Re: [Leica] More lens trouble

[Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>]

>    You may recall that I had a six month old 50 summicron lens to
>malfunction...
>[snip]
>What the hell is going on here???
>[snip]
>I'm very concerned. I bought this stuff with the idea its going to
>outlive me...
>[snip]
>I've shot Nikon since the mid eighties, owned lots of their stuff all the
>way through
>their current AF offerings and never, ever had anything new (less than 5
>years old) to fail. Since I am fairly new to Leica, please tell me, is this
>type of thing common or am I experiencing a run of bad luck?


rdd5tk,

if the type of thing you're describing were common, i suppose leica would
have gone out of business long ago. while defects like these are the
exception, not the rule, equipment failure does occur and there are many
posts in the archives that echo your experience. (you may want to consult
them.)

the common themes in these threads can be seen in the quoted passages above:

- - my new leica stuff broke!
- - why? isn't leica supposed to be infallible?
- - i didn't pay all that money for this.
- - my [other brand] gear never let me down.

the implied meaning is invariably: 'i paid a hell of a lot of money for
this stuff, and for that price, it should work perfectly! what a ripoff! i
should never have stopped using brand x!

i admit that i'm not sure why folks post such stuff to the lug. i guess
it's a call for sympathy, a vent for anger, etc. i'm sorry to say that -
having been around long enough to remember many such posts - to me it
always ends up sounding like griping and whining. maybe i've grown
insensitive.

i nevertheless offer the following thoughts on the above:

- - imo, you are indeed experiencing a run of bad luck - for every message in
the archives complaining of faulty equipment, there are hundreds describing
how great leica gear works and has worked for the past 60-70 years.

- - banging your lens on the table to loosen up the aperture ring was a
foolhardy gesture at best (and might have invalidated the warantee), and
perhaps exacerbated the problem. did you also bang the 28 against a table
in an effort to 'repair' it as well?

- - get after leica about those breakdowns - maybe they'll do something nice
for you (you never know).

- - switch back to nikon, if you really are dissatisfied with your leica gear.

guy