Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/25

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Subject: Re: [Leica] R4-thoughts??
From: Kevin Leong <kevinl@ind.tansu.com.au>
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 18:38:23 +1100

Bob Keene/Karen Shehade wrote:

> Opinions on a used R4 MOT.... definately a "user"; but appears clean.
> Price: $310....

Before serial number 16xxxxx, the R4's were produced with wire-wrapped
boards (or some inferior printed-circuit-board substitute) and these are
the ones that are notorious for electronic faults. The models with the
R4-Mot tag preceed the ones with just "R4" and since I've seen R4's with
15xxxxxx numbers, I assume that all the R4-Mot's have the old
electronics. This is assuming that the electronics have not been
replaced during repair; I was told when I sent my R4 for service that
the old electronics are never repaired but are immediately replaced with
a PCB.

I can't comment on the price though. I picked mine up in near-mint
condition (not quite the case now) with the old 28/2.8 in Munich for
about 1500 DM.

A really good site for technical info. is
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica; there's a page specifically on what
to look out for when buying R bodies second-hand. It's run my an
ex-Leitz mechanic that also does good, cheap and fast repairs (even
while you wait); he's based in Luton, about an hour North of London.