Re: [Leica] Solm's Quality

["Robert G. Stevens" <robsteve@istar.ca>]

Allan:

To follow your car analogy, the Leica users must realize that every lens
can not be made perfect.  If you bought a top of the line BMW you will
still have warranty claims like the guy that bought the bottom of the line
volkswagen.  People just have to realize that there is no such thing as
perfection in these things.

I went through a lot of angst when I bought my first new car in my early
twenties.   I expected perfection since it was new.  Every little problem
that came up although fixed by warranty caused me a lot of frusteration.  I
have since come to the conclussion over the past experiences with cars that
nothing is made perfect and that the little problems should not be taken
seriously, as there are worse things in life to worry about.

The continous threads about the Leica problems are just a waste of
bandwidth.  If these 80mm lenses have problems, just get them fixed and get
on with taking pictures.  These focus problems are simple adjustments and
the users would be better getting the lens they have fixed than wait for a
new one as the repair would probably only take a repairman ten minutes.
This is of course only applies if your dealer does not have a replacement
in stock for a dead out of the box lens and the problems are not optical
defects.  To go back to the Car analogy, you wouldn't expect a new car from
BMW if your car had some minor defects in it. =20

As Chatterton put it, the Leica he sells has fewer problems than any other
brand he has experience with.  Leica may not make every thing perfect, but
they do get closer than the other manufactures.  For example, a few years
ago I bought an Eos Elan IIe.  I got it home and noticed it did not work
unless you pressed down on the batterry compartment.  I did not get mad, I
just brought it back to the dealer and he gave me another one.  Even Canon
was not perfect!  This was before my passion with Leica began again last
fall!  The Canon just collects dust and is used by my wife occasionally.



Regards,

Robert Stevens


 At 09:41 AM 5/10/98 +0200, you wrote:
>> Fr=E5n: Chuck Warman=20
>> I'm not *about* to take sides on this one, but a couple of questions are
>in
>> order:
>>=20
>> 1.  Of the 400 LUGnuts, how many have an 80 Summilux?  Not many, I'd
>wager.
>>=20
>> 2.  What is an acceptable rate of factory defects on a $2,000 80mm lens?
>
>-------------------------------------
>During a short money earning stint at Volvo Data I learned that the best
>tester for QA purposes was the USER.  That is why all companys issue a
>gaurantee with the product.  You, the user are the unpaid and therefore
>cheaper part of the QA workforce.  Under gaurantee terms the faults and
>problems DO get back to the factory computers and are analyzed. =20
>
>Alan Hull=20
>
>
>
>