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CCD mounted too far from lens attachment


alex7075

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Hello everybody. At first I thought it was a rangefinder misalignment, but then I discovered that all my pictures of far objects were not sharp, no matter how the rangefinder was tuned: no lenses can focus beyond 25-30 meters! Leica center in my city told me it is the CCD mounted in a bad position (too far from lens) > it has to go back to Solms. Have you ever heard about such a problem?

:confused: What a mess!

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The only thing wrong with it is probably that there was a mistake in the shims in the CCD mounting or the lens mount. Mark could answer that one exactly.

I feel (hope) that my dealer would have given me another camera straight of the shelf, though...

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If the lens will not focus beyond 25-30 m, the distance between the lens mount and the sensor is too large - but only by a fraction of a mm.

 

The lens mount is (in my example) mounted directly onto the front of the camera front casting. The sensor is mounted on the back with shims under each of the three mounting points - selected to a tolerance of 0.01mm - which will both set the lens mount-sensor distance and the sensor parallel to the lens mount.

 

I have no idea at what stage during the production process the alignment is carried out but it would make sense to pair a sensor and lens mount with a casting early in the production of the camera, do the metrology and keep the three components together while the rest of the camera is being built.

 

It looks like this process has gone wrong somewhere and the only solution is to send it back to Leica. If you had found the problem in the first few days, I think you could have justifiably claimed "dead on arrival"; two months in, it's a warranty repair.

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If you had found the problem in the first few days, I think you could have justifiably claimed "dead on arrival"; two months in, it's a warranty repair.

 

I'm not so sure I agree with this. For me a warranty repair is fine for a fault which develops at a point some time (a few months?) after initial purchase. However, in this case the camera was a 'dud' from the moment it left the factory. I don't think that the buyer initially failing to spot that they had bought a lemon excuses the dealer from putting things right (suggesting you send it back to Solms is a very easy cop-out for the dealer). I'm not sure what the situation is like in France but here in the UK a dealer has obligations under the Sale of Goods Act which would preclude him/her form washing their hands in this manner. I'm pretty sure my London dealer would get me a replacement without any fuss.

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I'm not so sure I agree with this. For me a warranty repair is fine for a fault which develops at a point some time (a few months?) after initial purchase.

 

Of course I share your point of view. Unfortunately my dealer doesn't think this way. I will try to speak directly to Leica.

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Alex - I have my own reasons for being curious about your post. I expect you initially probably doubted the resolution of far subjects, but if the near focus subjects were wildly out I am sure you would have immediately rejected the camera? So presumably the near focus images were disappointing but not bad enough to raise alarm bells?

 

You wrote; 'no matter how the rangefinder was tuned', so early on you tried your own rangefinder adjustments? If you could explain more of what you saw in your files and the sequence of doubts, and why you chose to keep rather than return the camera at an early opportunity I would be very grateful.

 

.................Chris

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Chris: I would have never thought it was a CCD problem, so I tried to eliminate all the variables in a probability order: my focusing skills, the rangefinder, the lens, and finally the camera was the problem. It took time. Only the last step meant a trip to Solms. Now that I know it has to go to Solms, I just gave it to DHL.

I'll keep you informed.

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Nobody in the USA, from what I understand, can do the flange adjustment either, and the camera then has to go back to Leica.

 

One has to wonder if someone in V.N. de Gaia could just put a known good lens on a body and simply test the camera at both close and infinity focus. Perhaps someone that helps pack things up? Someone that would see if the camera takes "sharp enough" pictures before it leaves the factory?

 

I'm facing the same possibility, but still dealing with the "lens" side of the system, as 3-out-of-four-4 of my CV lenses focus differently from what the rangefinder shows as correct for two different (not mine, but belonging to the local camera store) Leica lenses (correct and sharp, I'll add).

 

It's disappointing, to say the least to have to look forward to months without a camera except for a reliable (but FAR less desirable) $500 backup. I hope they fix the troubles you've been having with your camera!

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.....It's disappointing, to say the least to have to look forward to months without a camera......

 

Jeff - I would prefer your statement to be a wild exaggeration, but reports here on this forum suggest that Leica have to pay serious attention to prioritising a speedy repair service for customers. The current perception of Leica's repair turnaround is far from what most of us would consider to be professional service; it is a turnoff for customers and possible future customers. Clearly not good for business.

 

...............Chris

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