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I bought a nice secondhand M10-R body to complement my M10-M a month or two back from Tamarkin. On receipt, it was lovely ... and I did my usual testing. Testing found that the RF collimation and calibration were off by a touch. A phone call to Tamarkin, and they sent me a shipper to return it for service, no questions asked. The camera was sent to Leica USA for the service work, and returned to me yesterday. 

I went out for an hour's walk with it yesterday, fitted with the Summarit-M 75mm f/2.4, and made 47 photos at f/2.4 and f/4, focus distances from approximately 3 feet to infinity. Every one is critically focused (modulo my ineptitudes on a couple... ;) ) and the RF collimation is right on, perfect. 

Example from the test session: a Mustang Hot Rod parked across the street from my home, made wide open at 1/90 second, no edits other than cropping a mite and resizing for display here: 

full resolution: https://www.flickr.com/gp/gdgphoto/8mSxAB1KZ5

Many thanks to Dan and his team at Tamarkin, and kudos to Leica USA for an excellent service job, done in reasonable time and to as-new performance! In thirty years of doing business with Tamarkin, I've had nothing but the best service and support possible. :D 

G

"No matter where you go, there you are."

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I liked the business even more when Stan ran it and they had a NY location.  Nowadays I avoid Leica NJ for repairs and much prefer using DAG (Don), even if the gear is still under warranty. I’ve been disappointed by NJ repairs; never by Don. I get the impression that Dan T. doesn’t like Don for some reason, perhaps competitive.

Jeff

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2 hours ago, Jeff S said:

I liked the business even more when Stan ran it and they had a NY location.  Nowadays I avoid Leica NJ for repairs and much prefer using DAG (Don), even if the gear is still under warranty. I’ve been disappointed by NJ repairs; never by Don. I get the impression that Dan T. doesn’t like Don for some reason, perhaps competitive.

Jeff

I did business with Stan for some years, then Stan retired and Dan bought the business from him, then he moved to Chicago. It's been a pleasure working with Dan over the years, he's done very well by me. 

For individual repairs, I also tend to do business with DAG. But I have also done business with Leica USA in NJ many times over the years, and they've always done well by me. This particular service interaction was a part of my purchase of the camera from Tamarkin: when the camera had an issue, I let Dan send it to whomever he was confident about. And Leica USA did a perfect job... So whether I'd or you'd send it to them or not is irrelevant. 

G

Edited by ramarren
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Irrelevant to me only because I would not have bought from Dan (I’m aware of relationship and move to Chicago), preferring now to buy from a dealer like Leica Miami that will send repairs to DAG or to Wetzlar, not to NJ.
 

Last time I dealt with NJ, they told me the sticky focus action with my 50 Summilux ASPH could not be improved.  I spoke directly with the technician and he explained the issue.  I asked them to return it to me after they had it for several weeks.  I sent it to Don, and he had it back to me in a week with totally smooth focus action, for 90 bucks including shipping.  Still perfect 10 years later.

Jeff

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I have bought a number of cameras and lenses from Dan Tamarkin and the service is excellent as are all the other events he organizes for photographers. And that’s before you look at the vintage auction work he does.

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He’s much more in demand than in the old days. This forum probably has had a lot to do with that. Regardless, he’s always generous with his time even when he’d rather just work.  Hope he doesn’t burn out and retire anytime soon; would be a big loss for the Leica community.

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought my 24 Elmarit from Tamarkin. The service was outstanding. After I got my M10-R, I was considering the 21, Dan was very good about answering questions. The only reason I did not get the 21 was I am considering a 50 Summicron. 

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