Re: [Leica] Camera quality

[Ian Stanley <ian@mos.com.np>]

Hello Jim,

At 09:10 AM 98-03-14 -0800, you wrote:
>I wonder if any of these people have had car trouble? I have a family of
>six. Three sons, one daughter, a wife, and me. Five of us have BMW's of
>various vintage. Mine's the newest, a 94 530, my wife's is a 91 525,
>daughter a 90 325is, oldest son am 88 M3, next oldest son an 87 325i. Each
>and every one of these cars has had something break. Something that wasn't
>supposed to break. My wife's has had two new heads, a new radiator, and
>transmission work three times. Mine has had two new timing chain covers. My
>daughter's is the most trouble free. The M3 has a new engine. The 87 seems
>OK too.
>

	Remind me not to buy a BMW - we haven't had any car trouble - we have used
a Toyota Landcruiser and a Suzuki Samurai here in Nepal for over five years
now and have had no trouble at all with either of the vehicles.  I won't go
into details but the driving conditions here are not the.  Both have been
serviced regularly but no repairs have been made.

>The point is that sh*t happens! Period. I will continue to buy BMW's as
>will my kids. Like Leicas, we know them, trust them, and when they get
>sick, we fix them.
>
	I like my Leicas and I trust my M4-P but I had a problem with two (2) band
new M6's and the when I sent the second one back to them to get fixed they
didn't fix the problems that I had identified and told them about in great
detail!!  My trust is a little shaken.

>Also, you are looking at probably .001% of the total Leica population. And
>of the 300 or 400 LUG members, you are looking at perhaps 1%. And don't
>forget, many times problems are brought about by a mistake in handling.
>
	Both of the M6's I have been talking about were brand new - straight out
of the box.  The damage was not caused by a mistake in my handling - my
M4-P continues to function well in spite of me using it all of the time.

	I know that this situation is more frustrating for me because of where I
am living but one of the reasons that I decided on a new M6 was the
reliability of my old Leica equipment.  I don't know if you have been in
Nepal before but there are no Leica repair facilities here.

Ian Stanley.

Kathmandu, Nepal