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M8 shutter ate itself!!


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I have a very early M8 with over 1,000,000 clicks on the shutter. Well recently the shutter started sounding strange then it chewed itself into a mangled mess.  In the meantime i purchased an M9 that i love, but id love to get the M8 up and running and use it as a backup and B/W unit.  I sent the body to Leica in New Jersey and they quoted $1600 USD to do the fix. Yikes!! Thats more than the cost of a used M8 body here in Toronto.  Im wondering if there's anyone who knows of someone who could repair this body with used parts for a reasonable fee. I dont trust myself to do the work myself, but if anyone has any suggestions for a repair alternative it would help me out a lot.  My heart sinks seeing this body sitting on a shelf collecting dust. 

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A used M8 in the german Ebay costs around 1600 Euro.

But .... if you let repair your M8 at Leica, it would be as new!

Heaven knows, what hidden problems a used M8 can have.

 

My Lux 35 needed a small repair last year. I ordered the coding too. Gone were 500 Euros, but the lens is as new.

 

If you would  buy a used one, your old one could deliver spare parts (sensor!).

Jan

Edited by jankap
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That's what 1,000,000 exposures looks like.

 

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

The shutter doesn't even open properly. You can see the damage. 

Edited by JohnnySeven
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Excuse me for strange question. Is it one million? I googled "1,000,000" and Google tells me "million". I guess, if it has one million shutter actuation, Leica wants (needs) to overhaul it and not just replace the shutter.  1600 USD would make sense, since it is Leica service. Which also comes with warranty. Non-Leica service - no warranty. 

1600 USD is what M8.2 are offered for now. I purchased 16K actuation M8 few weeks ago for under 1300 USD with delivery and tax included by CanadaPost. Same place I have purchased mine M8 has another M8 for sale at 1200 (before shipping and taxes) recently.

Edited by Ko.Fe.
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  • 2 weeks later...

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That's what my original M8 shutter looked like with zero actuations.  Off to NJ, and on to Solms back in 2006.  Repairs took around 4 months, but the camera has had no shutter issues since.

 

$1600 is a tough decision, as the camera will be bricked again if the rear screen fails, something that is low-chance, but possible.  You would get a year of warranty with the service, but if the screen dies, Leica can only offer a trade-up option, and I have confidence you would not lose money that way.

 

The M8 is unique, especially for B&W and IR, so I would try to repair or replace the camera.  Maybe hunt around for one that is excellent to mint from a dealer that will give you 90 days or so of warranty.

 

Does Leica negotiate on such a repair?

 

Eric

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Heaven knows, what hidden problems a used M8 can have.

 

 

How do you come up with stuff like this?

Why would a "used M8 have hidden problems" that only heaven knows?

 

Cameras are not cars and if they work, they simply work. As plain as that.

 

And there's no difference between a used M8 and a used nikon D50 except the user base.

The nikon user base won't touch a d50 with a dirty stick while the leica user base tries hard to find some magical propeties unique to the M8.

 

This repair should cost 350$.

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That's certainly a reasonable price if you have them send you just the part and replace it yourself.

Again, why is it ok for a shutter on a high end Nikon to cost 350$ but unacceptable on a leica?

 

Besides our blind love for the company, do you have a valid reason?

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Again, why is it ok for a shutter on a high end Nikon to cost 350$ but unacceptable on a leica?

 

Besides our blind love for the company, do you have a valid reason?

Ah, you seem to think that replacing the same part in a device must cost the same for every device; like a 2¢ screw in a bycicle, a desktop radio or a locomotive.

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Ah, you seem to think that replacing the same part in a device must cost the same for every device; like a 2¢ screw in a bycicle, a desktop radio or a locomotive.

In this instance it is the same. The shutter comes as one unit and it plugs in. Really simple.

 

But you seem to insist in outsmarting in a witty way. But if you insist with your frivolous comparisons, the Leica is definitely the bicycle.

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In this instance it is the same. The shutter comes as one unit and it plugs in. Really simple.

 

But you seem to insist in outsmarting in a witty way. But if you insist with your frivolous comparisons, the Leica is definitely the bicycle.

Yes, as I said. The shutter is the same. But this does not mean that the cost for disassembling the camera, replacing the part, reassembling and adjusting the camera will be the same for all cameras. It's much as with a screw. Replacing a particular screw in a bike will not cost the same as replacing an identical screw in a plane. But if you want to rant, rant away.

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The shutter modules aren't just plug 'n' play. I bought another R3 in average condition and asked about using the shutter from it to replace the faulty one in my original R3 but was told it was quite a complex (i.e. expensive) operation to do it, and basically that they wouldn't even attempt it with a used shutter module.

 

It's something to do with calibrating the shutter to the metering and a long series of tests/adjustments to get it all working withing tolerances.

 

I've no idea if this is the same for the M8, but seems likely.

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A typical M8 shutter failure. Several forum users experienced this problem owning the original M8's after about three years of use. The shutters on the M8.2 were improved. Whether a shutter is rated for 10K or 150K actuations even the manufacturers who give these ratings acknowledge that these numbers are achieved in factory testing and are based on an average of what the shutter should do. Not exactly certain about this, but I believe Canon lists the highest available shutter count rating at around 200K.

To the OP: I think you got good value!

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