newyorkone Posted April 11, 2008 Share #1 Posted April 11, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) So I took a day off last week to drop off the mistress (M8), or the other wife as my wife likes to say. I had been putting off a few more minor issues, but the straw that finally broke the camel's back was a row of dead pixels that developed on the CCD so it was time to pay a visit to Leica NJ. I must admit that it is a blessing to be in NYC because all the major photo brands are just a hop and a skip away. The form that you fill out has absolutely no space to explain things adequately, but I am happy to report that I got a letter two days ago and everything will be covered under warranty. Here's the list of what will be done... Replace shutter (a line had developed on the bottom blade and got more and more noticeable over the last year) Replace CCD Check Focus of RF And one other intriguing entry..."bring camera up to current standard." So I'm basically getting almost a brand new camera and hopefully everything will work out. It's a shame things couldn't have waited until August and then perhaps I could have asked to get the newer shutter instead. I'm curious if anyone else has had similar work done and if things turned out OK. After I got the letter I called to touch base and was told that the work will be done in NJ and will take about 5-6 weeks. I'm also interested in hearing what you all think the last entry is about. Anyway, I hope to get back the other wife soon. I sure do miss her! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 11, 2008 Posted April 11, 2008 Hi newyorkone, Take a look here Missing the M8 but hope it is in good hands... . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
marknorton Posted April 11, 2008 Share #2 Posted April 11, 2008 Good to hear that Leica NJ are up to speed to doing this kind of work now, I expect Leica UK are still trying to work out where the film goes... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthury Posted April 11, 2008 Share #3 Posted April 11, 2008 And, that will take 6 months! Seriously, do chase them for an estimate after 2-3 weeks. Mine had the LCD replaced and it took 3.5 months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyorkone Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share #4 Posted April 11, 2008 And, that will take 6 months! Seriously, do chase them for an estimate after 2-3 weeks. Mine had the LCD replaced and it took 3.5 months. You're scaring me! I hope not...thanks for the tip. I will be quite the pest and will check in regularly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_tribble Posted April 11, 2008 Share #5 Posted April 11, 2008 Good to hear that Leica NJ are up to speed to doing this kind of work now, I expect Leica UK are still trying to work out where the film goes... Mark - not for all of us! I've always had great turn round from Leica UK - dropped an M8 and knocked the RF out of whack. Couriered to Leica UK with a follow-up asking for a quick turnround if possible as I had a job coming where I needed both bodies. Back in 6 days - repaired for free under the passport scheme. No complaints. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andit Posted April 11, 2008 Share #6 Posted April 11, 2008 Hi Steve, Glad to hear that I'm not alone in this boat. My M8 went back to Solms last week. With me it was also that row of dead pixels that prompted me to finally send it back to Leica. I had gotten used to the backfocus issue. Was your line of pixels also about 1/3rd of the way in from the left or right side? It seems to be becoming a common fault here on the forum. Well, Leica in Cape Town told me that it would take in the region of 3 months for the round trip. So I'm in for a rather long wait... Andreas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enboe Posted April 11, 2008 Share #7 Posted April 11, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) My M8 has visited the mother ship twice, once for a defective shutter when new, once for a defective SD card slot at 12 months old. Both trips took 12-14 weeks. Better spend some quality time with Wife-1. Eric Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickEgg Posted April 11, 2008 Share #8 Posted April 11, 2008 I'm sure it's in good hands. I'm waiting for my M8 to arrive from NJ after it suffered SDS in February. I've had separation anxiety. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rweisz Posted April 11, 2008 Share #9 Posted April 11, 2008 Replace shutter (a line had developed on the bottom blade and got more and more noticeable over the last year) And yet another shutter needing replacement. I'm seriously starting to believe they all will go, in time. It's a shame things couldn't have waited until August and then perhaps I could have asked to get the newer shutter instead. Ditto here. I may still opt to do it because I'm not sure whether it was just a bad batch of the old shutters, or if there all going to fail including the replacement. I'd just feel more comfortable with a different type of shutter. Call it superstitious. was told that the work will be done in NJ and will take about 5-6 weeks. There's no way I would trust those goons in NJ to repair it. My M7 went back to them three times and they still couldn't get it fixed, so finally after I went there in person and raised a ruckus they gave me a new (demo) camera. Unless it's something DAG can handle, I'll send directly to Germany from now on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 11, 2008 Share #10 Posted April 11, 2008 Bring up to current standard probably means that it has the wonky transistor that was the cause of SDS andf it will be replaced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyorkone Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share #11 Posted April 11, 2008 Hi Steve, Glad to hear that I'm not alone in this boat. My M8 went back to Solms last week. With me it was also that row of dead pixels that prompted me to finally send it back to Leica. I had gotten used to the backfocus issue. Was your line of pixels also about 1/3rd of the way in from the left or right side? It seems to be becoming a common fault here on the forum. Andreas Here's a photo with the blue line which showed up in the exact spot in every shot after my weird shutter spazzing out event. Keep in mind that the exposure wasn't this bad...I adjusted the levels so that you can see the line better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyorkone Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share #12 Posted April 11, 2008 There's no way I would trust those goons in NJ to repair it. My M7 went back to them three times and they still couldn't get it fixed, so finally after I went there in person and raised a ruckus they gave me a new (demo) camera. Unless it's something DAG can handle, I'll send directly to Germany from now on. Sounds like things didn't go so well for you. When was this? I'm hoping it wasn't recent and keeping my fingers crossed that things have improved since. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aero Posted April 12, 2008 Share #13 Posted April 12, 2008 Hi All, Apologies in advance if this inquiry stirs up bad sentiment, I'm quite happy with my M8 and it's been working well for me! I often read about turnaround times for Leica in terms of warranty repairs on the range of 6 weeks or more... Luckily I've been, um, lucky! My two questions are 1_ How do Leica's repair times compare to other camera manufacturers? 2_ If indeed it is higher and failure rates are excessive, why hasn't anyone pursued class action or at least small claims legal action? In my own limited experience, Nikon and Canon have never taken more than 3 weeks to return a camera under warranty to our schools department. However, I have read about situations where it's taken on the range of 4. Rarely more though... Personally, my absolute limit of waiting for warranty repairs is a month - even that seems excessive and highly generous. If the item can't be repaired within that time, I usually ask for a replacement or a refund by certified mail. If those are not forthcoming, it seems prudent to begin proceedings in small claims court to get the major part of my purchase back (in my state it's up to 5k). I don't mean to promote litigious action, but to the fellow who was waiting for 3.5 months above - perhaps you should consider such a thing. This seems excessive. Additionally, I've heard that it's possible to claim a broken/unrepairable item via personal-articles insurance policy. Perhaps this is more recourse, though I don't have details on this method. "Unrepairable" means different things to insurance companies. It seems like a class action suit would be strongly pending if this camera indeed has such a high failure rate, especially if it can be pinned to one particular part that fails. I'm not a lawyer, by the way - just curious why no one has pursued legal recourse if the return times and failure rates are indeed so much higher by average of production than other manufacturers. All the best, -D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 12, 2008 Share #14 Posted April 12, 2008 A class action law suit would likely break Leica, so it would be something of a Pyrrhic victory. You'd then be waiting forever to get your camera fixed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andit Posted April 12, 2008 Share #15 Posted April 12, 2008 Hi Steve, On my exposures I also had to increase the light levels quite a bit in order to see the line. At higher iso's the line become very obvious without any increase in levels. Looks pretty similar to the line that I picked up as well - just on the other side. One of the forum members posted an image a while ago where he had lines on both sides. Andreas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emraphoto Posted April 13, 2008 Share #16 Posted April 13, 2008 forgive me if i bare bad news but i had one of those "lines" leica NJ replaced my camera and it was a nightmare fetting that done... with that said my new m8 has been absolutely flawless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyorkone Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share #17 Posted April 13, 2008 forgive me if i bare bad news but i had one of those "lines" leica NJ replaced my camera and it was a nightmare fetting that done... with that said my new m8 has been absolutely flawless. So, what I'm hearing is that this story might end up with me getting a replacement M8? Actually, that makes sense considering everything that is getting replaced. Can you elaborate on your situation? How long ago was this? How long before they replaced your M8? Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emraphoto Posted April 13, 2008 Share #18 Posted April 13, 2008 well, it's a long tired story but essentially it goes like this... i bought a demo from a nyc dealer camera arrives, i shoot 5 frames and the same line as you are seeing appears (however mine was vertical) i call dealer, they say you pay and ship it back we'll send a new one i think hmmm, i really don't want to pay another $100 to ship so i call leicausa (jersey) they say "no problem" send it to us and we'll fix (no shipping cost). we'll send it back in time for your holiday... following week. insert two months of empty promises, emails not returned, phone calls not returned, false information and one VERY UNAPPY GUY here. finally email christian erhardt at leica and plead for him to send me an m8, any m8! with a few more bumps along the road i finally get my m8 back. works perfectly! no issue's at all and i love it. produces amazing files and when used properly the high iso's look damn good ta boot! what i learnt was that you have to be ALL OVER them there (leicausa) if you want to see your camera in the next few months. "we'll call you back" is met with "i'll hold thanx". not happy with the answer you get, ask for the next person up the ladder etc. once i got ahold of mr erhardt things moved very, very quickly indeed. i did have some help from a few internet "aquaintences" including tony rose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emraphoto Posted April 13, 2008 Share #19 Posted April 13, 2008 in the end they replaced the camera Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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