Helicoid fix - DAG or Leica?

[dante]

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I just had one of those days where I found my camera on the floor as a result of my two small children rough-housing, and now I have a $$$ Summilux that seems to be jammed. There is no sign of apparent external damage, no focusing misalignment, and no RF issues, but going from ∞, I experience pretty considerable focusing resistance at 2m and pretty much no further movement at 1m. Camera body seems fine.

 

My surmise is that the helicoid is either bent, jammed, or has acquired some kind of foreign object. Of course, with money, everything can be fixed. But I am mainly interested in getting this repaired within 4 weeks.

 

Has anyone had DAG handle something like this? Or is this better sent to Leica? 

 

Thanks!

Dante

[jim0266]

Within 4 weeks, first call DAG to see if he can meet your deadline. I would be surprised if Leica could get it back faster than DAG. A few months back I shipped him my 50/1.4 to have re-lubed. He had it back to me in around 2 weeks. 

[Jeff S]

Within 4 weeks, first call DAG to see if he can meet your deadline. I would be surprised if Leica could get it back faster than DAG. A few months back I shipped him my 50/1.4 to have re-lubed. He had it back to me in around 2 weeks. 

 

+1

 

Leica told me that they couldn't fix the 'sticky' focus action on my 50 Summilux ASPH, so I sent it to DAG who replaced the grease with his supply of the original Leitz grease (that Leica doesn't even stock anymore) and had it back in a week for under a hundred bucks.

 

Call him to discuss your issue and timing.

 

Jeff

[dante]

Thanks guys. Got in touch with DAG, and he said that this kind of thing is not uncommon, and can be triggered even without impact damage, and is generally straightforward to fix. I've had good results with him in the past; my only concern was that there was something super-exotic about the repair. My suspicion is that the Metz flash attached to the setup took the brunt of it.

 

Which brings me to my next question. If the camera is showing no ill effects, no apparent mount misalignment (checking images as actually focused across the frame), no dents, and no RF errors, is it safe to assume I don't need to send that to New Jersey for alignment checks? I would think that anything sufficient to damage the camera would at least knock the RF out. The insurance on sending cameras in is absurdly expensive, which is why I would like to avoid it if possible. Plus months of waiting...

 

Dante

[Exodies]

If the camera is showing no ill effects, then you are really in trouble. Unknown unknowns are the hardest to fix.

[dante]

If the camera is showing no ill effects, then you are really in trouble. Unknown unknowns are the hardest to fix.

 

That's a good point. Maybe I should drop it on the tile floor. That will erase any uncertainty! 

 

Dante

[Jeff S]

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Which brings me to my next question. If the camera is showing no ill effects, no apparent mount misalignment (checking images as actually focused across the frame), no dents, and no RF errors, is it safe to assume I don't need to send that to New Jersey for alignment checks? I would think that anything sufficient to damage the camera would at least knock the RF out. The insurance on sending cameras in is absurdly expensive, which is why I would like to avoid it if possible. Plus months of waiting...

 

 

 

Not sure which M you own, but if it has live view, then RF/lens calibration checks are a breeze, especially if you have other lenses to separate lens vs RF issues.  One can conduct careful testing with any M, but LV really helps to gauge RF accuracy.

 

Otherwise, don't bother unless your pics (prints) have issues.

 

Jeff

[darylgo]

Re: Insurance. Leica will send you a UPS label for warranty work. Non- warranty requests are often graciously given if graciously asked. I don't believe the labels include any insurance.

With DAG and all others, I insure a few hundred dollars, cost is minimal and USPS handles the package with signature required. Never lost anything yet with any major shipper, USPS has been the best, UPS destroys boxes regularly and Fed-Ex recently left a box in the rain while in transit but they owned up to it and the contents were fine.