marknorton Posted March 7, 2009 Share #1 Posted March 7, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Getting into a London taxi this afternoon and my Crumpler bag, reasonably well padded fell off my shoulder, 2ft 60cm to the ground. The M8 and 24mm Elmarit inside were fine, so was the MATE (28-35-50 Tri-Elmar M, first version), at least cosmetically. Closer inspection showed the MATE focus and focal length rings jammed solid - not just stiff, locked solid - and the aperture ring very stiff. No external sign of any damage at all. This lens has never missed a beat and was one of the first - at least 10 years old would be my guess - but it's clear that these early lenses at least are not able to withstand even a modest drop in a padded bag. Given the MATE is discontinued and has the most complex mount of any M lens, it will pay to treat yours with the greatest care and I expect the cost to repair mine will be substantial - and, no, I don't do insurance. One more thing to add to the list: 2 M8s for upgrade, 1 lens for coding, 2 lenses for focus alignment, now one MATE for a mount rebuild. Going to be expensive I think... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 7, 2009 Posted March 7, 2009 Hi marknorton, Take a look here Look After Your MATE!. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
biglouis Posted March 7, 2009 Share #2 Posted March 7, 2009 Mark That is really bad luck. I live in fear of dropping any part of my Leica kit. To date (touch wood) I haven't. Hope it doesn't proove to be too expensive. LouisB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtZ Posted March 7, 2009 Share #3 Posted March 7, 2009 Mark, I would call Solms. It's not necessary a serious problem and can easily repaired. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_tribble Posted March 7, 2009 Share #4 Posted March 7, 2009 Ouch - you have my sympathy Mark - not a task you feel like taking on yourself, I assume... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlorini Posted March 7, 2009 Share #5 Posted March 7, 2009 I dropped my M8 with MATE attached onto hard pavement last fall. The lens ended up with some cosmetic damage as well as sticky focal length ring. Sent camera and lens to Solms for repair as well as some M8 upgrades. The work took about 3 months and cost around $1200. The good news is that everything seems as good as new. I initially tried to get some well respected independent repair shops to take it on, but nobody wanted to deal with a Tri Elmar, so it seems that Solms is the best bet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted March 7, 2009 Thanks for your comments. It's definitely not a do-it-myself job and I'm not surprised other repairers will not touch it. It will go back to Solms along with my other items so we'll see how much Leica want to charge to fix it. Key to know for other MATE users though is that the lens is not especially robust and needs treating with care. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodor Heinrichsohn Posted March 8, 2009 Share #7 Posted March 8, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for your comments. It's definitely not a do-it-myself job and I'm not surprised other repairers will not touch it. It will go back to Solms along with my other items so we'll see how much Leica want to charge to fix it. Key to know for other MATE users though is that the lens is not especially robust and needs treating with care. Thank you for this information based on your - very unfortunate and regrettable - bad luck. Hope the repair cost of the MATE is not too shocking. Since I nearly always take the MATE and the WATE and a 35/1.4 aspherical for travels with one M8 and one M8u, this is very pertinent information for me. I will put the MATE and the WATE into additional protective bags inside my padded small photo bag. Teddy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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