Comment on Leica Quality

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whitecat

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I have had well over 200 cameras in my life. (Lost count). I now have perhaps 25 - 30. I bought many of them new including an M6, M6TTL, and M7.

I have returned 3 cameras in my life back to the manufacturer for problems- an M6, M6TTL, and M7.

?????
 
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You are very lucky if only 3 out of your 200 cameras ever failed on you :)
 
If those three are the three most used, I don't see the problem.
And if those Leica's are still around, there must be a good reason.
What was the problem on the Leicas?
 
Probably it says more about you than the cameras. :)

Did you drop them repeatedly? Or never maintained them properly?
 
Leica's have always been great to use as weapons - if robbed - Crocadile Dundee, (tin of beans), style
Seriously - which cameras have you used the most?

Most of the modern electronic stuff is just not cost effective to repair - they become shelf objects
 
whitecat said:
I have had well over 200 cameras in my life. (Lost count). I now have perhaps 25 - 30. I bought many of them new including an M6, M6TTL, and M7.

I have returned 3 cameras in my life back to the manufacturer for problems- an M6, M6TTL, and M7.

?????
Click to expand...

Leicas quality has seriously dropped since the late 70's. I've used Leica M's professionally since 1968 and shot a couple thousand rolls a year in the early days and only had one repair other than alignments of the RF. The one repair was a self timer spring on a 1955 M3. In later years with newer generation equipment I've had three lenses develope serious mechanical issues with the focusing helix. Even one of my new a la carte MP's came with a loose ISO dial. It's a known fact that leica cut quality when their financial problems started. Starting with the M4-2 cheaper materials were used internally and later cameras had a less refined poorer quality RF. If you need proof of Leicas QC and current design standards just look at the M8.

Fortunately I've had no major 35mm body repairs other than Leicaflex SL's that I owned in the 70's. My Nikon's have stood the test of time with little to no issues. My Canon 1DsII system has had no issues other than calibration and only one lens problem that was corrected in 3 days. This is after more than 3-1/2 years of daily heavy commercial use.

I would be interested to know what the problems you had with your cameras.
 
I'm only 4 years into Leica ownership and have three M bodies. I had a problem with my M6 which was of my own making, no problems at all (so far) with my M7 bodies. OTOH, I've had problems with all but one of the new Leica lenses I have bought.
 
I own a lot of cameras. The only brands I have had no trouble from are Horseman and Mamiya. My Horseman 45 has never had a problem (admittedly, probably because there is not much to go wrong), and my Mamiya 7II has not skipped a beat. On the other hand, cameras from Leica, Hasselblad, Rollei, Contax, Canon, Fuji and Konica have all given me trouble at one time or another. I treat my equipment well, but the fact is that if you shoot a lot and use a lot of cameras, they are going to need work every once in awhile. For what it's worth, a lot of the cameras that I have had problems with are the ones said to be pinnacles of reliability and durability -- the Leica M3, Canon F1N, Hasselblad 203FE. The one that is supposed to be fragile -- the Mamiya 7II with its plastic body and "easily knocked out rangefinder" is the one that has held up the best, with much more rigorous use too...
All that said, I don't have many sleepless nights about cameras failing. If you are in a critical situation, you should have a backup. If you don't, you are just tempting fate. As for Leicas in particular, I don't think they are inherently more reliable or less reliable than any other mechanical and semi-mechanical cameras. For me, their strength is in their design and optics, not in their supposed indestructability. In general they hold up well with use, but they are still fairly delicate instruments.
 
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I've found the axiom that in photog "not all is perfect" to be pefectly accurate.

Of the ten Leicas I've owned only my recent acquisition of a MP needed work (for excessive battery drainage). The others were lightly used, just broken in, and all worked fabulously and were only changed out for newer models.
 
the general consensus is that leicas are not all that reliable, but they are very durable and repairable. surprise!
 
Agreed.. if we don't mix the concepts of "resource/lifetime" and "mean time between failures" together it gets much easier :)
 
I have been using Leica Ms since the early 1970s...and I've owned a bunch of other cameras (dozens, maybe scores), mostly Nikons. The only two cameras I've ever had go haywire on me where no physical cause was involved were <Magus avert your eyes> two M6s. One literally developed a loose screw and locked up about two weeks after it was purchased new in 1986, the other recently fried its 1984 circuit board recently. <OK to read now, Magus> I still think very highly of the the Ms in general and the M6 in particular.

I'd also add that over the years I've received several Leica M lenses, new, that had focusing helix problems, one of which Leitz never fixed although they tried several times. Never had that happen with a Nikon lens, although I've read about problems with squeaky AF-S lenses, fwiw.
 
I've owned ten M's. I have seven of them right now. The only problem I ever had was the rangefinder going out of adjustment on an M6. So I learned to adjust it myself.
 
I agree about the price increases. And there are more to come apparently. The build quality is not that great anymore and if they are not careful Zeiss will eat their lunch. I think I've bought my last Leica lens, I'm not prepared to pay $thousands only to have to hassle replacements/repairs because of poor construction. If you pay top dollar it is not unreasonable to expect top quality.
 
I feel left out. I haven't had any problems with my M6, M3, M2, or IIf. A 50mm Summicron (latest version) got a fungus. Does that count?

Richard
 
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