M11 future repairs

[Smudgerer]

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On 7/30/2023 at 3:23 PM, jaapv said:

I once had a Volvo and not the cheapest which regularly had to be towed because the computers broke down. In the end a Bosch service found out that the paint had not been properly removed from an earth contact causing power surges 

What colour was it?

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[jaapv]

??? Metallic Blue. What difference would the colour make? 

[Smudgerer]

All the metallic blue ones did that.

[Kwesi]

3 hours ago, Beewacker said:

Well, there have been some interesting replies to my initial question of future M11 repairs.

If I remember correctly (I’m 69 years old 🙂 ) when I purchased my M4P (the P stood for Passport BTW), it came with a 3 year, NO QUESTIONS ASKED warranty. Leica had an ad that said, ‘drop it out of a helicopter, if you can get us all the parts, we’ll repair it for free’. I’m fuzzy on the next part but I believe it was something like a 2 week turn-around to get the camera returned. In either case, it was NOTHING like some of these repair times I’m reading about here.

Leica can and should do better with their QC and repair policies, they have no excuses.

Jump in. You are going to be fine. I may have already said that I’ve owned at least one camera from each generation of digital M - except for the M8. Each one has been a joy to use and the M11 is no exception. Like you, I started out with meter-less film M’s. 
Honestly Leica is doing what it’s always been so good at. Making beautiful well designed cameras that help you realise your vision. 

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, Smudgerer said:

All the metallic blue ones did that.

Unlikely - it was a limited edition 745 Turbo (200 kW version) , made in Göteborg instead of Belgium, only 75 cars built. Sold only through Volvo Diplomatic and Tax-free Sales.

[jaapv]

6 hours ago, charlesphoto99 said:

Either Leica need to bulletproof their QC (not to mention beta testing), and/or find a way to turnaround in days or weeks, not months. 

I don't. envy Leicas management. You are perfectly correct and I am sure that they are fully aware. But there is no outside pool of trained technical staff, so what can they do? There are for sure production workers who could be trained up to be repair technicians or QC inspector, but that would weaken the production line in a time that they are overstressed by long waiting lists and drive prices even more stratospheric, which nobody wants . Of course you could take trainees, ( Azubis) but again you would need to free up experienced staff to train them hampering production even more.   The circle cannot be squared. Off for a snooze in my CEO armchair...  

[IkarusJohn]

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49 minutes ago, Kwesi said:

Jump in. You are going to be fine. I may have already said that I’ve owned at least one camera from each generation of digital M - except for the M8. Each one has been a joy to use and the M11 is no exception. Like you, I started out with meter-less film M’s. 
Honestly Leica is doing what it’s always been so good at. Making beautiful well designed cameras that help you realise your vision. 

I couldn’t agree more (save perhaps for the M(240) and the M11, neither of which float my boat); my M9, Monochrom, M60, M3, MP, M10-D and M-A are or were all beautiful and I loved using them, with the wonderful M lenses!

As a heavy user of Customer Service 🥵, I have also found the repair team helpful and informative, but … slow.  I haven’t suffered faulty repairs coming from either Solms or Wetzlar.

I would like to see less of silly gimmicks, more of well made, reliable digital M cameras, with less reliance on Customer Services to repair, replace (or refund. Leica needs to acknowledge its legal obligations) to deal with defective cameras, defective electronics (yes, electronics) and firmware.  An evolution of the M10, with a faster RAM, bigger buffer, an upgraded sensor (no need for 60MP, but if that’s all they could get, fine), better dynamic range, no baseplate, internal memory, USB-C charging, same shutter, I’d be interested.

That couldn’t have been hard, could it?  The M10 already had the faults shaken out of it …

Edited August 1, 2023 by IkarusJohn

[lct]

1 hour ago, Kwesi said:

Jump in. You are going to be fine. I may have already said that I’ve owned at least one camera from each generation of digital M - except for the M8. Each one has been a joy to use and the M11 is no exception. Like you, I started out with meter-less film M’s. 
Honestly Leica is doing what it’s always been so good at. Making beautiful well designed cameras that help you realise your vision. 

+1. There is litte point in generalizing individual experiences but as far as i'm concerned this was true for M3, M4, M6J, M240, M11, R4S, Digilux1, Digital CL and 30+ Leica M and R lenses. Only exeptions were my M4-2 whose shutter was not solid enough for the Leica Winder, my M8.2 which suffered from "coffee stain" but the stain disappeared by itself in a couple years, and my Summilux 50/1.4 asph v1 whose focus ring was stiff but it was fixed for free by Leica and it is butter smooth now. Lens had to be send in twice for that though to be honest. Finally, the aperture ring of my Summarit 75/2.5 was fragile but was repaired for free again by Leica. Not that bad from 1971 to 2022 anyway 👍

Edited August 1, 2023 by lct

[Smudgerer]

13 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

All the metallic blue ones did that.

It was a nod to Tom and Ray, ( "CAR TALK" / NPR ), Cambridge MA. brothers who used to brighten many a Saturday morning during my USA life............They had a priceless way of deflating Auto-Ego and Auto-Agnst. Shows are still to be found online, worth the search and listen if you are unaware of them and want to "waste a perfectly good hour".

Tom, RIP.

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Edited August 1, 2023 by Smudgerer
added snap