[Leica] Leica service

[MPpix@aol.com]

Hello.  While I have been lurking for the last five or six months, this is my 
first post.  In January, I sent my M4-P and an M4-2 winder to Leica Camera, 
Inc. in NJ to be CLA'ed.  After the ten week estimated time passed, I called 
and was told it would be returned that week.  I received it the following 
week and added it to my everyday gear.  I noticed the rangefinder stopped at 
minimum focus yet the lens continued to turn for 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.  This 
was not a problem the camera had before I sent it in for repair, nor does my 
other M4-P behave this way.  Then while looking into the rangefinder window 
from the front of the camera I noticed two fingerprints on the inside 
elements.  So back to Leica it went and I have received notice that it will 
be eight to ten more weeks.  So the camera had been out of my use since 
mid-January and I don't expect to see it again until the end of June.  
So where should I sent my Leica gear next time?  I live in Alaska so mailing 
equipment off far distances is the norm.
Maybe the fingerprints are the new way of signifying who worked on your 
equipment and where.  Forget those little "h's" and "w's" stamped in wax.  We 
can become fingerprint connoisseurs. Just think of the collector's value to 
this one.
Sorry for the rant.  I have been a working photojournalist for the last 
twenty years and have used Leica rangefinders for the last fifteen.  I have 
been enjoying the LUG very much.

Michael Penn