RE: [Leica] Re: Newbie Leica questions...buy new!

[Jim Laurel <jplaurel@microsoft.com>]

Kevin,
Others may disagree with me on this, or think it's foolish, but I have a
policy of buying all my Leica gear brand new with Passport warranty, from an
authorized dealer.  This is not because I like to throw away money, but
because I have personally had so many out-of-the-box defects in my new Leica
equipment.  In the 2 years since I started building my Leica system, I have
had 4 failures.

- -- M6HM (.85x) - Shutter bounce at 1/500 and above caused vertical bands in
photographs.  Also, the RF was out of alignment.

- -- R6.2 - Supplemental viewfinder light not responsive to the switch on the
lens mount...light came on whenever the meter was switched on.

- -- Trinovid 10x25 binoculars - curly shavings of some material leftover from
production loose just behind the front element

- -- My 1.4/35 ASPH is out of alignment or something, as some carefully
focused shots, taken at f1.4 can seem excessively soft.  This lens exhibits
an unusual effect that I can only describe as "multiple planes of focus".  I
showed Ernst Hartmann, from Leica NJ a shot, taken a full aperture, in which
a near object was in acceptable focus, a farther object was in acceptable
focus, and another in between these was totally blurry.  Very strange.
Ernst confirmed that there is definately something wrong with the lens, and
that it was probably beyond the capabilities of the NJ facility.  Because I
bought this particular lens without a Passport warranty, I am hoping that
Leica will cover it under thier 2-year international warranty.

So, in the last 2 years, I have purchased 2 M rangefinder bodies, 1 R SLR
body, 5 M lenses, 3 R lenses, and one pair of binoculars.  Out of those, one
body (the M6HM) was defective right out of the box.  The R6.2 started acting
up at around the 4 month mark.  The Trinovids lasted around 4 months.  In
all cases, the dealer (Glazer's in Seattle) swapped the product with a
brand-new one immediately and with no hassle at all.  The 1.4/35 ASPH is
going to be hell to get repaired as it has to go directly to Solms.

In contrast, over the last 3 years, I have purchased 2 Canon SLR bodies
(EOS1n and A2E), and 10 other lenses, mostly from the L-series line, as well
as numerous accessories.  In the old Canon FD line, I had 5 or 6 bodies, and
at least 12-15 lenses over the years.

My defective count with Canon products: ZERO  I have never had a defective
Canon product out of the box, and I have never had a Canon product fail on
me.

So buy new, get your dealer to swap out the defective stuff, and hold onto
your known-good Leica gear.

- --Jim


Kevin Selner <kevinselner@pmail.net> wrote:
>
> I am about to take the plunge and buy an M6.  I didn't intend to buy
> one, but after handling one in the store, I fell in love.
> 
> I've been lurking here for a while trying to learn as much as I can and
> now have a few questions related to my purchase...
> 
> 1. I thought I might just buy the body new and get used lenses on ebay.
> Does that seem like a prudent course of action?
>
> 2. I saw a 35mm Summaron on ebay.  It has the attached magnifiers which
> fit over the body of the camera.  Is this extra piece removable so that
> I can use just the lens?  What effect do these magnifiers have on the M6?