Did you need your M8 M8.2 fixed under warranty?

[robklurfield]

I think the consensus on RFF is that while many of us would like other options, we are such a small population of users that it doesn't really pay for another player to get in the game what with such high R&D costs so little chance for a return.

I have yet to hear of anyone who was unable to get an M8, 8.2 or RD-1 repaired due to unavailability of parts. Jaapv seems to have some good connections through which he can get data on this, so I trust his word about those metrics he gave elsewhere in the thread. Given that you can still get parts and repairs done on nearly every film M ever made, I'm happy to have an M2, as I have some doubts myself as to how deep a stockpile of spares Leica will keep on hand. Neverthless, both my M8 and M2 might end up outlasting me. If I ever find myself with an M that can't be fixed, I'll worry about it when it happens. In the meantime, life is to short not be out their making pictures.

I used to run the repair center for one of the largest watch retailers in the world. We did thousands and thousands of repairs each year. I can only remember one watch from Patek Philippe and perhaps one or two from Rolex that were beyond repair for reasons of wear and tear (as opposed to major traumas... like being run over by a car.... I had a client whose little kid dropped a $15,000 Blancpain out the window of the client's car unbeknownst to his dad; of course dad backed over it; not much to be done there). The reason I bring this up is that in the realm of mechanical watches, these firms kep enormous backlogs of spare parts (Patek claimed to have parts going back 50 years). I suspect this is similar to what Leica did with film M's. Are they doing it with digital M's? Probably not. Does that worry me? Not enough to have stopped me from buying and enjoying M8. I'm not careless with it, but I don't treat it like a museum piece. I bought to use and that's what I do. My advice: if you want an M8 and have the money for one, buy. I don't think you'll regret. Just try to avoid one that was through a war in the desert and I think you'll be okay.

If Leica were making a shoddy, unreliable product with inherent, unrepairable defects, I am sure we'd all know about and their reputation would be shot. If that were the case, I am sure there would not be a many months long waiting list for M9's, especially when many of those on the list are M8 owners. I can't afford an M9 right now (maybe ever). If I could, I own one. The M8 was a stretch, but I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever.

Comparing Canon and Leica is very much apples to oranges. Canon is big enough that they could weather a storm caused by one bad product. Deeper pockets, more customers, very much a mass market item. Leica couldn't weather such a storm, so they have to of necessity get things right immediately. Yes, there have been some nuisance issues (the silly UV/IR filters), but they really haven't damped my enjoyment of the camera.

Rob, you are right these are kind of silly at times BUT after reading thru a few forums and seeing just how many people have issues with their M8's, I got a little scared.

I've owned a couple 5D's for years now and have followed many Canon forums and you never read of as many issues as you do with the M8.

I really really really want to own an M8 but I've never been so unsure or afraid of a purchase before. I thought I wanted an R-D1 but then you have the worry of what happens when it breaks?

We should have more options when it comes to Digital Rangefinders.

 

[LADP]

I had an unusual problem with my M8.2 early on. The photographs were not level... as in they were all dutched slightly. I know this sounds strange, and unlikely, and at first I thought I was at fault. It was easy enough to test and document, however, and I sent the evidence along with the camera back to Germany, and it came back working perfectly. I have not read of anyone else having this problem, but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. I still don't know if this was a physical issue with the sensor alignment within the camera body, or a software issue. The camera was returned fairly swiftly without any explanation as to what the cause of the problem was, but the problem was corrected, so I didn't worry about it.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I had an unusual problem with my M8.2 early on. The photographs were not level... as in they were all dutched slightly. I know this sounds strange, and unlikely, and at first I thought I was at fault. It was easy enough to test and document, however, and I sent the evidence along with the camera back to Germany, and it came back working perfectly. I have not read of anyone else having this problem, but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. I still don't know if this was a physical issue with the sensor alignment within the camera body, or a software issue. The camera was returned fairly swiftly without any explanation as to what the cause of the problem was, but the problem was corrected, so I didn't worry about it.

I had that problem with a Contax G1--the culprit was a slightly tilted viewfinder assembly.

 

[alecgold]

I've been testing a lot these days and came up with the green stripe you can see in the attachement.
It has NOT appeared under normal circumstances, so it might be regarded as pixel peeping, but I couldn't replicate it with any other digital camera I could get my hands on, be it a cheap casio, canon G7 or a canon D350.

Otherwise I'm really impressed with this body and the Leica Lenses. It gives me sharp, good looking pictures. Sometimes the WB is a bit varying but as I shoot in DNG I'm not really bothered with it.

 

[greggebhardt]

I had to vote YES as mine was DOA and returned for refund the same day it was received. I stuck with my M8 until a day ago when my M9 arrived, at last.

The vast majority of M8 units worked perfectly and we seldom hear from them, it is the "Squeeky Wheel" that get the attention.

 

[jaapv]

Hey Greg! Congratulations on your new camera, you'll love it.