Re: [Leica] M3 CLA

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Hi, MikeH....r.e. your $65 adjustment...first, I think it's fair
today....now one could say that IF it required only infinity adjustment,
truly, and NO vertical adjustment, it was a 5 minute job, external 
to the camera...   BUT:

In l980 I worked in a shop.  We had a $48.50 minimum.....shops 
HAVE to have a minimum....if your battery was dead, it was $48.50.
If your camera locked up because you didn't know there was film 
in it, it was $48.50....period....however, for $48.50, you got 
an exterior and film chamber cleaning, lens cleaning, shutter 
check and curtain travel time adjustment, meter check (if any), 
etc....about 20-30 minutes, regardless.  It's these minimums that 
allow a shop to stay in business....now here comes the flame 
bait!!!!   If shops did these adjustments for free, or for $5,
Leica owners (as well as SOME others) would line up outside the 
door every other day with a "problem"....I've seen it!  We had 
"regulars" that "needed" something every few days (scratched 
hot shoes replaced, speck of dust removed from lens, you get the 
picture)

I'd rather do six of the $48 repairs (now $65-75, I guess) than 
ONE shutter curtain job (3+ hours, $40 parts, $150 job then, now 
probably $225)

Of course, if your M6 (or M4P) needed vertical adjustment, $65 was 
VERY reasonable.....and I assume you got all the requesite "exit"
tests (no one in their right mind would send a camera out without 
checking the shutter and auto diaphragm-SLR only, of course)

My hat is off to those who stuck with camera repair....I don't have the 
patience with either the gear or the "problem" customer (about 10%, 
as I recall)  I don't think you could have any service done to 
ANYTHING much cheaper (even a tune up on my 4-cyl Nissan is more 
than that) and I'm glad you were happy.....to some, an infinity 
adjustment (ONLY!) on an M for $65 would be highway robbery, but 
ask them what they do for a living and how much they charge for 
an office visit!  Or to answer a couple of legal or tax questions...

Walt

On
Thu, 25
Feb 1999, Michael Hailey wrote:

> Dick Baznik,
> I didn't catch your original post about your focusing problem but just
> saw Walter's response.  I recently had a similar problem with an M6 in
> that the rangefinder would not focus at infinity.  I took it to a local
> shop,(Camera Repair Center, Ft. Worth, TX), for repair.  It required
> some viewfinder adjustment only.  I took it in last Monday, got it back
> the next day, and the cost was 65 dollars.  Don't know if that is
> reasonable for what was done or not, but I was completely satisfied. 
> Shot three rolls to test it and it's working perfectly.
> Regards,
> MikeH
>