Re: [Leica] marc'small's M3 - M6 explanation

["Don" <don.ro@verizon.net>]

Seth: Like, you, I, too have been using the M-3's since the 50's and
never was told about the yearly CLA's.  I think the reason we were not
told to subject the M-3's to a yearly overhaul is they were so well made
they did not need a yearly overhaul.

Today's glass may be better than yesterday's, but the metal work sucks
when compared to the E. Leitz work.

Don R.
- ----- Original Message -----
From: <SthRosner@aol.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 4:11 PM
Subject: [Leica] marc'small's M3 - M6 explanation


> Hello all:
>
> I read marc's Leitz/Leica postwar history with interest. I've been
buying and
> using Leicas since the late 1940s and from the early 1960s have been
familiar
> and friendly with the folks at E. Leitz NY from the time when they
were at
> Park Avenue South and Hudson Street in Manhattan. I also frequented
photo
> shops large and small throughout New York City. What particularly
caught my
> attention was his assertion that Leitz recommended annual CLAs of
their new
> cameras. Never heard of such a thing. I also know that the smaller
camera
> stores - which significantly outnumbered the big ones, never had a
repair man
> in-house. So I shared marc's post with several photograper friends all
of
> whom have used Leicas for many years. None had ever heard of a
suggestion by
> Leitz/Leica of a yearly CLA. One of them has just written me as
follows:
>
> **Most Leica dealers in the United States in the 50's and 60's did not
have
> an on-board repair guy. Some of the larger stores may have but Leica
> franchises included many little stores that could not afford a
separate tech
> under salary. Besides, Leitz New York had the large repair facility at
Hudson
> Street in New York City that could handle anything from a CLA to
installing
> flash synch in a IIIc. And Leitz NY needed to keep their repair
facility
> fully functioning and with a regular flow of maintenance and repair
business.
> They were really good, their service was flawless and turnaround times
quick.
> They didn't need the small shops.
>
> **And an annual CLA??? I've been in Leicas for over 40 years and never
heard
> this before. Leitz NEVER recommended annual CLA's. I think marc
sometimes
> makes a lot of this up to sound profound and wise. What is his
authority or
> evidence for such a nonsense claim? And if the build quality of the
new M6's
> is so good, why do used
> M2/3/4 cameras fetch higher prices than new M6s not only for collector
> cameras but even for users in nice condition?
>
> **The M3 is a demonstrated 50 year success story (a late LN M3 in box
> recently sold on eBay for $3,200.). During its short 17 years, the M6
has
> been and sometimes still is questioned as to its quality. Marc is
right about
> one thing, today's Leica workforce is not, all in all, as capable as
the
> Leitz workforce during the 1950s and 60s nor does it have that group's
pride
> of workmanship to the same degree.**
>
>
> Let the drums begin.
>
> Seth        LaK 9
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