jrh68uk Posted January 20, 2008 Share #1 Posted January 20, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Firstly, hello to everyone. I'm new here, having been an SLR user since the age of 11, and have just treated myself to my first rangefinder. Yesterday was a fairly significant birthday - there's the excuse - so, after some fairly extensive research, I decided on the M7. Off to London I went, dragging my poor wife with me, in search of a new one which I'd saved enough for. During my research I'd read here and elsewhere of the reputations of the main Leica dealers in London. Frequenting Nikon shops in the past, I knew it was going to be an interesting couple of hours visiting these new (to me) shops... To cut a long story short, I was quite unpleasantly surprised, overall. I'm not here to name and shame anyone, but how difficult should it be to find a new M7 in London? First place had no new black ones, except an ex-demo which had a rather ugly scratch. They did have a new silver one, apparently, and some well-used black ones. I decided to move on... Second place didn't seem to have much Leica, despite the sign outside. Salesmen were either occupied or ignored me, so out I went. I'll come back to this one... Third place is the one I thought would deliver the goods, despite being the place most (negatively) talked about. I was told I was "silly", in a rather condescending manner, for going after a new one and that they didn't buy in new ones unless they had to in order to drive new prices down! You'd think they'd have had a nice used one to offer me after that, but no: I had to wait for someone or other to deliver on a promise his mint used one to the shop at some point the following week (perhaps). I gave them one last chance regarding the price of a new one, which, I was told, would be £100 more than their advertised price on the web. When I pointed this out I was practically accused of lying. Sure enough, I check the following day (today) and their new price has risen by £100. Something odd there, unless I kept picking up an old, cached version of their site, as I know what I saw. Now, OK, the kind of service I like is that of a certain bespoke Nikon dealer in Pimlico, which is second to none. This third place was fairly rude, though (my wife said so, too). For the sake of fairness, I should say that they probably have their fair share of rude customers, though: as I walked in a chap asked, rather pompously, "I want a classic camera, so tell me which one to get." I could see that the assistant was struggling with a response, but he dealt with it OK. Maybe one has to initiate rudeness in order to gain respect there In desperation, I tried both of the large "J" stores in New Oxford Street. Result: one new one, but well-handled over time (not a recent serial, I noticed, possibly before the viewfinder upgrade) and one overly expensive used one. Then, I remembered that I hadn't really given the second store a chance. Last try before admitting defeat, back to store #2 and this time I had attention as soon as I went in. I was shown straight to an M7/50 set which was the only one in and I was then told that it wasn't new. It was explained in detail that this one was bought by a rich retiree with a reputation for buying such equipment and returning it soon after, having not got on with it. It was clearly hardly used and I totally trusted the salesman (owner?), later finding the documentation to back it up. I was told that Leica had cancelled the passport and agreed to start afresh with the next owner, and was given a reasonable price. As an alternative I was offered a new one, by post, within a few days, if I so desired. I decided to save a few hundred and go with the used one, since it is practically new anyway. This was R.G. Lewis, and I'm very glad I went back. I'm also extremely happy with my new M7 and 50/2, which has its first test film running through now. It's so much different from SLR photography, which is good, because that's exactly what I was hoping. Owning a Leica like this is like realizing a long-term fantasy One interesting thing I notice is that the DX sensors seem to be optical, rather than electronic contacts. I'm guessing this is standard issue now. I've rambled on, and I was only intending to say hello! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 Hi jrh68uk, Take a look here My almost new M7. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
stunsworth Posted January 20, 2008 Share #2 Posted January 20, 2008 Jason, hello and welcome! These shops don't do themselves any favours do they? Maybe one of the advanteges about living outside of London is that you get to deal with human beings who lack the egos of those 'in the smoke'. Glad to hear that it all ended happily. Now the fun _really_ begins ,grin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyedeebee Posted January 20, 2008 Share #3 Posted January 20, 2008 Hello Jason, Sounds like a difficult and frustrating day! Well done to sticking with the task - I'm sure you won't regret your decision. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 20, 2008 Share #4 Posted January 20, 2008 Welcome Jason, Congratulations on your new purchase. I've only been to RG Lewis a couple of times but was impressed by their stock and service. As for CC..........well I think they have lived up to their reputation admirably. Sounds like you got a good deal, effectively and ex demo. Stick around, show some of your results in the photo forum, and maybe we'll see you at the One Challenge in Krakow! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crm.ecosse Posted January 20, 2008 Share #5 Posted January 20, 2008 Jason. Re. the DX optical sensors. These seem to have been fitted in place of the electronic contacts for, at least, the last 18 months. These optical sensors do allow for much easier removal of the film cassette after use - let alone the improved transmission of information to the CPU. Enjoy your Leica M7. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrh68uk Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted January 20, 2008 Thanks, everyone, for the welcomes. I think I'm going to like it here Interesting re. the optical DX sensors, as I'd been reading about how troublesome the electrical DX contacts could be and that some were being replaced with optical upon repair. I was quite glad to see that mine are optical. Now, I have to try to get used to right-eye viewing. I'm left-eye dominant, but I can actually see more through the viewfinder with my right eye - presumably because I don't have to turn through a small angle due to my nose! I wear glasses and the 35mm frame is much more visible with my right eye, without moving about. Now, better start saving for the 35 to go with my 50... Cheers, Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamey Posted January 21, 2008 Share #7 Posted January 21, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Welcome to Leica Jason. Like you, I have been long time SLR user, started back in 1969 I think! ..Minolta Srt101 And my first Leica was 1973. My introduction to the Leica M was only in Dec 2003 and yes it's the M7 with the 35mm F/2 ASPH. Except for the film loading system, it's a fabulous camera. It's low light capability and light metering is amazing. I still mainly use my Leica R's, but love the M7. Cheers Ken. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
underground Posted January 21, 2008 Share #8 Posted January 21, 2008 Welcome! this is a great site full of great people. stick around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEd Posted January 22, 2008 Share #9 Posted January 22, 2008 Welcome to the forum, I'm glad to hear that you saved money to buy your M7, that's the right way to do things. You know, I don't have a credit card and intend to stay that way. One of the reasons the establishments like the ones you visited are going out of business is the lack of customer service, some salespeople want to make themselves important by somehow suggest that they're doing you a favor. Little they realize it's the other way around. Can't wait to see your pictures on the Photo Forum. Regards, Ed. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_livsey Posted January 22, 2008 Share #10 Posted January 22, 2008 I can understand the desire, especially after saving specifically, to fondle the goods and make the purchase in person. I am afraid though, as you found, this can be far from a special occasion, particularly in the larger cities. Out in the sticks the customers are more scarce and some degree of interest can be shown. It is often the case that a dealer can come recommended but from a regular (paying) customer known by name who perhaps forgets his status and assumes all punters will receive the same warm welcome he does. Often that is not the case. This is leading to a recommendation to investigate the mail order guys with no expensive city centre shop and staff to maintain in a style they would wish. I am only an infrequent, would be more often if the banker would agree, paying customer but if you look at Ffordes.com list they have today 10 M7s including Titanium, unused, .58 finders never mind the 20x M6s even a noctilux. Then if you go European another world, mainly of VAT and import problems, opens up. We have a global village. In recorded music look at Gemm.com I have bought single LPs from obscure dealers in Alabama just by clicking and had great service. Show these parochial city centre shop guys that the world has moved on good service sells,anywhere. This global village is nowhere more evident than in this forum, where I wish you welcome, you will find much of interest and passionate people waiting to jump in and help. In particular if you ask " which bag is best for carrying my gear" you will find everyone happy to start all over again,again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunhoy Posted January 23, 2008 Share #11 Posted January 23, 2008 Service and the complete lack thereof is a British disease as is being ripped off. Earlier this month whilst in the USA on business I got a mechanically sound M3 (s/n > 1,000,000) and a mint 90/2.8 Elmarit-M (s/n >355xxxx) for just over £650; both items were delivered to my hotel room thousands of miles away within 24hours of ordering. No pompous assistants, no bullsh*tn no rip off pricing... just good old fashioned service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrh68uk Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share #12 Posted January 23, 2008 Once again, thank you all for the welcomes and for being so friendly and helpful. I totally understand the face-to-face vs. remote ordering dilemma, but, in this case, there were two reasons I wanted to do it this way rather than order over the net/phone: 1. My trips to London are an opportunity for me, if time and wife allow, to scour my favourite camera shops. I love it. I wanted to add some to the list 2. I was not used to the Leica system and wanted to play before making the final decision. Yes, I could have played, then gone away to order online but I don't mind paying a little extra for good service and the knowledge that there's a real person to go back to in case of problems, or to strike a relationship with in case of future purchases. As I said, my experience with this Leica-centric trip was quite different to my usual Nikon-centric ones. Still, I did OK in the end. Which leads me to a question. I'm not sure whether I should open a new thread for this, but I'll try here: I've just bought a used 14870 case which is still in box and is meant for the M6/TTL. It fits my M7 well and I know that the case is still current. The M6 doesn't seem to have an exposure-comp lock button on the back and there's no cut-out for it in the case. So, the case is sitting over the button and, by pressing the back of the case anywhere near the button, it's pushed in. What I'd like to know is whether anyone has a newer 14870 case (post M7 introduction) and, if so, does it have a cut-out for the lock button? Many thanks, Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Lowle Posted January 23, 2008 Share #13 Posted January 23, 2008 Hi Jason....If you ever need anything else Leica and are happy to trade over the net, then do give Robert White a try Robert White - Specialist Camera and Photographic Suppliers of Nikon, Canon, Leica, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Zeiss Ikon, Voigtlander, Quantum etc. My experiences ordering from them are, that they have that 'old fashioned' way of dealing with their customers, which is refreshing nowadays. They keep you informed and treat you like a customer and not a nuisance! Have fun with your M7.....Gerald Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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