Brand new MP/M-A/M6 film scratches [Merged]

[Manunagra5]

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Hi everyone,

my leica MP is back from Leica Wetzlar due to scratches on film. The sellers/technicians in Paris told me yesterday morning that the problem was the pressure plate, (i told them one month ago doing the demonstration with a film in the store...). I don't know if my MP is completely repaired now but it arrived with scratches on the black paint!!!!  The seller asked me if i had photographs to demonstrate that these scratches didn't exist before i send the mp to repair. Of course not! Why would i take pictures of my camera? Aren't Leica technicians supposed to be professionnal? Seriously, i'm very disappointed. 10 films of portraits scratched and one more to demonstrate the cause to the two sellers/technicians of Leica beaumarchais Paris (not able to see from himselves after spending one hour with my camera in their hands) and one more film today later to verify that Leica has repaired my camera. No money back for theses scratched films from Leica hahah Maybe Leica think i'm the idiot of the year, but the problem is that we are various in this situation. 

[Manunagra5]

Hi everyone,

my leica MP (batch 56......) is back from Leica Wetzlar due to scratches on film. The sellers/technicians in Paris told me yesterday morning that the problem was the pressure plate, (i told them one month ago doing the demonstration with a film in the store that the pressure plate was the cause...). I don't know if my MP is completely repaired now but it arrived with scratches on the black paint!!!!  The seller asked me if i had photographs to demonstrate that these scratches didn't exist before i send the mp to repair. Of course not! Why would i take pictures of my camera? Aren't Leica technicians supposed to be professionnal? Seriously, i'm very disappointed. 10 films of portraits scratched and one more to demonstrate the cause to the two sellers/technicians of Leica beaumarchais Paris (not able to see from himselves after spending one hour with my camera in their hands) and one more film today later to verify that Leica has repaired my camera. No money back for theses scratched films from Leica hahah Maybe Leica think i'm the idiot of the year, but the problem is that we are various in this situation. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Manunagra5

[aesop]

On 11/13/2022 at 9:21 PM, comte de Mazan said:

my MP was made in 2002, at a time when Leica was not yet producing digital cameras and when mechanical workers specialized in film cameras were still working.  This explains it I think...

 

       ...sorry to contradict you, but the MP was introduced in 2003. Oh, and Leica had already launched the Digilux long before then.

 

[tjxism]

Lol, I got my MP back in 2020 and it scratches my film from day 1.

Never got a chance to have it fixed due to covid. Tried a few local repair shop and got the pressure plate  replaced. NOT FIXED. I recently got a M11 so I finally can send the MP back to Germany. I think it's out of warranty now but let's see what Leica says. 

A few tips: if you got a lab scanning the negs, they probably will remove the scratch during the scan. If you scan yourself, try scan with an DSLR. My scratch is less visible when scanned with a Nikon Z7 + Macro lens. With the negative scanner (Plustek), the scratch is much more obvious. I don't think it's because the DSLR is less resolving, but due to the different lighting. 

 

[tjxism]

20 minutes ago, Manunagra5 said:

Hi everyone,

my leica MP is back from Leica Wetzlar due to scratches on film. The sellers/technicians in Paris told me yesterday morning that the problem was the pressure plate, (i told them one month ago doing the demonstration with a film in the store...). I don't know if my MP is completely repaired now but it arrived with scratches on the black paint!!!!  The seller asked me if i had photographs to demonstrate that these scratches didn't exist before i send the mp to repair. Of course not! Why would i take pictures of my camera? Aren't Leica technicians supposed to be professionnal? Seriously, i'm very disappointed. 10 films of portraits scratched and one more to demonstrate the cause to the two sellers/technicians of Leica beaumarchais Paris (not able to see from himselves after spending one hour with my camera in their hands) and one more film today later to verify that Leica has repaired my camera. No money back for theses scratched films from Leica hahah Maybe Leica think i'm the idiot of the year, but the problem is that we are various in this situation. 

Probably not the pressure plate. I got my MP back in 2020 and it scratches my film from day 1. I found a local repair shop and changed the pressure plate and it's a no fix. 

Never got a chance to have it back to Germany due to the Covid. Planning to do it now. I think it's out of warranty now but let's see what Leica says. 

A few tips: if you got a lab scanning the negs, they probably will remove the scratch during the scan. If you scan yourself, try scan with an DSLR. My scratch is less visible when scanned with a Nikon Z7 + Macro lens. With the negative scanner (Plustek), the scratch is much more obvious. I don't think it's because the DSLR is less resolving, but due to the different lighting. 

[Ouroboros]

On 1/14/2023 at 9:09 PM, LuckySquirrel said:

Here is a picture of the scratch taken through a 10x loupe held on the end of my iPhone (12 Pro Max) using the 2.5x zoom lens. The image is very soft overall, but I think does highlight how fine the scratch itself is (when not having bright lights overhead reflected from it in just the right way, as per my previous photo).

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!

Did you check the film for scratches before running it through the camera?  Apologies if I missed that.

[Mute-on]

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27 minutes ago, aesop said:

 

       ...sorry to contradict you, but the MP was introduced in 2003. Oh, and Leica had already launched the Digilux long before then.

 

2002 according to this source https://wiki.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/MP

The first digital Leica M, the M8, was launched in 2006, according to thus source https://wiki.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/M8

So really you are not strictly correct at all. 

 

[Steve Ricoh]

7 hours ago, Mooshoepork said:

The cringe of actually writing this and posting it…this isn’t an airport. 
 

 

Or primary school. 

[williamj]

1 hour ago, tjxism said:

Lol, I got my MP back in 2020 and it scratches my film from day 1.

Never got a chance to have it fixed due to covid. Tried a few local repair shop and got the pressure plate  replaced. NOT FIXED. I recently got a M11 so I finally can send the MP back to Germany. I think it's out of warranty now but let's see what Leica says. 

A few tips: if you got a lab scanning the negs, they probably will remove the scratch during the scan. If you scan yourself, try scan with an DSLR. My scratch is less visible when scanned with a Nikon Z7 + Macro lens. With the negative scanner (Plustek), the scratch is much more obvious. I don't think it's because the DSLR is less resolving, but due to the different lighting. 

 

Has the scratch stayed the same or has it become less noticeable now that many rolls of film have passed through the camera?

[Manunagra5]

Hi everyone, if you can, try this simple experience. Put a film in your MP, and take 10 photos with pressure plate opened, and 10 photos with pressure plate closed and 10 again with pressure plate opened. It's what i did in the leica store and after that, the technician told me "you are right, it's the pressure plate, so we ll return yoir mp to germany to fix the problem". One month later, leica sent me back the mp, and told to the seller that thay hace problems with pressure plates. What is killing me is that sellers never have heard of scratches problems! So i give them the link of l-camera but no answer hahaha. Of course they are protecting the company. It's the reason i think we all should make videos in youtube. A lot of potential buyers are looking to youtube reviews before buying a leica, and often, they are hesitating a lot. I'm regretting totally my purchase and i probably didn't buy a MP if y could see a video about these problem of scratches!!! Imagine, 5000 euros now for a MP and a lot of people are receiving camera who destroys their film! It's a joke, so a video will come next from me and an another guy in paris who have the same problem with a new M6.. Thanks to L-camera, to make me realize we are a lot in this situation.

[tjxism]

1 hour ago, williamj said:

Has the scratch stayed the same or has it become less noticeable now that many rolls of film have passed through the camera?

Unfortunately, they stayed the same after ~40 rolls. That's not many but I don't think it'll go away. 

 

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

Edited February 2, 2023 by tjxism

[Emtsoh]

These reports are indeed concerning.

I own a Leica M-A since 2015 and never had an issue with film scratches.

Currently I am interested to get another M film camera, however the "scratching" stories plus all increased prices make me (re)thinking.

Hopefully Leica identifies why some of their cameras scratch films and solve that out.

 

[Manunagra5]

5 minutes ago, Emtsoh said:

These reports are indeed concerning.

I own a Leica M-A since 2015 and never had an issue with film scratches.

Currently I am interested to get another M film camera, however the "scratching" stories plus all increased prices make me (re)thinking.

Hopefully Leica identifies why some of their cameras scratch films and solve that out.

 

Before buying, shoot a film in the store, taking a part of photos with pressure plate opened and other part with pressure plate closed. You could see easily with ambient light if your leica is a bad leica. I couldn't imagine one second that leica are incapable nowadays to produce good film cameras, so i was totally confient buying my camera. 

[romualdo]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Leica officially introduced the "new MP camera" at the March 2003 PMA photo show in Las Vegas. I am sure a batch was made in 2002 for that purpose.

looks like there were 3 MP batches made in 2002 (from Laney, 2nd edn, p. 599) - my MP is near the beginning of the third run

2880101 - 2881100 (999)

2889101 - 2890100 (999)

2890101 - 2891100 (999)

other source

2880101 - 2881100 MP 6 (black)2002 - 1,000

2889101 - 2891100 MP (black+chrom)2002 - 2,000

Edited February 2, 2023 by romualdo

[romualdo]

4 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Gotta have stock at launch, amirite?

 

looks like the first batch was the MP6 - just found that out so it really was a run of 2000 MP's for the launch in '03

Edited February 2, 2023 by romualdo

[romualdo]

5 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Gotta have stock at launch, amirite?

 

like with the new M6?

[williamj]

Oof.  You can't miss that. Dreadful.

[jaapv]

I cannot imagine a store doing this without the camera being paid for. Afterwards it can only be sold as a demo at considerable loss. An open box and handled camera cannot be sold as new in Leicaland. 

[Emtsoh]

8 minutes ago, jaapv said:

I cannot imagine a store doing this without the camera being paid for. Afterwards it can only be sold as a demo at considerable loss. An open box and handled camera cannot be sold as new in Leicaland. 

True.

On the other hand if the camera is just paid and tested on the spot, we could ask for a refund in case the camera is faulty for any peculiar reason.

Writing this though.. we pay 5K for a camera that is perhaps faulty? 

Leica experts in the production line should sort this out. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Manunagra5]

Leica experts are concentrated on imagining 100 megapixels sensors for the M12! Leica philosopy has changed  and the business is now to sell new digital cameras each 5 years that will replace older ones. A digital camera is only a sensor with a computer. They totally don't care about film guys like us. Adding the fact 90% of leica film camera buyers don't reveal their film themselves and it s easy to understand that film camera are not a priority. The only way to change this is to do more and more videos on youtube and to share with leica. When they will receive thousand and thousand cameras to be repair under guarantee, they will start thinking business differently. We are not stupid, and thay have to know that, WE have the power of pay.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Manunagra5