[Leica] Halogen light and lenses

["Gary D. Whalen" <whalen@whalentennis.com>]

  A friend of mine recently received a new 100 f.28 Macro for his R8.
After receiving it he called me and said that there were 20-30 "very
small" specs on the glass INSIDE of the lense.  He also told me that the
only way you can check a lense to see if it is clean is with a halogen
light.    I always check my lenses and camera with natural light or
light bulb but have never checked them with a halogen light.  Well, I
decided to check a few of my lenses and found the same thing - many
small specs of dust or particles behind the front lense.

  This morning I called Leica repair and they said that those specs
should not be there but that they should also not affect the image in
anyway.  They said that they would take the lenses in and clean them
and it would take around 3 weeks.  They also said that the R lenses are
not closed lenses.  That is, that dust can get into the inside elements
of R lenses.  I thought this was weird but what do I know.

    Do any of you have any thoughts or ideas concerning the specs and/or
the halogen light check?  Is this a Leica QC problem or normal in all
lenses?  Also, my friend ordered a brand new R8 and the glass in the
veiwfinder was scratched.  What is going on with Leica.  People do NOT
spend 2 to 3 times more money than the competition for any equipment
without expecting perfection.  Leica will be out of business within 5
years if they do not address these quality control issues.