[Leica] Leica initial quality story

["Jim Laurel" <JimLaurel@earthlink.net>]

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to purchase a new Leica for my wife as an
anniversary/birthday present.  It was to be given to her during our
vacation, so I wanted to make sure it was tested and in good order before
leaving.

I went down to Glazers Camera Supply here in Seattle, and Russ Sherrel
prompltly produced a shiny new chrome M6 TTL along with a Summicron 35 ASPH.
As I have had several initial quality problems with past new M6 cameras (one
with a vertical misalignment, another with a 1/1000 shutter bounce), I made
it a point to check the camera thoroughly.

The first body I checked had a terrible vertical misliangment problem.  It
would be possible to focus, but the coincident images did not lineup
precisely.  Russ agreed and opened up a new box.  Second body would not show
the coincident images matched perfectly when the lens was focused at
infinity.  I had my "known good" M6s with me, along with lenses, so I was
able to eliminate lenses as a possibility for this problem.

Russ opened a 3rd box.  Finally, I had found a body with no vertical
misalignment and was aligned properly at infinity.

I don't understand what Leica is thinking.  The foundation of thier pitch to
customers is high precision and quality.  Yet, on a single day, I found two
clearly defective bodies sitting on a dealer shelf.  Some people may not
notice the defects, but they were obvious to me (20/10 vision uncorrected).
My first M6 .85 purchased 2 years ago had a shutter bounce at 1/1000, and
the second had a vertical misalignment.  A pretty poor record for one guy in
just 5 years.  Thankfully, my dealer is very supportive, but it is
disturbing to see such poor quality control.

- --Jim Laurel