UK Brexit Leica service suspended

[2slo]

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Five years ago I came close to buying a Leica M246 Monochrom after seeing some wonderful images created with that camera. The reviews all raved about it, only mentioning that care was needed to protect the highlights during exposure etc. None of those reviews mentioned the overheating problem the camera suffered with along with the associated freezing issue. None of them mentioned sensor corrosion either. Of course, the reviewers concerned would soon find their work dried up if they were negative about something they were employed to talk about. This forum helped me to make the informed decision not to buy that camera, even though, at the time, there was no Brexit and Wetzlar would take cameras from the UK for repair.

Fast forward to today and I have again recently been tempted by the current M10 Monochrom. I was saddened to read that overheating and freezing is still a problem with M10s although once again those issues are never mentioned by the online reviews, only by the honest responses of the members on here. To all those who've come forward and said it like it is, thank you, your feedback is very important to those like me, contemplating a big investment.

The Brexit problems have been the decider for me for the time being. Reading the posts on this thread in conjunction with those about the freezing and overheating of M10s, effectively means that for me to buy an M10 right now, I'd be buying something which has a well documented fault that some cameras develop and with no easy recourse for repair if that should be the case (my enquiries from a UK Leica dealer reveal that any technical electronic repairs mean having to send the camera to Wetzlar).

If Brexit ever gets sorted out and associated issues of couriers etc are resolved I'll look again but for now I'm not willing to take the chance.

[Anbaric]

We could always support the British camera industry. But unless you want a large format film camera made in tiny quantities, choices might be a bit limited...

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[2slo]

I have cameras from Canon, Fuji and Sony so I'm unconcerned about whether they're produced in the UK. The difference is all of those three manufacturers have UK service centres with easy access to repairs and a fast return time.

 

[andybarton]

More evidence that this isn’t going to get better anytime soon

 

http://www.lubera.co.uk

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[zeitz]

2 hours ago, 2slo said:

I have cameras from Canon, Fuji and Sony so I'm unconcerned about whether they're produced in the UK. The difference is all of those three manufacturers have UK service centres with easy access to repairs and a fast return time.

This has been the case in the US seemingly forever.  Nikon USA can repair anything in the US quickly, assuming parts are still available.  Leica USA seemingly can repair almost nothing; almost everything has to go back to Germany.  Fast repair of a Leica is an oxymoron.  

Once the UK has finally gotten rid of the EU, import/export/VAT/tariffs for the UK should work the same as for EU products to and from the US.  In our case import/export/non VAT/tariffs work very well, when the paperwork is properly filled out.

[andybarton]

The UK currently enjoy tariff free trade with the EU, and anything that happens after January 1st, will be much worse.

I don’t expect that to change at any time in 2021

[pgk]

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55 minutes ago, zeitz said:

In our case import/export/non VAT/tariffs work very well, when the paperwork is properly filled out.

Well, my experience is that although it does work, it tends to slow things down and there can be problems with the 'valuation' placed on items, especially if they are unusual. Tariff free is sooooo much easier.

[zeitz]

51 minutes ago, pgk said:

it tends to slow things down and there can be problems with the 'valuation' placed on items

Here is what I mean by the paperwork being properly filled out.  If the description is "Leica 400mm f6.8 Telyt", it will slow things down because no one in customs will have any idea what this is.  Or if an auction house includes the Buyer's Premium on the invoice, it will slow things down because the Buyer's Premium is not a thing being imported; Buyer's Premium should not be on the invoice at all.  If the seller includes the US Customs Schedule B code in the description, it will go right through.  I provide the Schedule B code to the seller before shipping.  I have never had the invoice price disputed on an import into the US.

[pgk]

It doesn't work like that over here. Business purchases from the EU are (until next year) almost paperwork free and arrive at the speed of the courier.Business imports from say the USA seem to be handled in the same way (unless large) as private imports in that it is the courier who is responsible for paying and then charging duties plus a handling charge to cover costs. And this can be very hit and miss. And it slows things down. If we had in place a new and efficient system then it might be different, but we haven't. Its actually shambles with nobody knowing exactly what will happen, how much stuff will be affected or how it will all pan out. Eventually it will settle down but in the meantime it is going to be a mess.

[Guest]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb Anbaric:

We could always support the British camera industry. But unless you want a large format film camera made in tiny quantities, choices might be a bit limited...

Perhaps Leica should reactivate the camera section of Reid & Sigrist before others could?🙂
"... the company was requested by the British government to produce the Reid camera based on the Leica patents and drawings which had been seized by the Allies.
The first camera went on general sale in 1951 and the company produced cameras until 1964."

[Peter Zapp]

Despite customs checks, international courier service to and from Europe takes only one or two days more than domestic courier service within North America. A market with more than 300 million people has no longer enough Leica users to justify in-house, over-night repair capacity. In Germany I had to wait four weeks for a very simply fix of my M10.

[delta100]

The problem now is more paper work just to send your Leica back to Germany. Take a look at the customer care info on the Leica UK website.

[Jrek]

I was on the phone with David Slater from Leica UK. Here is some clarification on the process of sending our gear to Germany, and back:

The returns method is almost the same as before with the same UPS label service and the same repair forms.
The only change is that we now need to include 3 copies of a Proforma-Invoice for customs

This is a customs requirement from January 2021. It is very important to include three copies of this form with the repair. The valuations on this from are set by WTO regulations. Failure to include this form will significantly delay the shipping.

·         One copy is to go in the box with the repair form and product.

·         One copy is to be included under the shipping label in a clear pocket and to be attached to the outside of the box.

·         The final third copy must be handed to the UPS access point or to the UPS driver.

I have attached a blank copy of the proforma-Invoice for Germany so you can see what is needed.
 

He reassured me that there will be no VAT, customs or anything else on top of repair cost to pay when the gear is returned.

Proforma+Invoice AG.pdf

Edited January 14, 2021 by Jrek

[andybarton]

Any idea what these two mean

Description / statistical code / statistical value

How is anyone supposed to know? Rhetorical question, but where can one find the WTO valuation regulations?

[Jrek]

6 minutes ago, andybarton said:

Any idea what these two mean

Description / statistical code / statistical value

How is anyone supposed to know? Rhetorical question, but where can one find the WTO valuation regulations?

When you open the PDF document attached to my post, you can edit it and pick your items from the drop down menu and these fields will be pre-populated.

[andybarton]

Thanks

I bet that €1,000 is the threshold before some sort of tax or tariff kicks in.

[jaapv]

On 12/19/2020 at 2:06 PM, 2slo said:

Five years ago I came close to buying a Leica M246 Monochrom after seeing some wonderful images created with that camera. The reviews all raved about it, only mentioning that care was needed to protect the highlights during exposure etc. None of those reviews mentioned the overheating problem the camera suffered with along with the associated freezing issue. None of them mentioned sensor corrosion either. Of course, the reviewers concerned would soon find their work dried up if they were negative about something they were employed to talk about. This forum helped me to make the informed decision not to buy that camera, even though, at the time, there was no Brexit and Wetzlar would take cameras from the UK for repair.

 

Not THAT informed, I fear. The overheating problem (which only occurred in very hot weather using the Visoflex) was solved in the first firmware update and the 240 series sensors never suffered from corrosion, that was the first generation of M9 sensors. So the reviewers were simply providing correct information. And it was extensively discussed in this forum.

[Jon Warwick]

On 12/19/2020 at 1:55 PM, Anbaric said:

We could always support the British camera industry. But unless you want a large format film camera made in tiny quantities, choices might be a bit limited...

I assume you’re referring to Walker cameras? If so, one happy customer here of his 4x5 Titan and I found it a pleasure to deal with him.

On the Leica side, I had intentions in December to finally send my M7 for a CLA, but got the same feedback that this would be suspended. Not heard anymore since then .....has anyone got an update from Leica, or do we assume service remains suspended? 
 

As an aside I am also waiting to hear about the arrival from Germany of some spare parts that I ordered back in early November (replacement outer ring etc for a Summarit).

[pedaes]

38 minutes ago, Jon Warwick said:

update from Leica,

See #73 four posts back.

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Hallo,

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[Anbaric]

41 minutes ago, Jon Warwick said:

I assume you’re referring to Walker cameras? If so, one happy customer here of his 4x5 Titan and I found it a pleasure to deal with him.

Chroma and Intrepid too:

https://chroma.camera/

https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/

https://www.walkercameras.com/