CLA Cost- Extreme pricing differences

brightsky

brightsky

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A post by Solares in the Meter thread caught my attention. Youxin apparently will perform a CLA for $80. DAG charges about $290, and from vague memory I believe Sherry Krauter charges somewhere in between.

The disparity in prices has to be more than just the cost of time. Does anyone know exactly what work is performed as part of a CLA by each that would account for the extreme pricing differences?

Is Youxin also considered a good repair person, or just generally for routine CLA with no repair to broken cameras?

I'm really curious.

TIA
 
Well..
I've never used any of those folks - I've been very lucky in the CLA department and as such never required one per se; however, I do know DAG and Sherry Krauter's names are highly respected and as such their work can be trusted to the best of my knowledge.

I've never heard of "Youxin" - so that alone would tell me the reason for the difference in prices (maybe not by hundreds of dollars but word of mouth and experience does go a long way).

Cheers
Dave
 
I have only used DAG and was extreamly pleased with the work and customer service. I'll stick with him for any work I'd need on these types of cameras.

William
 
There's also the 'what's included' thing. Maybe some of them will replace any worn screw/part they find while doing their way on the CLA, some others won't ¿?

Reputation goes a long way too, I met some very good repairmans who did a wonderful job with anything you brought them, but alas, they were 'nobody'.

And that was regarding Minolta mechanical SLRs, so it's of little importance here 😛
 
when some people say "CLA"...they mean just that. cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment. if your camera is fairly clean, lubed as it needs to be, and adjusted pretty much right...not much needs to be done. you will find people doing the bare minimum, and sending the camera out the door. other people (generally those that charge more) will actually perform an overhaul. stripping it all done, cleaning everything, and building it back right. regardless of the condition it is sent in. there is no standard, and so one person's CLA is a 15 minute job, while anothers is actually an overhaul. so just be sure to ask what you are getting for your money exactly.
 
man..i typed too slow 🙂

also wanted to mention that i use DAG for everything, and he has been great time and again. you only pay what you *need* too. if you send him a camera, and it REALLY doesn't need an overhaul, he'll tell you as much, and recommend the cheaper service. he's not trying to gouge you at all (ie: he's very conscientious), and he's great at what he does. geez...i sound like an advertisement or something.

i'm actually expecting a lens i had overhauled by him back in the mail today!
 
I used Sherry for my M3 CLA, and recently she did the same on My 90mm Elmar. Both were pricey ~310 and ~96 respectively. I did need (or at least asked for new screws and the M3 was missing the shiney metal piece around the flash port. Everything worked on the M3 except there was major corrosion on the rewind, which was imparing my film advancement. She reccommended a CLA.
I think i would have been fine just fixing the corrosion, but she would not guarantee her work unless I did the whole thing. Now at least I know the camera is solid for years. The lens needed dire help, and is now like new. My cousin uses DAG and swears by him as it seems all of his other customers do.
 
Dave, do you use Kindermann's in Markham ON? For a complete overhaul and DS to SS conversion (had to make both cameras the same, kept trying to double-cock the M6) I paid $327cdn labour + $17 parts, total $344cdn ($290us). Because it hadn't been done in 15 years I told him to give it the complete overhaul, and it was immaculate when I got it back; the VF seemed almost as bright as the M6's. It took about 6 weeks, but that's because of the SS parts that had to be ordered. He told me a CLA on my M6 would only take a couple of weeks as long as it only needed a CLA, and wouldn't give me a firm price until he had a chance to check the camera out.
He charged me $85cdn ($72us) for a complete CLA of my M4 meter...a bit steep, but since I use it, it had to be done.
I was very happy with all his work, and although not the cheapest deal around, I'll certainly use them again.
You gets what you pays for.....
Mike
 
yeah, that's for sure! Roger at Camtech in Hamilton is very reasonable for lenses ETC also....does a great job, and could do a CLA on an M camera, but for the conversion to SS I was advised to go to the best in Canada, and Gerry's the man.
From what I understand he's done pretty well for someone who showed up in Canada after WWII with not much more than a bunch of Leica shutter cloth in his pocket.....
 
I've not used anyone as of yet.
The first guy I'm going to try is David Yau in Scarborough - easy to get to for me and I've heard good things about him plus he'll not only do Leica but Hasselblad too 🙂

Dave
 
Brian Sweeney said:
Is Youxin still taking on work? He dropped out of sight for a while, I'd like to know if he is back!
Click to expand...


I corresponded with Youxin earlier this week and I'm sending a box of stuff to him.
Can't wait to get it back..I've read only good things about his work.
Sherry has also worked on my cameras and she's great as well.
A little more costly, but worth it.
 
Youxin is the best

Youxin is the best

I've used him for several repairs and CLAs.

He's great. He's honest as the summer day is long. He works very fast and is very good. He once did a shutter repair for me on the spot. I had the camera back within 25 minutes. The price was right, too.

DAG and Sherry are very well known among the Leica set and so have this mystique that they are the only ones who can work on them. That mystique also allows them to charge rather exhorbitant rates for straightforward work.

Fact is that Leicas are very simple to take apart and fix. Youxin showed me!

So if I were you, I would save the money and save time.

Youxin did leave town for a stretch because of a business deal, but he's back home in Canton, MA. He is taking work in, for sure.

My only complaint is that he only repairs Leicas and doesn't work on Canon RFs or any other cameras.
 
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