Re: [Leica] Leica can't find the fault!

["Bryan Caldwell" <bcaldwell@softcom.net>]

Doug,

If I might make one more suggestion . . .

I too have a 40 year old M2. About a month ago I sent it off to Sherry
Krauter at Golden Touch Camera Repair (Sherry often posts here). For a very
reasonable price, she gave it a complete tune-up and cleaning and replaced
the old, worn, brass strap lugs with newer and stronger steel ones.

The camera I received back is every bit as solid and dependable as my 2 M6
bodies and I wouldn't hesitate to use it under any conditions. I'm sure that
others will second my recommendation - Sherry does terrific work.

Bryan


- ----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Richardson <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 1999 10:08 AM
Subject: [Leica] Leica can't find the fault!


> 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
>
>
>