Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/12/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan, This is the only thing that has held me back in buying (or attempting to buy) a Leica M9, the fact that the closest service centre is probably Singapore! All the other major manufacturers have authorised service centres in Chennai, and the MF guys in Mumbai, which is not too bad. For digital, especially in the first year, I think you need a service centre which is accessable relatively easily. I live in an extremely humid & dusty environment, in a seaside town, so I am very particular about cleaning my equipment after every outing, and storing all bodies & lenses in humidity controlled cabinets - mainly to avoid fungus, but also corrosion. Cheers Jayanand On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu>wrote: > I love my M8, and I am sure I will love my M9 even more when I buy one > sometime in 2011 when the price has fallen to my level. > > But I must also say that "they don't build them like they used to" and that > Leica service does not match the premium price charged for the equipment, > at > least in my experience. > > Some of you may remember that I sent my M8 to Solms about 3 weeks ago > because the main switch had become very hard to turn. Today, I received the > repair estimate by e-mail. Leica's diagnosis is: > > "The main switch sticks and is corroded due to penetration of a sticky > liquid. Below the top cover the housing is also corroded. Electronic parts > seem to be O.K" > > They then offer to repair it for ? 267.30. > > What's wrong with this picture? > > Firstly, I know for a fact that during the 1 year I have had this M8, I > have not spilled any "sticky" or other liquid on it. The only liquid I can > think of is...sweat. It gets hot in Alicante in the summer, and it has > probably happened that a drop of sweat would fall from my face down onto > the > camera around my neck. And presumably the air in Alicante has a high salt > content since we are at the shore of the Mediterranean which has a high > salt > content. But still--does this mean that a camera renowned for its > ruggedness > in the hands of photojournalists is now too fragile to be used in a > moderately hot, seaside location?? > > Secondly, in offering me their estimate, Leica overlooked that I bought the > camera with the 2-year Passport warranty, so regardless of liquid or not, > this should be fixed for free. Or have I misunderstood what Passport means? > > Cheers, > A frustrated Nathan > > > Nathan Wajsman > Alicante, Spain > http://www.frozenlight.eu > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.nathanfoto.com > > Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >