Film is not dead… but my camera may be…

[Wildpeak]

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Dear community, my name is Frédéric and I have so far visited these pages only as a reader. However, I would now like to turn to you for guidance.

I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful old M6, which I like a lot and have used quite intensively in the end of last year and the first months of 2023 after it had been in storage for a while. In doing so, it became apparent that this lovely old lady would benefit from a CLA, so back in March, I sent it to Leica in Wetzlar.

We are now a solid 8 months later and today, Leica tells me they can’t even give me an estimate of when I‘ll get my camera back.

So respectfully, I wanted to turn to you to inquire into whether that’s normal and what the process involves? What kind of magic to they apply to these cameras that would cause such a delay? Do you have deeper insights into this? I would really love to know more.

I don’t mean to complain, but at this rate, much of my film will expire before I ever get to put it into my camera.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Frédéric

[Anbaric]

Unfortunately this sort of thing is becoming increasingly normal for Leica - their service department seems to be chronically understaffed. You might have been better off sending it to a good independent technician (where are you located?). If nothing has happened to far at Wetzlar (have they indicated this?) and you can find someone with a good reputation who can do the work in a timely manner (people here will be happy to give you suggestions), you could ask for your camera back and send it elsewhere. Most things can be done by third party technicans, except certain meter faults that even Leica may not be able to fix at the moment. What were the issues with your camera?

Edited November 9, 2023 by Anbaric

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[espelt]

Unfortunately normal at the moment. 10 months is not uncommon. The department seems chronically overloaded. Reason: The boom in analogue photography. But even at many independent workshops (at least in Germany) you have to take waiting times into account. Or cameras are no longer being accepted at all at the moment. To much to do. And there are fewer and fewer real precision mechanics who know their stuff. Most of them are now retired... At the moment the only thing that helps is a lot of patience.

[Wildpeak]

Thanks a lot for your feedbacks folks.

The camera had torn some film in intense cold conditions and as a result, has little pieces of film across its mechanical parts which need out which could damage it (I‘m told). So it needs disassembly and cleaning, but nothing too exotic I would imagine.

As for the delays, seems like I‘ll need more patience then. But should they not at least be able to give an estimate of when they will get far enough through the backlog that they can look at my camera?

[Wildpeak]

Ps: I am located near Zurich, Switzerland. We got a fantastic boutique here that has helped me coordinate all this. But of course, they can’t do anything to make this go any more swiftly, which in my eyes they can’t be blamed for.

[Studienkamera]

10 hours ago, espelt said:

At the moment the only thing that helps is a lot of patience

and a second camera body.

[Wildpeak]

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vor 4 Stunden schrieb Studienkamera:

and a second camera body.

Luckily I have that, but it has a barely started roll of Ektar in it, which in this foul weather isn’t easy to finish before I can go back to more useful 400 ASA B&W

[newtoleica]

6 minutes ago, Wildpeak said:

Luckily I have that, but it has a barely started roll of Ektar in it, which in this foul weather isn’t easy to finish before I can go back to more useful 400 ASA B&W

Rewind it till you hear the sprockets release but not pull the film into the canister then make a note of how many frames used and put it aside. When you reload it shoot the frames with the cap on till you get back where you were. 

[wizard]

vor 8 Minuten schrieb Wildpeak:

which in this foul weather isn’t easy to finish before I can go back to more useful 400 ASA B&W

No need to finish your roll of Ektar. Newtoleica beat me to the suggestion, I was going to propose exactly the same procedure.

[Wildpeak]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb newtoleica:

Rewind it till you hear the sprockets release but not pull the film into the canister then make a note of how many frames used and put it aside. When you reload it shoot the frames with the cap on till you get back where you were. 

That is a great suggestion actually, knew this in theory but always kinda shied away from actually doing it. Opening the bottom plate while a Film I haven’t fully finished is still in there kinda scares me off a bit for some irrational reason. But if I don’t find any sun tomorrow, I will try 👍

[TomB_tx]

4 hours ago, Wildpeak said:

Luckily I have that, but it has a barely started roll of Ektar in it, which in this foul weather isn’t easy to finish before I can go back to more useful 400 ASA B&W

Sounds strange to someone who used to shoot Kodachrome II at 25 ASA in whatever light was available. I even used it at night... In the early 1950s 125 ASA film was considered super fast.

[charlesphoto99]

1 hour ago, Wildpeak said:

That is a great suggestion actually, knew this in theory but always kinda shied away from actually doing it. Opening the bottom plate while a Film I haven’t fully finished is still in there kinda scares me off a bit for some irrational reason. But if I don’t find any sun tomorrow, I will try 👍

An old trick that I used to use all the time back in the film days. And with the price of film these days, an even more important trick to learn. 😯

[Wildpeak]

vor 20 Stunden schrieb TomB_tx:

Sounds strange to someone who used to shoot Kodachrome II at 25 ASA in whatever light was available. I even used it at night... In the early 1950s 125 ASA film was considered super fast.

Fair point.

You’re no doubt correct that it’s not the end of the world to open a lens to F2/2.8, although my style of photography lives closer to F5.6/8. 

But that doesn’t change the fact that the strength of Ektar lies in its colors. In the nasty weather these days, those would often be wasted.

I’m not sure I’m rich enough to expend 16 quid on a roll of film that promises beautifully sharp images in stunning colors (Ektar), and then spend another twelve quid to have it developed, let alone invest the time to scan it, just to find out I got a somewhat shaky image of a dreary grey sky and mushy brown tones below that.

[Anbaric]

With the cost of colour film these days, with any other system than Leica M you can almost justify adding another body for each type of film you shoot regularly. For most SLR systems, you can probably find a body for the price of 6-10 rolls of Ektar/Portra (before processing). Even with Leica, an M2 costs about the same as 70 rolls (maybe 50 after processing).

[Wildpeak]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb Anbaric:

With the cost of colour film these days, with any other system than Leica M you can almost justify adding another body for each type of film you shoot regularly. For most SLR systems, you can probably find a body for the price of 6-10 rolls of Ektar/Portra (before processing). Even with Leica, an M2 costs about the same as 70 rolls (maybe 50 after processing).

Yes, it’s really veering towards the insane. Luckily bought quite a bit of TMax while it was still 12 quid recently, they increased it by 50% to over 18 per roll here now.

[edstock]

Place all your film in a plastic bag(s) with zip lock or other method of sealing, then place all into a freezer until you get your camera back. Film can be stored indefinitely in a freezer. Film as you have found out becomes very brittle in cold weather. Placing a camera inside your parka is the only solution, only draw back is with a telephoto lens mounted. I'd be surprised if you can't find someone in Switzerland who can repair your Leica.

[Wildpeak]

By way of an update, to be fair, I have to give credit to Leica Switzerland. While they can obviously not do much to accelerate things in Wetzlar, they reached out to me today with a solution to my immediate issue, which I really appreciate. So one can think their part about the logistics a d staffing problems at the service department - but one thing is for sure, the customer facing team here in Switzerland is extremely friendly, helpful and pragmatic, which I am highly appreciative of!

[Wildpeak]

vor 15 Stunden schrieb edstock:

Place all your film in a plastic bag(s) with zip lock or other method of sealing, then place all into a freezer until you get your camera back. Film can be stored indefinitely in a freezer. Film as you have found out becomes very brittle in cold weather. Placing a camera inside your parka is the only solution, only draw back is with a telephoto lens mounted. I'd be surprised if you can't find someone in Switzerland who can repair your Leica.

Yes, learned that the hard way. Now I know

[Cronilux]

I just called with them yesterday. For digital Leicas the waiting time is 5 month and for analogue cameras it´s 10 month. Insanity. I only wanted an adjustment, not a repair.
The only way would be to visit Wetzlar and put it on the counter. As long as it´s only an adjustment you might get it back the next day. As soon as something needs repair you are out of luck.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[TomB_tx]

Just received notice from an independent camera tech in the US that the Leica SCNOO winder I had sent for repair in 2019 is now finished and being sent to me. When I sent it I said it wasn't a high priority - I guess it wasn't.