[Leica] Re: M6 correction lens - K&S

[Jim Brick <jim_brick@agilent.com>]

Well... the folks at Keeble & Shuchat are the best. I have had a commercial 
account with them for 25 years, spent literally hundreds of thousands of 
dollars - easily close to .5 mil - and have had the best and most honest 
advice I have had anywhere else. And I have purchased plenty from mail 
order, specifically Calumet and B&H. Calumet has it all over B&H for ease 
and customer service. But K&S makes both look pale.

That said, there is one old Swiss guy at K&S that should be avoided at all 
cost. Walt. Has a strong Swiss/German accent. Will tell you what you need 
and what you should do even though he has no clue. He is like a fixture 
around there and sells a ton of expensive P&S cameras. But don't do 
business with him. He is fun to watch however.

For Leica stuff you should deal with Jeff Alford, THE K&S Leica expert, 
genuine nice guy, and the host for Brian Reid's "thank you" fund. When you 
go in for Leica, just ask for Jeff. But not on Friday, his day off. And ask 
for the discount. They will always come close to B&H or Calumet. It's very 
simple.

For professional products (across the street - MF & LF) see Tim Schell or 
Ernie Visconti. They know their stuff and will always spend the time 
discussing your needs and help you work out problems. For digital (same 
location) see Don or James.

For darkroom products, see Kelic, Eddie, or Ernie. All great folks.

Like anywhere, there are great folks, mediocre folks, and downright crappy 
folks. It cannot be avoided. So it is best to know who you are dealing with 
from the get go.

But the best advice is, don't try to do business with an attitude. Attitude 
tells a clerk that you are going to be a problem and he/she simply will 
close all doors. You will not get the benefit of the doubt on anything.

Since you seem to have such a problem with K&S, I'll meet you there and 
introduce you to the owner, Terry Shuchat, the general manager John 
Clifton, their used camera guru Paul Wood (has had photo spreads in Leica 
Fotografie) and all of the other fine staff that inhabit the place.

Just tell me when you want to meet.

Jim


At 03:30 PM 8/14/01 -0700, Herbert & Lee Kanner wrote:
>I have a slight argument to make with regard to "take your correction and 
>subtract -.5 from it."  The argument goes this way: if I am comfortable 
>looking through the unmodified M6 viewfinder while wearing my glasses, 
>then I should be equally comfortable with a correction lens of the same 
>strength as my glasses.
>
>When I was buying a correction lens at Keeble and Shuchat (a mistake, I 
>might add.  They charged me $99.  The B & H price, I discovered too late, 
>is $72.), I simply looked at the distant scene through my glasses and 
>rapidly switched between my glasses and the correction lens to see if the 
>eye accommodation seemed to be the same.  The clerk objected, saying that 
>the lens had to be screwed into the camera.  He was so insistent that I 
>had to shut him up by telling him that I'm a physicist and know a wee bit 
>about optics.
>
>Change of subject:  The same clerk made me exchange two 3 volt lithium 
>batteris for four 1.5 volt silver oxide batteries.  They were intended for 
>the M6 and a Nikon FE2.  This guy insisted that the Li batteries were 
>wrong for both cameras.  I subsequently phoned Leica and was told that the 
>Li was preferred because of long shelf life.  I then phoned Nikon and was 
>told that they were both ok, totally interchangeable.  So much for the 
>wise guys at K & S.
>
>Herb
>--
>Herbert Kanner
>kanner@acm.org
>650-326-8204