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Experiences with Leica service


Ashkanani1985

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Just wanted to let you know I was reached out to and have been in communication with Leica's Customer Care department by email and they have been super responsive. The dealer now claims they did send it but Leica showed no record of receiving it. It should be overnighted back from NJ (which has supposedly fumbled the repair / receiving the camera twice now) and re-sent with docs I got from Customer Care and they will do their best to expedite so I can use it on my upcoming motorcycle trip retracing the very old Incan Road that runs the length of South America. I am excited about the responsiveness so far but would mostly love my camera back! 

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I had two Leica lenses sent back for warranty repairs/adjustments separately in the past 3 weeks. Both were repaired and shipped back to me the day after the Leica NJ repair center receive them. They arrived the next day because UPS ground only takes one day because I live in PA.

The lenses were very well packed and in perfect condition. I'm very happy with the service received.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

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vor 7 Stunden schrieb budjames:

I had two Leica lenses sent back for warranty repairs/adjustments separately in the past 3 weeks. Both were repaired and shipped back to me the day after the Leica NJ repair center receive them. They arrived the next day because UPS ground only takes one day because I live in PA.

The lenses were very well packed and in perfect condition. I'm very happy with the service received.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

Just wondering, was it  Summicron 75mm you had to send back?

 

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1 hour ago, Paulus said:

Just wondering, was it  Summicron 75mm you had to send back?

 

The lenses sent for repair were my Summicron 35 and Summilux 50.

Regards,

Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

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Latest Update 

 

Today I received the camera and I can not praise enough everything since opining the box of the shipment, starting from the packing its like something I've never seen in photography world and show exactly how a top end brand pack there equipment when sending it back. The camera its been serviced even better than I expected and all the issue fixed.

 

I know I am the one who opened this topic but honestly LEICA I AM SORRY TO MISS JUDGE YOU IN FIRST PLACE.

 

now honestly after the service and the customer care experience that I received lately I am gonna be LEICA FOR LIFE I don't think any camera manufacturer would come close to what I've seen from the moment I received the package.

 

many thanx guys at Leica if you can read this and sorry to miss judge you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Put in an inquiry as to what's going on with my camera. Had no word from Leica despite all the extra care and words for the rest of the month — the camera arrived on the 6th of Feb. I'd expect a stuck lens release button to be a fairly quick fix. 

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I couldn't register my new 18mm F2.8 T lens and sent Leica an email. Within 24 hours they had replied and sorted it out and now all is good. I was very impressed with the speed or response and solution. Apparently the serial number data from the T lenses did not migrate to their database so this might be a common occurrence.

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just to add my recent experience, my (4 month old) m10's rangefinder coupling lever became "sticky" and i couldn't focus properly. brought it to leica store boston on january 17th. they were helpful in quickly identifying it needed professional repair, packing it up and sending it off to new jersey (plus it seems every time i walk in the door there i get a new microfiber cloth, which is nice). just received the camera yesterday, it had a full adjustment and cleaning in addition to fixing the issue. a little more than a month turnaround — not the fastest service, but it's about what i expected. no cost to me, as it was under warranty.

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I just got my M7 and 28 Summicron back from repair - 3 weeks ahead of the estimated date. They seem to have done a good job too. With the Summicron focus recalibrated and a minor DIY tweak to the M10 rangefinder calibration, I now have a set of five lenses all of which seem to have spot-on focus on the M10.

Very happy this time - the service was far quicker than when I sent my M 262 in a couple of years ago.

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On 3/1/2019 at 5:20 PM, Mark II said:

Very happy this time

I withdraw that endorsement.

I shot two test films over the weekend, including checks for the rangefinder calibration. And the M7 has come back with almost 20cm of front focus when checked with a known good 50LUX and a test chart at ~1.5m distance. That camera has been around the world twice and used by me for five years, yet the first time I see a focus calibration issue is only *after* Leica "professionally" serviced it, which included recalibration of the rangefinder. 😤

I can not afford another 4 to 6 weeks without the camera, so I will have to recalibrate it myself. It really sucks to have this level of quality control, not least given the prices Leica charge for out-of-warranty servicing and the time it takes. 

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9 hours ago, Mark II said:

I withdraw that endorsement.

I shot two test films over the weekend, including checks for the rangefinder calibration. And the M7 has come back with almost 20cm of front focus when checked with a known good 50LUX and a test chart at ~1.5m distance. That camera has been around the world twice and used by me for five years, yet the first time I see a focus calibration issue is only *after* Leica "professionally" serviced it, which included recalibration of the rangefinder. 😤

I can not afford another 4 to 6 weeks without the camera, so I will have to recalibrate it myself. It really sucks to have this level of quality control, not least given the prices Leica charge for out-of-warranty servicing and the time it takes. 

I had exactly same issue a month ago. M10-P was in service to calibrate the rf. It came in much worse condition (easy to test as I have another M10-P and my all lenses have been lately calibrated), at infinity images didin't align and had to send to service again.

After second calibration, everything was ok.

I got about week ago APO50 Black Chrome... which needed calibration and was send back to service the next day I got it (it was easy to compare to my normal APO50 which has been calibrated and fixed other issues earlier).

Nowadays I don't care much of the service issues, it's seems it's just part of the game having Leica gear.

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I have no knowledge of this level of service. 3 Leica M cameras and no problem with anything. My wife had a V-lux 20 (Panasonic stuff) that had a dust spot. It was sent to Solms (in those days) and was returned as clean as a whistle within a week. There were a few dwarves (in US English maybe dwarfs) in Sleeping Beauty. One was Happy, another was Grumpy. I am the happy one. Which one are you?

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On 2/24/2019 at 7:52 AM, mjhoy said:

just to add my recent experience, my (4 month old) m10's rangefinder coupling lever became "sticky" and i couldn't focus properly. brought it to leica store boston on january 17th. they were helpful in quickly identifying it needed professional repair, packing it up and sending it off to new jersey (plus it seems every time i walk in the door there i get a new microfiber cloth, which is nice). just received the camera yesterday, it had a full adjustment and cleaning in addition to fixing the issue. a little more than a month turnaround — not the fastest service, but it's about what i expected. no cost to me, as it was under warranty.

This is not a good turn around time for a brand new (4 month old camera). 

I will be quite upset if it takes that long to fix this for mine as I have the same problem. I was quoted 5 days to fix not including shipping time so I will start following up tomorrow.

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14 hours ago, Photon42 said:

May I ask - Why have you had it serviced? Sorry for the trouble. I would call them. Maybe there is a fast path.

The camera needed a curtain replacement and repair to the ISO dial. They also updated the DX code reader and added the VF anti-flare condenser. AFAIK only Leica can do this work on the M7.

9 hours ago, oka said:

Nowadays I don't care much of the service issues, it's seems it's just part of the game having Leica gear.

If you *need* to use the cameras it is a disaster. Leica lenses are the best that I have ever used, but if you combine fragile bodies with a slow, expensive and undependable service the result is a system that is really problematic for professional use.

Fortunately, the focus calibration should be a relatively easy fix - it is more annoying than anything else. But if it turns out to be problematic I will go to a local company with a faster turn-around.

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8 hours ago, Peter Kilmister said:

I have no knowledge of this level of service. 3 Leica M cameras and no problem with anything. My wife had a V-lux 20 (Panasonic stuff) that had a dust spot. It was sent to Solms (in those days) and was returned as clean as a whistle within a week. There were a few dwarves (in US English maybe dwarfs) in Sleeping Beauty. One was Happy, another was Grumpy. I am the happy one. Which one are you?

Useful contribution. Which of the dwarves was called Smug? (By the way, I think you meant Snow White.)

Edited by wattsy
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First I learned decades ago to keep several as back up knowing service is , well slow, to put it kindly. Still have my M8 and M9 to use as required.  Try Lens Rentals for the trip.  Never send in a camera when you need a fast turn around.

I worked in quality control for years and I can assure you 100% hand inspection is just about the poorest form of quality control there is.   The proper thing

 is set up "systems" so the item is made correctly.  100% is only for rockets and satellites and to sort after a "quality spill."'

Secondly Nikon had a recall recently on DSLR.  I was on the serial number list and called to tell them my camera did not have the problem.  They wanted it anyway.  It was returned within two weeks with  better calibrated focus than new and focus was not even the problem.  There is a factory authorized service in Chicago area where normal turn around is one week and they do warrantee work.

All said I must admit Leica images are the best.

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  • jaapv changed the title to Experiences with Leica service

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