Bye, Leica. It was fun.

[Joshua Lowe]

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Hi Joshua! Thanks for sharing the IG photo which is BTS from my Iceland trip.

 

I shot with S007 under heavy rain/snow/wind with no issues for 16 days there. Here is the link with more BTS photos: https://www.faran.gallery/blog/2016/7/15/the-harsh-winter-of-iceland

Beautiful photos. To clarify my comment, what I found to be "lame" was that Leica would misrepresent themselves in such a way by depicting that the 007 can be used in such conditions with confidence when in reality they do not back their customers up if there's a problem. Edited February 8, 2017 by Joshua Lowe

[R3D-D0T]

You're spending 10k USD per year and leave for a 4k repair...very interesting.

 

It's not so much about the cost but rather risking another camera failure, thus wasting your time, money and energy traveling for your next big shoot.

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[Wayne]

This has been a very interesting read. I guess I have never considered the corporate structure of Leica. Does Leica, as a corporation, operate as one big unit/family?, or, is it a fairly segregated environment, i.e. M family, S family, Q family? Is Leica Service just that...Leica Service, or is it a different service department for each family of products? I know that, from an external perspective, it is one company, but I wonder if internal philosophies pertaining to specific product lines differ......Different department head, different results, different attitudes. I also wonder what degree of autonomy the specific service/repair people have in determining if something is likely the result of abuse by customer. In my world, a determination at lower level to respond negatively to a customer always results in the matter being reviewed from the next higher authority-sometimes this takes place two or three times- before the customer is advised of a negative response. The idea being....the absolute worst case scenario is one where a customer is denied, makes a successful appeal, and, in the end, receives consideration..........but still hates your guts.

 

It is strange, these varied stories of experience with Leica customer service.

[Alo Ako]

... Leica would misrepresent themselves in such a way ...

 

Only Leica knows how to represent Leica. If you`re doing right for everybody, you`re doing wrong. They decide what to do, you decide where to spent your money. So what....

[woodhouse]

Hold on to your horses!  You're having a rather strong reaction, perhaps because of your equally strong devotion to the cameras (as you have described).  Did you enjoy using them?  Consider that your desire to bolt is not camera related, and that you might miss your Leica cameras if you did say goodbye to them.  Leica is a company and will maybe sometimes behave like one.  Leica isn't perfect.  Thanks for the post by the way, it was interesting and helpful.

[ZHNL]

Hold on to your horses! You're having a rather strong reaction, perhaps because of your equally strong devotion to the cameras (as you have described). Did you enjoy using them? Consider that your desire to bolt is not camera related, and that you might miss your Leica cameras if you did say goodbye to them. Leica is a company and will maybe sometimes behave like one. Leica isn't perfect. Thanks for the post by the way, it was interesting and helpful.

I agree with this comment. I have thought about quite Leica many times given there are way more choices now than 5 years ago and Leica S haven't move much since S2.

 

But every time when I browse the files from S, or multiple system files from the same trip, I always found I like the S results better.

 

I have a good faith it's time for Leica up it's S game again after past miserable years.

 

My POV is from hobbyist, if I am pro, I might have quit S years ago. Reliability problem should be the first priority for pro. We don't need feature rich camera but reliability and IQ is really a top priority.

 

I wish OP the best luck for what ever he choose and that can give him years of enjoyment.

 

I will stay with Leica S, give my faith to them. They have been treat me well over the years, bring me lots of enjoyment of using their equipments and give me good help on service once needed.

Edited February 21, 2017 by ZHNL

[Lord Lucan]

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A side point ... all reviews by people who have a financial stake in the reader buying the equipment, or who get any form of compensation or discount from the manufacturer, are not true reviews and should never be called "reviews".  This goes for all so-called reviews by brand ambassadors, dealers, company employees, etc.  They are never objective, never sufficiently critical, as far as I can tell.  Imagine book "reviews" by booksellers, or movie or theater "reviews" by the actors that appear in them.  Those would not be called true reviews.  Yet, somehow the photography world tolerates this mis-titling of articles that are not true reviews.  Several brands seem to have a culture of calling their sponsored articles "reviews", while a few seem to follow more ethical practices in how these articles are titled.

There is a guy a DPreview Leica Talk forum who insists that reviews ahould be written to boost the sale! He means it.

[jaapv]

Here's an article, including photos, of an event where Stephan Schulz of Leica participates in a demonstration of the SL's weather sealing by having a bottle of water dumped directly onto the body. Obviously, it's not an S007, but my understanding has been that the sealing is of a similar standard.

 

http://leicarumors.com/2015/10/30/the-new-leica-sl-camera-and-lenses-are-weather-sealed.aspx/

 

It's worth noting that Mr. Schulz is the product manager for Leica professional equipment and he is mentioned by name in David Farkas' Iceland article as having supplied the S007.

 

I am not a lawyer, but I think I recall the OP of this thread mentioning that he is, in fact, a lawyer. I have no idea what the reality of consumer protection laws are in the USA but I certainly feel like a line was crossed. If there were cause to pursue Leica over false or misleading claims then I would say why not try to depose Mr. Schulz?

I am not a lawyer either, but Leica is a German company, so I guess the applicable law would be German. Knowing Germany and its people well, I can assure you that this letter by Leica would have triggered a legal response immediately with about 98% of Leica's local customers.

[R3D-D0T]

I am not a lawyer either, but Leica is a German company, so I guess the applicable law would be German. Knowing Germany and its people well, I can assure you that this letter by Leica would have triggered a legal response immediately with about 98% of Leica's local customers.

But there is a Leica Camera USA, isn't there?

[Mikeleica]

Leave your innuendos at the door. Say what you mean or say nothing.

 

Ouch, kinda rude tone man. 

 

To the guy who started the thread, good luck with your move forward, that's a rough deal.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Mikeleica

[albertknappmd]

Given the US affiliate, you would have notional standing here in the USA. 

[albertknappmd]

but to what constructive purpose?

Try to work with the representatives at Leica USA or better yet the dealer who sold you the gear...

Albert

[BerndReini]

I saw this in another thread and I'm wondering if something like this could have caused the water damage. Obviously, Leica service should have found out if it was indeed the case:

 

 

The Flare I don't know exactly, but Leica once replaced my bayonet (I didn't know why) but they said there was too much room between the lens and the flange which made light leak in?

 

[Paul J]

Were you using an adapted lens?

[satijntje]

This is the way, Leica is loosing their clients!

 

J

[Alo Ako]

And Leica gets new customers  . That`s business. Bye, bye...

[erlingmm]

Well, now that the Fuji and the X1D is out, we can finally do practical comparisons. I guess both systems have their strengths, but I also see reports on long startup times, focus shift in lenses, unpleasant bokeh, and lack of wide aperture lenses. A couple of links here:

 

http://akimagery.com/hasselblad-x1d-vs--fuji-gfx

https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/2341704755/thinking-about-buying-a-fujifilm-gfx-50s-read-this-first

 

Lots of discussion about the last one, he basically says you don't need Fuji type of MF, that Nikon 810 is just as good for less than half the price.

 

Anyway, let's do the real comparisons of real systems.

[AlanJW]

I agree with the suggestion to pursue this further with Wetzlar.

 

BTW, my recent experience with Nikon for AW1 underwater camera is no better.  I had two fail in two years despite meticulous attention to the underwater seals.   The last one was deemed unrepairable due to water damage even though it passed their pressure test and there was no water ingress in either of the two openable compartments, which meant water seeped in notwithstanding the seals.  This on a camera that is advertised as usable to 100m deep.  My point is that camera sealing can fail, like any other component, and given that Leica has promoted the camera as resistant to the kind of exposure it had, they should stand behind their product and repair or replace it.

[Agent M10]

My point is that camera sealing can fail, like any other component, and given that Leica has promoted the camera as resistant to the kind of exposure it had, they should stand behind their product and repair or replace it.

 

 

Having sent in a check for the repairs in early February, I received an email today saying that I should receive the 007 and 100mm Summicron back this coming Friday.  

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[AlanJW]

Having sent in a check for the repairs in early February, I received an email today saying that I should receive the 007 and 100mm Summicron back this coming Friday.  

IMHO, this does not mean it is the end of it.  There is nothing to lose by continuing to pursue Wetzlar to do the right thing.