30 days, 5 rolls, off to the repair shop

[Charlie]

New ZI lasted exactly 30 days and around 5 rolls of film. Now it's off to Tony at PopPhoto (good thing I saved his original packing box with the airbags). Was rewinding a roll of 800 film yesterday when the rewind crank with a spring-like device came off in my hand. Sh*t happens, but I expected more from this camera. I can only hope it's not indicative of things to come.

Regards,

Charlie
Disappointed Consumer 😡

 

[back alley]

ouch!!

joe

 

[raid]

There is simply no way that anyone can produce a camera of extremely high quality plus a line of excellent lenses and then ask for less money. When getting some of the new camera bodies, it should be taken into account that they cannot and should not be compared to the Leitz bodies or older Canon or Nikon bodies.

 

[back alley]

so who was comparing?

 

[Silva Lining]

Hmm, I know all to well that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when the new item you have bought doesn't work or breaks, its gutting.

Hopefully it'll get fixed up soon Charlie!

Whatever about comapring to a Leica or Canon etc. -The ZI is not a cheap piece of equipment -No camera rewind crank, not even a Holga, should fail after such limited use.

 

[ZeissFan]

Without doing the same to my camera, the rewind crank is made to unthread. If you insert a small block into the forks inside the camera and twist sharply in the opposite direction of the film rewinding action, all rewind cranks will come off.

It's possible that the rewind crank is simply unthreaded from its post. I'm not saying that this is the case here -- only that it's a possibility. And if that's what has happened, then I would simply put it back on and tighten it as much as reasonably possible.

With the Zeiss Ikon, the very real possibility of rewinding the film in the wrong direction could actually loosen the rewind crank if it wasn't tightened securely during assembly.

 

[Trius]

Naturally reports at random do not tell the entire story. But three RF members have had problems with the ZI: First Mike Elek, then Joe, now Charlie. That's pretty disturbing to me, especially since I really want this camera to succeed, want it to be reliable, etc., so that if I decide to dive back into the M mount world, I'll have another choice. This is frustrating.

 

[back alley]

my zi has been fine since i got the second body.
it has been traveling back and forth to work everyday in the domke 5xb bag.
it gets thrown onto the passenger seat from the driver's side door.

no problems shooting or changing lenses, meter is fine.

joe

 

[Huck Finn]

Naturally reports at random do not tell the entire story. But three RF members have had problems with the ZI: First Mike Elek, then Joe, now Charlie. That's pretty disturbing to me, especially since I really want this camera to succeed, want it to be reliable, etc., so that if I decide to dive back into the M mount world, I'll have another choice. This is frustrating.

Trius, 3 problems is not a high number. Go over to the forum at www.leica-camera.com & you'll read all kinds of problems with brand new Leica M7's & others. Same is true with Nikons, Canons, etc. Stuff happens, which is why companies sell their cameras with warrantees. Same thing for new cars & almost any kind of new equipment you can think of.

 

[Charlie]

Mike,

I never rewound the film in the wrong direction and I did try screwing the crank back on myself but with no luck. It wouldn't engage the threads and I couldn't figure how the spring device went back on the unit. Also, I'm not entirely sure some parts are not missing. I didn't want to add to the problem so I just sent it back. As luck would have it, I was only a couple of blocks from my neighborhood camera store. They were able to remove the film from the canister so I didn't lose the images. Of course, the canister is still in the camera. I really like the ZI. For someone who wears glasses like me, it is much easier to focus than my m6 and the 28 lens is outstanding. Hope it comes back and soon and is trouble-free but I have to say the honeymoon is over.

Regards,

Charlie

 

[peter_n]

The camera is new. It will have bugs. It happens with most consumer goods including really expensive things like cars as Huck points out. It is the way of things these days. When the digital M8 comes out in the fall you won't have to wait too long for the wailing and the gnashing of teeth...

 

[sdai]

Does anybody know how many ZI have been sold in America? 😉

 

[Huck Finn]

There have been reports of thousands sold world wide. My guess is that a significant chunk of that is in the states since Zeiss has identified this as one of its primary markets.

 

[jano]

Ouch.. that's really weird problem.

I've had the ZI since November last year, so far so good. I've run about two dozen rolls through the camera since the beginning. *shrug*

This is a great camera, however, it is one of those I would highly recommend one to first try handling before buying it.

 

[jan normandale]

I once had a camera that was new outta the box. Had to take it in 3 , count 'em , 3 times! Last trip I was demanding a new camera. The sales rep asked me 'just try it when it's fixed and back to you. If it gives you a problem again come in and we'll work it out'..... needless to say I've got the camera 20 years later and it's never been a problem since. It was a Pentax.

Here's hoping this is your last.

 

[Trius]

I know 3 is not a high number. And I know it's not a definitive sampling, yada, yada. All I was saying was that of the owners on RF, it seemed high. Yeah, we don't know how many have been shipped worldwide or to the U.S., but we also don't know how many have developed problems.

Like I said, I'm hoping the camera is a success, hence I'm hoping the number of issues are within a normal statistical range for a new product launch.

 

[willie_901]

number of units

number of units

I can't find the link now , but a photo/image business article I read last week said Zeiss reported in March that 3,500 cameras have shipped world wide and that prodiction was sold out for the short-term (months). A photographer in Japan on FLICKR told me he had to wait about a month to get his new ZI body.

willie

 

[Bertram2]

There is simply no way that anyone can produce a camera of extremely high quality plus a line of excellent lenses and then ask for less money. When getting some of the new camera bodies, it should be taken into account that they cannot and should not be compared to the Leitz bodies or older Canon or Nikon bodies.

A detachable rewind crank that has come off as a proof that you can't build a real quality product for less money than a M7 costs ?? That isn't really meant serious, I suppose ? 🙄

The Leica price does not only come from quality.
A considerable part comes from beeing produced at the wrong place, and another part comes from antiquated design and material produced in obsolete production processes.
Like a Porsche 356 built new nowadays in Zuffenhausen with the process and material of 1955.
This has absolutely nothing to do with an "extremely high quality", not necessarily. As all the trouble shows, which some had with their M6 and especially later with their M7 bodies and with some lenses too.

bertram

 

[ch1]

I don't think that the fact that three problems have been report here is statistically significant. After all this IS a RF site - so it's a likely place for someone to report a problem or seek advice etc.

More than likely what is the case are "early teething problems" of a camera model that (hopefully) will be around for a number of years. Reports like these are important to the manufacturer so they can determine if it is a "one off" or a production system problem.

So long as they honor the warranty - I would "keep the faith". In a lot of ways you are a pioneer when you are one of the first to buy a newly introduced piece of gear. That has downsides as well as ups....

 

[John Robertson]

NO camera make is totally free from faults, but its still crap when it happens to you!!
And before the Wetzlahr crowd start, the exact same thing happened many years ago to my Leica M5, and after working in a camera shop every Saturday for many years, the angled rewind on the M4 also caused quite a few problems. The main thing is how quickly and successfully the fault is fixed, no camera is any good if there isn't a decent back-up by the agents. And don't even mention the Leica Minilux which I bought new to celebrate my retirement. Shutter failed three times, (a known fault sir!! ) it now lies useless in a drawer as Leica want £250 to repair it again!!! I've seen just about every make returned after a few films for replacement/repair.
What will be more interesting will be how quick Charlies camera is returned successfully repaired.
Incidentally the "free" Swiss Army watch I got with the Minilux is still performing faultlessly 🙄