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Repair of my Leica S 006


jip

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So as a follow up,

 

Everything was not in order, lots of problems some even bigger after than before the repair which cost me +/- 700 euro.

 

Mirror which they re-aligned they said was even further out of alignment and what I saw in the viewfinder was not at all what the sensor captured:

 

More on the sensor at the top than in the viewfinder, and a lot less on the sensor than at the bottom of the viewfinder, so much for What You See Is What You Get.

 

 

 

Also the minute I put on my Leica Summarit-S 70mm ASPH. CS the autofocus died.

 

Contacted Leica and they said 'ooh just ship it in again and we'll repair it' as if it's the most normal thing ever to charge 700 euro for a repair and then fuck up the camera even more than how it came in their shop.

 

And now they charge me the 40 euro service fee again which I am now emailing about me not willing to pay it!

 

C'mon charge me 40 euro while they didn't even repair the camera in the first place, it starts becoming a mater of principle rather than money!

 

They did send me a loaner this time, which is fully functional (photography wise) but the top LCD display is broken sort of... yet another Leica S with a problem... and the 70mm lens they supplied as a loaner sounds like it's AF motor is gonna die soon... rather than a equal "bzzzzz" through the whole focusing range it goes sorta of like "BZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzzuhhhhhhh" (did I write that like it can be understood? :p

 

Very sorry to read this. Such things should not happen, whether we are talking about a high end professional camera or an amateur camera. I would imagine that every camera that is being repaired is checked again thoroughly before being returned to the customer.

I must say that my contacts / repairs / maintenance with the Leica customer service are -touch wood- so far good, not to say excellent. When my S Typ 006 set had to be checked and maintained, they even fixed things (for free) that had not been asked for. I basically got back a new camera. Meanwhile they even gave my a loaner S Typ 007 (clever: as a result I moved on to the 007 within a few months). And the whole servicing took about 10 days including shipment.

But there is simply no excuse to what happened to you. I would certainly not pay any additional fee in your case either. It is actually gross for the Leica customer service to ask this. Who is your contact at the Leica S customer service?

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If you think a 5D is 90% of an S quality ;-)  IMHO a 5D is is way behind an M(240), which in turn is noticeably behind an S....

 

john

 

 

My experience is different from yours. M is more reliable than the S as it is a far simpler camera with primitive yet effective mechanism. The S is like a arthritic geriatrics in He-Man suit with fragile internal component and unreliable electrical component and firmware control but wears a He-Man suit to let if feel indestructible. At the end, a lot of it crumble under it's own weight...

 

M is still the way to go for Leica.

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My experience is different from yours. M is more reliable than the S as it is a far simpler camera with primitive yet effective mechanism. The S is like a arthritic geriatrics in He-Man suit with fragile internal component and unreliable electrical component and firmware control but wears a He-Man suit to let if feel indestructible. At the end, a lot of it crumble under it's own weight...

 

M is still the way to go for Leica.

 

 

Too late - have one now  :rolleyes:

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The Leica S-E and 70mm Summarit-S CS came back from service!

 

Wow, the camera operates as it should, autofocus is quick and fast and accurate, and the splitscreen/microprism focussing screen matches 101% with the autofocus (something I've never seen in any autofocus camera with a matte screen like this).

 

Finally, after months of waiting and angry phone calls, Leica delivers service like they should have from the very beginning.

 

Right now, I'm a happy shooter again (until the rubber comes lose again, which I hope it won't... but only time will tell).

 

3A59C511-3995-49C8-A61B-A3C957DC29DD.jpg

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Jip, glad to hear it ultimately worked out for you.

I just got back my 35mm. With a new motor, it "snap" into focus. Much faster than my Zeiss (Contax) 35mm that lumbers its way into focus. Not complaining. I am grateful, as I have expressed in the past, to have access to the wonderful Contax glass via the adapter. For me, the 35, 120 and 210. 

While I have not spent the time to prove my theory, I wonder if one can expect better and faster service when broken gear is sent to Wetzlar through a Leica dealer rather than directly by the owner. It took basically three weeks from the time Leica Miami sent my 35mm for motor repair until it was returned to them. Curious how long it has taken to get S lens motor repairs completed when sent to Germany by the owner vs. dealer. I had a similarly favorable experience when my M9 had go off to the mothership when the screen failed. My M9 is now back in their hands for the sensor repair which, Josh at Miami said, would take approximately three months due to sensor availability. Since I have not shot it since I got my S nearly two years ago, the delay is no inconvenience. Though having it all shiny and all will entice me to take it for a walk.

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sorry, but i have to rely on my camera 100 percent. better to have 90 percent quality all of the time, than 100 percent some of the time.

 

Had two 5D's followed by two 5D2's. Three of them ended up at Canon. People seem to forget about mirrors falling out and such.

 

All brands and models have problems. 100% reliability is a furfy. The real difference is that Canon can service a camera in days not months, not that they don't break. That's what Leica need to sort for working photographers.

 

I shoot Leica for work so I know I'm on my own and take appropriate precautions. It'd be nice if they had some sort of real service times for repairs but they don't. I have always been self reliant, regardless of brand so Leicas shitty service is an inconvenience not a disaster. Anyway, regardless of brand every time I break something it's on a Friday with a full weekend shooting ahead. Nothing can help there except being prepared for anything. I have pretty much two of everything or a fully viable alternative. Such is the deal when shooting full time.

 

Gordon

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