[Leica] Leica can't find the fault!

["Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>]

I recently shipped my M6 back to Leica UK because of an intermittent
problem with the meter - the LEDs were staying lit for about 10
seconds after the photo was taken, and would re-light if I pressed on
the release. This sounds like the switch which is intended to turn off
the meter when the shutter is fired is not working correctly.

Leica UK tells me that the camera has been on test for more than a
week, and has been re-tested by the head of the service department,
and has behaved perfectly. They now propose to return the camera to
me.

I'm not sure what to do now - I'm the editor of a magazine, and often
have to take my own photos (in my field the days when the travel
budget could stretch to sending a writer and a photographer are over).
Until recently I've always used my own cameras on assignment, but the
youngest of these is some 25 years old, one I use quite often is 40
years old, and two others are pre-war.  However over the last decade,
several employers have criticised me for doing this - one even
described my M2 as a "Russian clunker"!.

Worried that one day I'd be left explaining to my publishing director
that no I didn't get the pictures, and yes, I went on an assignment
with a camera which he regards as an antique, I opted to get a
Wetzlar-era M6 which could still form part of my collection, but which
would be a "modern" camera for work use. (I can't afford to support
two camera "families" - one for show and one for use - so the
equipment I buy is chosen to fulfil both roles.)

At the moment the meter problem is simply a minor inconvenience which
I could live with, but what what worries me is that the meter may one
day fail by refusing to turn on, and I'll be left explaining to my
publishing director that no I didn't get the pictures, and yes, I went
on an assignment with a camera which I knew to have an intermittent
fault...

Has anyone else been the position of having a camera with a fault the
manufacturer couldn't find? If so, how did you resolve the problem?

In the short term I could use the M6 rather than my classics for
leisure photography, and either a classic or the M6+external meter for
work (in the hope that the fault will finally re-appear so that it can
be diagnosed). In practice however, I suspect I'd tend to use one of
the classics (since I know they are reliable), and the M6 would become
an expensive paperweight on my desk and used only for "happy snaps".

Of course I could always live dangerously and use my 1936 Contax II
for work ...

Regards,

Doug Richardson