart.

 

Good news on the response from Leica - Well done!

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Well, another S thread replete with justified whiners and Pollyanna apologizers, waffling worry warts, and those resigned to their fate.

 

I, for one, am all the above.

 

Personally, I feel trapped by my aesthetic proclivities.

 

I've selected the S system for reasons of taste and beauty ... but like a uncommitted lover, it is passionate one minute and cooly insults me the next ... (then leaves me jilted and sulking as it flits off to Europe for months long flings).  

 

Sometimes I wish I could dump it all, but I can no longer take major financial hits over camera gear ... at my stage of life to many other priorities come before it. Its only value now is in the using. 

 

More importantly, I know for a personal certainty there is nothing to aesthetically replace it. 

 

Hope springs eternal.

 

Over the past few years, I've sent off most of my S lenses for repair ... only time will tell whether it is a band-aid fix or a proper operation by a skilled doctor. Unfortunately, when it comes to communication, this Doc has a horrible bedside manner, or none at all.

 

Oh well, sigh, I'm resigned to being a S shooter no matter how many times it spits in my face and laughs at my weakness.

 

After 40 years of loyalty and hundreds of thousands of dollars, I wish Leica loved me even a fraction as much as I've loved Leica.  

 

- Marc 

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For me it is not only the quality issues...

 

I also don't see where Leica is going with the S system.

 

When the Leica S2 was released it was a system that could compete with Phase One and Hasselblad because of the excellent lens quality.  Those systems play in a different league now.

 

Charging $16K for a less than 40MP system is simply not commercially viable anymore in 2016 IMHO...  

 

I guess we will wait and see whether Leica has any Photokina announcements up its sleeve...

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Did you have a chance to compare HC 50mm f3.5 and Leica 45mm f2.8 side by side? Would love to hear your opinion about both lenses. 

No, I didn't get the 45mm. I compared my HC 50mm vs the S 30-90 and the prime lens was obviously sharper, but not as sharp as the S 120mm. 

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For me it is not only the quality issues...

 

I also don't see where Leica is going with the S system.

 

When the Leica S2 was released it was a system that could compete with Phase One and Hasselblad because of the excellent lens quality.  Those systems play in a different league now.

 

Charging $16K for a less than 40MP system is simply not commercially viable anymore in 2016 IMHO...  

 

I guess we will wait and see whether Leica has any Photokina announcements up its sleeve...

 

I suppose that it is all a matter of perspective. 

 

I engaged in the bigger sensor, higher meg merry-go-round for quite awhile, FF 645 @ 60 meg for example. I also worked with Multi-Shot cameras. The way I saw the S system was as a sort of middle ground with a bigger than 35mm sensor and somewhat larger pixel pitch. 

 

Aesthetically, that met all the criteria I was interested in. I work with a Sony A7R-II with slightly more meg sporting some very nice Zeiss glass ... all of which doesn't hold a candle to the S in any way that I personally measure IQ.

 

I do not think a 50 meg S would make that much difference (although it could have been competitive for the (007) as a marketing ploy), and something like 70 or 80 meg would make it a completely different camera in practical use.

 

Frankly, the development of all these camera systems has reached a point that most costly improvements are more marketing ploys than something we can realize in actual use.  

 

Personally, I'd like Leica to solidify their position with the S and SL as professional level kits ... with the emphasis on tight quality from design to manufacture and highly personal service protocols. I don't need more gadgets and marketing gimmicks ... I need reliability, swift service when needed, and longevity.

 

My days of system hopping, and taking major hits for model swaps, are over. 

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Personally, I'd like Leica to solidify their position with the S and SL as professional level kits ... with the emphasis on tight quality from design to manufacture and highly personal service protocols. I don't need more gadgets and marketing gimmicks ... I need reliability, swift service when needed, and longevity.

 

 

 

+1.....and I have no professional needs....just consumer expectations.

 

I'd add commitment to a full lens lineup for both systems.  The SL line is of course brand new, but the S line has fallen short of expectations discussed here years ago by David Farkas and others (wide T/S, tele primes, etc).  Some smaller, albeit slower, versions would be nice too.

 

Jeff

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+1.....and I have no professional needs....just consumer expectations.

 

I'd add commitment to a full lens lineup for both systems.  The SL line is of course brand new, but the S line has fallen short of expectations discussed here years ago by David Farkas and others (wide T/S, tele primes, etc).  Some smaller, albeit slower, versions would be nice too.

 

Jeff

 

 

+1.  I agree with both of you.  And I sincerely hope that the SL is not going the same way as the S (10 lenses after 8 years) and the T (5 lenses after 2.5 years)...

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Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

I just had an interesting message left on my phone from the head of the Leica Germany customer service.

I emailed Leica on Wednesday saying that I wanted to buy a 180mm S lens but was worried that I would get the same BS and have to send it back to Germany to get a new AF motor. I explained that if they could guarantee me a lens without having to worry about an impending AF failure I would buy one, and if there was no such guarantee then I would buy a Hasselblad lens instead (which I did this morning a 250mm superchromatic SA).

The message said that they could not guarantee if I buy a 180 lens off the shelf that the AF would not fail but if I could wait until the end of October they would make one especially for me with a guarantee that the AF would not fail.

I guess I jumped the gun with the 250 but I believe it will also be a fantastic lens on my Hasselblad 503CV and also on my S with an adaptation.

I will also get a 180mm at the end of October......... Now that's what I call customer service

Well done Leica.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Do you believe that?

 

How can they possibly guarantee that a lens will not fail? Is this an implication that they have completely redesigned the lens so that it is 100% fail-proof, or just wishful thinking on their part?

 

I am amazed that anyone will promise a "guarantee not to fail" product, in any field or category of products. 

 

The statement is right up there with "Your M8 is up-gradable for life".

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I was at Wetzlar yesterday and was informed that the issues will be fixed in October.

 

The new gear will supposedly not fail as has been the case so far.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perhaps that's the big Leica Photokina release - A reliable AF in their S lenses?

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