Digilux 2 and worn aperture numbers on ring

[audidudi]

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I don't know if Leica HAS to change the whole lense together with the CCD but they seem to CHOOSE to do so.

My Digilux 2 was sent to Solms this summer for CCD replacement and I'm 100% positive that they also replaced the lense for a new one AND the LCD AND the EVF.

 

Perhaps, given the volume of these repairs Leica is making and the fact that it's almost certainly necessary to fine-tune the position of a replacement sensor on the lens by swapping shims, something that ideally should be done using a test jig in a clean-room environment to prevent dust from being trapped between the sensor and lens, Leica is preparing replacement sensor/lens combos separately so as to speed up the repair process?

 

If so, this could mean you do indeed end up with a new lens (although I doubt it's actually a "new" lens; more likely one that's been refurbished after it was removed from somebody else's D2), as you have noted with yours.

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[John Thawley]

As I see it, there are basically two ways to go here (three, if you count just leaving the lettering off and memorizing how the controls function): 1) Have replacement lettering silk-screened onto the body or 2) Have it engraved onto the body. I haven't investigated the former approach, but having some prior experience in the graphic arts industry, I know that it can be done, but I have spoken with a local trophy shop about engraving the letters onto the body and they confirmed it can also be done, although they didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about tackling the project themselves.

 

Unfortunately, while it's possible to paint the body without too much difficultly and likely good results, painting the various switches, knobs, buttons, and hot shoe will be much more difficult and replacing them with black Panasonic equivalents probably makes the most sense, although I shudder to think of what it will cost to do so. I can easily see this whole project costing several hundred dollars before it's done if you want it to be done correctly and I'm not sure it's worth it to me when I can simply swap the guts between a D2 and LC1 in maybe a half hour and achieve much the same effect at no cost. That the swap can also be reversed if/when I decide to sell one or both cameras is another big plus in its favor versus repainting.

 

But each of us see things differently and maybe a few hundred bucks round to zero for you, so if you do decide to pursue this (and someday, I may as well ... you never know!), be sure to post some of photos of how it turns out!

 

True.. the pursuit of black using Leica parts seems daunting, expensive... and probably borders on obsessive. LOL - However, I am going to have them recovered in leather. So, I'd at least like to have the plate by the preview screen replaced. The marks from the strap I'll have to live with as that part seems to be a little more integrated into the build ... unless I go ahead and have Leica replace both pieces and have it covered in black leather. The second camera is nearly perfect... just ever so slight marks around the strap lugs... barely visible. That camera I'm going have done in tobacco colored leather and use a braided matching leather strap.

 

Fun stuff.

 

JT