M7 Longevity - Next 30 Years

[a.noctilux]

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On 7/12/2018 at 10:46 PM, hallam0012 said:

Thank you to everyone who contributed with thoughts and opinions, they’re all very welcome.

 

I decided to go with the M7 and I’m very glad I did. I’m now a very proud owner and user!

 

Congratulation for your choice.

 

...

Repair of M7 can be expensive when needed in future.

Not to be negative here, but in french forum summilux.net

a "sad M7 story" occured

 from new à-la-carte M7 owner since 2015, shutter trouble with his M7,

Leica Wetzlar quoted 1 205€ to repair his first-and-only-one-owner 2015's M7

The thread here, in french

the main trouble with this is only Leica can repair M7,

independant Leica repairers won't "touch M7" 😡

Edited January 1, 2019 by a.noctilux

[wattsy]

19 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

a "sad M7 story" occured

 from new à-la-carte M7 owner since 2015, shutter trouble with his M7,

Leica Wetzlar quoted 1 205€ to repair his first-and-only-one-owner 2015's M7

The thread here, in french

the main trouble with this is only Leica can repair M7,

independant Leica repairers won't "touch M7" 😡

Yes, I have mentioned here a few times how expensive it is to get service at Wetzlar. The problem seems to be that Leica want to also charge for a full CLA no matter what repair they are being asked to do or how old the camera is. A shutter replacement should be in the ballpark of £250, maybe a little more because it is a Leica. €1250 is crazy, representing 2/3 or more of the value of a used M7.

That said, I'm not sure it is true that no independent Leica repairer will touch an M7. I'm pretty sure that Malcolm Taylor has worked on an M7 and I think Wilson has an M7 currently being serviced by Cameraworks. I'd also ask the Dutch repairer that Jaap recommends as he also works on some digital M bodies so the electronics of the M7 shouldn't put him off.

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[Jon Warwick]

Talking about work needing done on M7s ...... I was lucky enough to get one of the first M7s to arrive in the UK in 2002.

But this means, unfortunately, that it has the flare-prone viewfinder. And the old DX reader too!

Has anyone got an accurate idea of how much Leica charge to get an M7’s viewfinder upgraded to one that doesn’t flare?

I believe they upgraded it as a matter of course on later M7s (to one that is the same viewfinder as the analogue MP / M-A), and I assume it makes a decent difference in flare resistance?

If it’s too expensive for a Leica Germany “upgrade”, I’m starting to wonder if I’m better off selling my M7 as is ..... and simply buying a used analogue MP or M-A?

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by Jon Warwick

[hilm3]

In May 2011, I paid $660 for new MP finder. This cost included the CLA they always charge. The DX reader upgrade to optical and repair of peeling leatherette was done under warranty.

In November of 2017, I sent it back as the rangefinder window was bubbling. The window was repaired under warranty. This cost $570, as they added the CLA again, plus they replaced all the light seals, the sealing strips, the receiver (don't know what that is) and the battery cover.

The MP finder does not flare at all. I was so impressed that I had my M6 updated last year as well, but by Youxin Ye, when I needed to replace a torn curtain. The M6 flared easily.

I do not think they update the DX reader to optical free of charge any longer. The cameras (M7 and M6) have been perfect since.