Does Leica Warranty Internal Fungus?

[snommis]

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Googled and couldn’t find anything. Got the SL2S kit late last year with the 24-70. Wanted to trade in via MPB for a 24-90. Sent it in being the lens has hardly been used. Maybe 500 photos and then stored in my safe in my house. Safe even has a de humidifier rod in it. MPB is trying to tell me the lens has internal fungus. I find that hard to believe but if it does is that something Leica warranties? Then lens is 9 months old. 

[jdlaing]

I doubt it but you can contact them and ask.

[jaapv]

Highly unlikely that this is covered. You might try and fight it through with your insurance. However, if there is no damage to the glass a third party repair shop might clean it for a private sale with disclosure. Leica won’t touch it.  

[Photoworks]

Fungus is usually in older lenses. I would ask them to send your lens back.

The last lens Leica MPB 24-70 was full of dust, I had to send it back. the order of the 24-90 has a defect, it was getting stuck in the extended zoom.

It is very questionable what kind of inspection MPB is doing.

[snommis]

Yeah Im thinking there is just no way this could have fungus. I have contacted Leica to ask them about warranty. It was purchased Nov 1st 2022 and 9 + months later with not much use and when it was, it is indoors and the lens would have fungus. How? Im gonna get them to send it back. Might send it to KEH just to see what they say. Wanted to give MPB a try but not liking the experience. They even took off an additional 50.00 for changing the lens from Like New to Excellent. And also makes me think they would rate a lens Excellent and it would have fungus in it. 

[Pierre68]

Watch out with MPB! I recently sent them two SL lens and after receiving them they sent me a low ball offer saying that there was moisture visible in the lenses... Moisture in weatherproof lenses... both of them...bothe lenses were kept in a Pelican case with dehumidifier in it... Come on! The pay you rapidly but they take advantage on the fact that once you have sent the lenses in you would probably not go through all the hassle of having the lenses sent back to you. BEWARE

[Jean-Michel]

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You can of course deal with anyone — shop or individual — but I have found in my 5+ decades to of photography that dealing with a renowned and legitimate dealer of a particular make (Leica, or whatever) to be the best and safest route. In the USA there appear to be a number of excellent Leica dealers, and if I were in your country that is with whom I would deal with — the Miami store people sound like a rather good bunch. In Canada, I settled on a Leica shop in Montreal. 

[Photoworks]

2 hours ago, snommis said:

Yeah Im thinking there is just no way this could have fungus. I have contacted Leica to ask them about warranty. It was purchased Nov 1st 2022 and 9 + months later with not much use and when it was, it is indoors and the lens would have fungus. How? Im gonna get them to send it back. Might send it to KEH just to see what they say. Wanted to give MPB a try but not liking the experience. They even took off an additional 50.00 for changing the lens from Like New to Excellent. And also makes me think they would rate a lens Excellent and it would have fungus in it. 

why don't you sell it directly. I see this lens going used for $1600 - 1900

[snommis]

I probably will. They had offered a pretty good price to get me to send it in. They had a nice 24-90 to trade up with and it was worth the few hundred less to not deal with the hassle selling myself. I was wrong. I’ll stick with KEH or if I find one local. Just thought I would give MPB a try. Nope. I’ll get my 24-90 elsewhere. 

[snommis]

6 hours ago, Pierre68 said:

Watch out with MPB! I recently sent them two SL lens and after receiving them they sent me a low ball offer saying that there was moisture visible in the lenses... Moisture in weatherproof lenses... both of them...bothe lenses were kept in a Pelican case with dehumidifier in it... Come on! The pay you rapidly but they take advantage on the fact that once you have sent the lenses in you would probably not go through all the hassle of having the lenses sent back to you. BEWARE

Yeah that’s what I thought. Even though the 24-70 is a Sigma lens it has Leicas QC and seal of approval in regards to weather proofing and such. And it suddenly has fungus after 9 months in Texas no less. We haven’t had a drop of rain in almost 3 months. Humidity is low and I’ve kept it stored in a safe that has a drying rod inside in my house I keep at 69 degrees. 

[adan]

Once upon a time, Leica provided a 3-year "Passport" warranty that would replace or repair gear for ANY reason, provided one could submit enough remaining parts of the item to prove the serial number.

One could drop a lens into the Grand Canyon - and so long as one could recover enough parts to fulfill that one requirement, Leica would fix it or replace it with a new one.

That disappeared about the same time Leica nearly went bankrupt and Dr. Kaufmann stepped in with investment to save it (~2004). Although it looks like the Sports Optics Division still offers an echo of that (presumably binoculars and such run fewer risks that photo gear).

https://leicacamerausa.com/pages/leica-sport-optics-new-usa-and-canada-warranty-program.html

Probably cause and effect - but it was a nice deal while it lasted (approx. 1975(?) - 2004).

(BTW I agree the fungus report sounds fishy.)

Edited August 19, 2023 by adan

[LocalHero1953]

The Leica Passport ran for some years after that - probably to around 2015? I certainly had one when I bought a M9 in 2011, and with at least one new lens after that.

[jaapv]

The Passport scheme ran far longer in the UK than it did in the rest of the world. For a while I bought from the UK for that reason. 

[Stuart Richardson]

Where do you live? I also think fungus in the internal elements sounds rather unlikely. I have shot with Leica for over twenty years and never had a single lens develop fungus. Fungus in my experience is also much more often on exterior elements...I think a much higher likelihood that spores floating around in the air fall on an exterior surface than an interior one, particularly in a modern weather sealed lens. Unless you can see clear visible evidence of it, I would call BS. Get your lens back and have a look with a flashlight and see what they are on about. I imagine that most larger used camera dealers like this have an incentive to find any possible blemish and magnify it to lower the condition and their offer. In my experience if you are trying to save money, you can sell to the high end dealers which charge more and buy from the places like MPB. But generally it is not a good practice to sell to the place with the lowest prices... I bought my S adaper L from them in perfect condition for something like 500 dollars. I can only imagine what they offered the poor seller!

[Jean-Michel]

9 hours ago, snommis said:

I probably will. They had offered a pretty good price to get me to send it in. They had a nice 24-90 to trade up with and it was worth the few hundred less to not deal with the hassle selling myself. I was wrong. I’ll stick with KEH or if I find one local. Just thought I would give MPB a try. Nope. I’ll get my 24-90 elsewhere. 

Since you are in the USA, it would make sense to deal with USA dealer, but for comparison purposes, here is a listing for a 24-90 from the people I deal with in Montreal: https://www.camtecphoto.com/en/collections/leica-demos-pre-owned-etc  The exchange  rate is $0.74 US for $1.00 CDN, so the US price would be around $3,600 for that lens.

[Jeff S]

7 hours ago, adan said:

Once upon a time, Leica provided a 3-year "Passport" warranty that would replace or repair gear for ANY reason, provided one could submit enough remaining parts of the item to prove the serial number.

One could drop a lens into the Grand Canyon - and so long as one could recover enough parts to fulfill that one requirement, Leica would fix it or replace it with a new one.

That disappeared about the same time Leica nearly went bankrupt and Dr. Kaufmann stepped in with investment to save it (~2004). Although it looks like the Sports Optics Division still offers an echo of that (presumably binoculars and such run fewer risks that photo gear).

https://leicacamerausa.com/pages/leica-sport-optics-new-usa-and-canada-warranty-program.html

Probably cause and effect - but it was a nice deal while it lasted (approx. 1975(?) - 2004).

(BTW I agree the fungus report sounds fishy.)

My moderately priced insurance provides the same benefits, without the 3 year limitation. 
 

Jeff

[Camaro5]

19 hours ago, Photoworks said:

Fungus is usually in older lenses. I would ask them to send your lens back.

The last lens Leica MPB 24-70 was full of dust, I had to send it back. the order of the 24-90 has a defect, it was getting stuck in the extended zoom.

It is very questionable what kind of inspection MPB is doing.

I sent an R zoom lens to MPB and they claimed there was separation in the elements.  The lens had just been repaired by DAG for that issue.  Either DAG didn't fix it properly, which I doubt, or MPB was full of crap and just trying to rate it lower.  

I've sold a few things to them and usually their payout values aren't too bad when you consider eBay prices minus their 13.5% commission, but this wasn't one of those times.  It's all about the convenience.  

[easy_action]

MPB once informed me that a Typ 262 M-D I had sent them (in a moment of weakness) had sensor corrosion, and they didn't want it.  I tried to explain that this problem affected the M9 series cameras only, but they wouldn't budge.  Lucky for me, as I am very glad to have it now.

Similarly, every other lens that I have sent them recently is found to have 'moisture' and thus the opening offer is reduced.  I think they use this term as a catch-all for dust or anything else that is visible in the optics.  I've noticed that in the last year or two many of the lenses they sell note moisture in the description, and suspect that the term is being used to pre-empt returns from buyers disappointed when a lens is not 100% clear.  Of course, they also benefit from paying out less to sellers whose priority is a hassle free sale.