[Leica] Canon repair

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Henning writes:
"I haven't ever seen an instant Canon repair, and then they've never
gotten it right the first time either. So in the end, it seems to
take as long as a Leica repair, with scant signs of it having been
done well.'

- - - - -

I confess to being a Canon fan. I used Canon lenses on my Barnack Leicas in
preference to all Leica lenses but the 50 mm Summicron. During the 60s I
used them, with adapters, on my M series cameras too. The Canon 35 mm f2.8
wide angle was better than the Summaron. The best short telephoto on the
market through the 70s was the Canon 100 mm f3.5. I still use this as part
of my CL kit. I photographed innumerable soccer games with the Canon 135 mm
f3.5. I even had a Canon 50 mm f1.2 lens which served adequately for low
light pictures if you didn't insist on needle sharpness. My favorite digital
P&S cameras are Canons, primarily because many of them still include an
optical viewfinder.

But Henning is perfectly right about Canon's repair policy. They simply will
not repair any camera older than 10 years claiming unavailability of parts.
If you send in an older camera you will get a friendly rejection letter and
a discount voucher for a newer camera. The discount is off list price and
lets you buy a camera from a Canon dealer at about the same price that you
would pay at a big box store. Leica NJ will repair most older M cameras but
stopped repairing Barnack cameras some years ago.

Larry Z