Repair of my Leica S 006

[Sailronin]

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Got a call that my S(006) is back and ready for me to pick up! Very excited to be back shooting the S, I haven't seen it since mid-June so it will be like starting over with learning a new camera!

Edited September 29, 2017 by Sailronin

[jip]

I leave for Madeira tonight, will bring the Leica S and Nikon Df (for star/astro photography) 

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[cpclee]

Some of the repairs mentioned here really don’t have to go to Leica Germany. Certain repairs can only be done in Germany due to the calibration equipment needed only being available there but I wonder if for minor / more typical repairs, like gluing the rubber covering, you couldn’t get speedier service by sending to a regional Leica service center (Leica USA, etc). My experience with Leica Germany (a 80/1.4R needing calibration) was that it took a long time (6 months?) and communication was terrible. However, with Leica USA it has always been prompt and they would turn things around in a couple of weeks to a month. In fact, when I used to live in NJ I would just drop things off in person for them to calibrate while I waited :-)

 

I know the service of Leica’s former Canadian distributor was also excellent and speedy. Not sure about their distributorship now.

 

And then there are the third party Leica repair(wo)men who charge fair and are highly reliable and reponsive. There are several in the US that do top notch work.

 

Leica formed a Professional arm in the last year or two in effort to target S and SL sales at working pros but they really need to support that ambition with more responsive service.

 

I’m just happy that my SL system has been totally trouble free.

Edited September 30, 2017 by cpclee

[Sailronin]

Picked up my long gone S(006) today, the camera looks like a brand new unit. Electronics and sensor replaced, new skin and cleaned everything, lovely.  It has been gone so long I need to remember how to set it up, back to the manual!

[Craggs 101]

o

 

I always advice people to buy second hand, because the lemons have been filtered out by then! 

I'm tempted, but I fear that I'd get something that people have despaired over and dumped. Ffordes in Scotland have quite a wide selection but the prevalence of the statement 'sensor replaced by Leica' worries me. How often and frequently will that need to happen? Without warranty it could get ugly real fast...

[xiaubauu2009]

o

 

I'm tempted, but I fear that I'd get something that people have despaired over and dumped. Ffordes in Scotland have quite a wide selection but the prevalence of the statement 'sensor replaced by Leica' worries me. How often and frequently will that need to happen? Without warranty it could get ugly real fast...

 

 

if it's replaced I think it should be fine as it will have the new coating on the sensor cover.

[jip]

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if it's replaced I think it should be fine as it will have the new coating on the sensor cover.

 

 

I don't think they have a redesigned S2/S006 sensor to be honest, as far as I know they only have an updated M9 sensor. 

[jip]

P.S.

 

The S has been working fine since, but it took quite some time to get it right, and the camera has been send back and forth a few times before they got it right. 

 

All within the warranty period, still they had me (my insurance) pay for repair because they claimed it was broken because of external force... (never hit or dropped the camera to my knowledge).

 

So all in all, shitty service with an good results in the end. 

[Milan_S]

My experience has been excellent after a first complaint with Leica Germany. 

They repaired my S2 very fast without costs and replaced the skin plus replaced my 70mm lens with a new motor.

[tom0511]

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. 

 

Do you really believe Leica S fail all the time and Canon (or other cameras) never fail?

[EoinC]

Do you really believe Leica S fail all the time and Canon (or other cameras) never fail?

As Gordon noted, the difference is not that they don't break - it's the repair turnaround time.

Canon repairs and calibrations, for me, have been very fast (Singapore service centre). Even when parts are not in stock (1DX motherboard replacement, EF 85 1.2L focus motor), cameras / lenses have been back within 1 week. Calibration of 1DX + 3 lenses is 1-2 days. When I was traveling to shoot bike racing events, I would routinely drop the cameras and lenses off for calibration the week before flying, and never had a missed delivery.

I don't do that these days, but I think that's the level of service people are wishing for.