Leica Quality...Disappointing...Very disappointing

[fursan]

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definitely not an indictment of the company in general. but as the man said s**t happens.

worse if it falls on you!

 

I agree with Jamie that this is bad luck but not an indictment of the company in general.

 

Having said this I must admit that the supplied plastic hood for the 35 Lux ASPH is the cheapest and (except for the utterly ridiculous Summitar barn-door hood) worst-designed Leica hood I own - and the equally cheap plastic hood for the 28 Summicron ASPH is a close second. I'd love to have a clip-on metal round hood for each of these lenses, and would even consider a screw-in round metal hood.

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[fursan]

Tom, agree with you. the hood was not sitting, it was pushed in too tight. anybody

could see and feel it. QC needs to be tightened.

 

When I received my 24/2.8asph the hood was sitting on it very verys tight. I didnt accept it and we send the lens back for replacement. The new sample I received was much better.

Whoever placed the hood on the first 24mm lens at Leica must have felt that it was sitting too tight.

IMO Leica should work on their quality controll, also regarding front/back focus.

[fursan]

or it goes from left to right:eek:

 

It doesn't help that the instruction manual is wrong, too!

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/21438-proper-use-summilux-m-35mm-asph.html#post225982

[photoarne]

fursan, this unfortunately agrees with a number of QC issues that have been posted lately. Personally I keep the Leica lenses I've got, but for new lenses I choose the Zeiss ZM; tests have shown that optically they are at least as good as Leica, they are very consistent in quality and the price is half to one third of what Leica charges. If you really need f 1,4 OTOH, Leica is probably the way to go.

[fursan]

Arne, the irony of it is that i had ordered the m8. it was about to be shipped and

i requested that i be sold the 35 instead of the m8. could not afford both, obviously.

 

i have a zeiss planar 50 and the 21/2.5. i love them both. i guess more so now:)

 

thanks for your suggestions. the next purchase cannot be contemplated now.

 

take care.

 

fursan, this unfortunately agrees with a number of QC issues that have been posted lately. Personally I keep the Leica lenses I've got, but for new lenses I choose the Zeiss ZM; tests have shown that optically they are at least as good as Leica, they are very consistent in quality and the price is half to one third of what Leica charges. If you really need f 1,4 OTOH, Leica is probably the way to go.

[Hacker]

A bit OT, but Stephen Lee, that's a really sweet picture! Nice effect with the side lighting. Looking at the slight blur of his left foot, was it taken at about a 30th of a second?

 

Doug

 

 

It is 1/90s. Here is one more to share:

 

[sean_reid]

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Arne, the irony of it is that i had ordered the m8. it was about to be shipped and

i requested that i be sold the 35 instead of the m8. could not afford both, obviously.

 

i have a zeiss planar 50 and the 21/2.5. i love them both. i guess more so now:)

 

thanks for your suggestions. the next purchase cannot be contemplated now.

 

take care.

 

Do you mean 21/2.8?

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[fursan]

Sean, my bad.

 

meant the zeiss 21/4.5.

 

Do you mean 21/2.8?

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[marknorton]

It's definitely the case that with the locking ring in the locked position, the side tabs do nothing, that's exactly what's intended.

 

Only you know how hard a "small nudge" was but looks like you've managed to pull what Leica call the Accessory Carrier off the front of the lens. These are typically held in place by three set screws and it's possible the screws were not tightened enough.

 

Difficult to know which is worse, the 28/2 lens hood or the 35/1.4, but I do know the Nocti hood is worse than both. As in cheap, ineffective and showing wear long before the rest of the lens. Wouldn't ie nice if someone made an after-market replacement?

[fursan]

Mark,

 

The initial disappointment is behind me.

After all, it is just a lens ( albeit an expensive one money wise. ) But there are

much more expensive and significant things that one needs to worry and care about!

 

 

Best.

 

 

 

It's definitely the case that with the locking ring in the locked position, the side tabs do nothing, that's exactly what's intended.

 

Only you know how hard a "small nudge" was but looks like you've managed to pull what Leica call the Accessory Carrier off the front of the lens. These are typically held in place by three set screws and it's possible the screws were not tightened enough.

 

Difficult to know which is worse, the 28/2 lens hood or the 35/1.4, but I do know the Nocti hood is worse than both. As in cheap, ineffective and showing wear long before the rest of the lens. Wouldn't ie nice if someone made an after-market replacement?

[wlaidlaw]

It's definitely the case that with the locking ring in the locked position, the side tabs do nothing, that's exactly what's intended.

 

Only you know how hard a "small nudge" was but looks like you've managed to pull what Leica call the Accessory Carrier off the front of the lens. These are typically held in place by three set screws and it's possible the screws were not tightened enough.

 

Difficult to know which is worse, the 28/2 lens hood or the 35/1.4, but I do know the Nocti hood is worse than both. As in cheap, ineffective and showing wear long before the rest of the lens. Wouldn't ie nice if someone made an after-market replacement?

 

Mark,

 

I believe the Nocti hoods were bought as a job lot surplus from Lomo, after they had failed Lomo's quality control tests. The hood looks even more ridiculous once you have a UV/IR filter on. When I see what they were doing 20 years ago, with the beautiful metal hood on my 135 T-E, it makes you wonder. The Nocti, as we all know is not exactly cheap, what were they thinking with THAT hood. The CZ hoods are a masterpiece, although maybe not quite as convenient as some of the sliding ones on Leica lenses.

 

Wilson

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I don't use any leica hoods except the 35 cron. i replaced all hoods that are not built in with round metal hoods i found on e-bay

[fursan]

Guy, it is now water under the bridge. I am still enjoying and loving my M8. I shall

fedex it monday/tuesday to solms. now let me test their customer service! have

heard a lot about it. hope i am not let down.

 

I don't use any leica hoods except the 35 cron. i replaced all hoods that are not built in with round metal hoods i found on e-bay

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Yes hope they fix it quick but when I had the 35 lux , i really hated the hood on how it was attached, IMHO a bad design.

 

catching up been on the road . Came home to a new Apple 30 inch cinema display that Apple replaced due to dancing pixels on screen. One year old and completely replaced it. Have had great service with Apple and leica as well.

[fursan]

Glad Apple replaced your tiny display!

 

thank God yesterday is gone. we are redecorating. the house is in a mess. the

air-conditioning went bust. compressor replaced this morning.

 

the dsl was misbehaving. we have windows and os at home. had packed all units

for dust during redec and was using wife's windows machine. my son did his

nerdy thing on his mother's machine and messed up all configurations. it was

late till we got that sorted. amidst the yelling,and the furniture piled up everywhere.

 

the lens arrived at the office and the rest is history.

 

oh yes..new semester started yesterday. the grandkids had no one to drop and

collect them to/from school. i had to volunteer.

 

i am told ( did not broach the subject though ) that the carpet people have laid

a different shade of carpet than what the wife had choosen! anyway, i have trained

my wife that I am slightly deaf, and she has to shout to converse with me. It is

interesting as she has stopped bothering me to a large extent.

 

Have a nice day and a better night.

 

 

Yes hope they fix it quick but when I had the 35 lux , i really hated the hood on how it was attached, IMHO a bad design.

 

catching up been on the road . Came home to a new Apple 30 inch cinema display that Apple replaced due to dancing pixels on screen. One year old and completely replaced it. Have had great service with Apple and leica as well.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

LOL i grew up with screaming Italian parents. i have a a uncanny sense of the word ignore or better yet in one ear out the other without anything left in place. My wife is fully aware of my capiblities. LOL

 

And they thought they had us trained . LOL

[fursan]

Way to go. forgot to add, they are convinced that a side effect of a cardiac attack

has left me with slightly impaired vision!! Let the blind guy have his fun with leica!!

 

LOL i grew up with screaming Italian parents. i have a a uncanny sense of the word ignore or better yet in one ear out the other without anything left in place. My wife is fully aware of my capiblities. LOL

 

And they thought they had us trained . LOL

[peter_n]

Fahim your last two posts are hilarious but you do need a sense of humour to deal with all this stuff. When I bought my 35/1.4 I was warned about the hood and I've never actually used it. I am with Gary and use round metal hoods from eBay on all my lenses except the 24/2.8. In addition to the issue of quality there is the issue of price and there is a thread over on RFF that lists the current prices of the Leica offerings and you really do have to ask yourself is it worth all the aggravation?

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[fursan]

Peter, thanks. I have to check out the metal hoods. interesting thread!

 

best.

 

Fahim your last two posts are hilarious but you do need a sense of humour to deal with all this stuff. When I bought my 35/1.4 I was warned about the hood and I've never actually used it. I am with Gary and use round metal hoods from eBay on all my lenses except the 24/2.8. In addition to the issue of quality there is the issue of price and there is a thread over on RFF that lists the current prices of the Leica offerings and you really do have to ask yourself is it worth all the aggravation?

[newyorkone]

I've never heard of anything like that and I seriously doubt that the lens left Leica like that.

 

If could very well have been the vendor or perhaps whomever the vendor got the lens from (perhaps gray market and not directly from Leica). All my Leica lenses are in better condition when I open the boxes than I could hope for.

 

When I buy Canon or Nikon, I have to go through at least 2-3 samples before I am happy with one.