Does Leica need money? (M8 horror)

R

reinierv

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Last summer I took my M8 to greenland. It took some amazing shoots in the first 5 days and I was quit happy. Then came a day it started to rain. So wisely I decided to put the M8, that was in a side-pocket on the belt of my backpack, inside the backpack, between dry cloths. When we came back to camp, it proved that some condensation was present on the camera and the camera was dead. I tried to revive it by drying it in the sun the next few days, but it remained dead. Luckely I also brought an M6 as back-up, just in case the batteries of the M8 would have run out. I had to shoot the remaining 2 weeks with the M6. A guy with the 400D and kitlens who was less carefull with his camera than I was had a smile on his face the rest of the tour
As the camera was only 8 months old I returned it to Leica when I came home, expecting waranty as other M8's survided worse treatment I read on the web. I send it together with a well cared for, always filter mounted 50mm summy to have it coded.
To my ashtonisment Leica came back to me: M8: waterdamage, cost 3340euro, yes your read correctly 3340euro. My god, that is almost the price of a new one. What will they do, just screw the serial number on another body and take a big profit??? I had some mail conversation with them, but got only 1 short mail. We see waterdamage (some pictures attached of 2 components with green corrosion on them), we have no weatherseals, so no waranty. After that no more responses. Even the importer (transcontinenta) was stunned by a) the price quote and b) the attitude of Leica in this case.
Accoridng to Leica the summy was havily used with severe wear on the glass, over 500 euro's of cost. I had an expert look at it and he told me that beside some paint wear the summi was in great condition.
Fortunaly I was insured and they paid for the camera. But they are so anoyed by Leica that anyone in the Netherlands now wanting to insure an M8 can not cover it for waterdamage as they are "fed up with the way Leica expects us to clean up their mess". Now what is going on here. Does Leica need money fast? Over the backs of their existing users? Did the S2 development cost too much? I don't know but it is not what I expected from a reputed company

I'm love RF photogrtaphy, too bad Nikon's RF did not come at the Kina as rumours said. But I sure will not buy a new M8, maybe a used one.
 
i never expect any digital device to survive in rain. I have taken my cameras out in thunderstorms but I always cover them in big clear ziplock bags with a hole cut in it for the lens to poke out and some rubber bands.(clear so that I can still focus with the RF patch), but I would never expect a warranty to cover something the camera wasn't designed for.
 
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correct, it proved to be 2810 ex tax (19%)

and will post it every where I can...Actually the leica forum is the only one which was ofcourse not completely sympathatic...what do you expect in the house of the lion

But even there there is sympathy

And even there they are suprised Leica did not respond as could be expected. Other M8's are treated far worse than mine and survived so the conclusion is justified that mine had a problem.

a 4K pro camera, intened for street (read outdoor) use, should be able to withstand this. This was not severe conditions. On dpreview there is an interview with Leica representatives that state that Leica has high-quality product that can deal with bad conditions.

I had a cynical laugh...
 
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If nothing else, this thread should emphasize just how important having equipment insurance really is. In today's world, every business is trying to save money some how and in any way and will often times find ways to bypass the warranty and make some extra money (i'm saying this about all companies, not attacking leica)
 
tmfabian said:
i never expect any digital device to survive in rain. I have taken my cameras out in thunderstorms but I always cover them in big clear ziplock bags with a hole cut in it for the lens to poke out and some rubber bands.(clear so that I can still focus with the RF patch), but I would never expect a warranty to cover something the camera wasn't designed for.
Click to expand...

You guys should meet the olympus E-3.


e3_blog_540x434.jpg








Mine showers with me.
 
Not all of us visit every forum. Just because it's old news to you doesn't mean the rest of us are aware of it.

No excuses for a camera this expensive to be so utterly vulnerable to the elements. :(
 
Keith said:
I remember seeing footage of a Nikon D something or other being run under a tap to get salt water off it! :p

Actually when you look at how simple a design the M series are it wouldn't have been so hard to weather seal the M8?
Click to expand...

it really shouldn't have been. And why the deuce didn't they think to offer weather sealing of electronics to the upgrade package...that's far more useful than some lousy vulcanite covering upgrade.
 
If that was me Id be totally PISSED.Big dollars spent on an camera like this. Should it be kept in a glass case?I think not.Leica should be more helpful.Do they want to drive their market down even farther with this kind of behavior.
 
didn't they fire Steven K. Lee because of the horrendous f*%^-up the M8 was? No weather sealing, no internal IR filter, ridiculous price tag for something the big boys at canon and nikon could do with weather sealing for less than half the price.

They've screwed the pooch. Late getting on the digital band wagon, not putting out a system camera until the DMC L-1 and soon after the M8, poor ISO performance, lenses priced way out of the market. And now they're going to release the S2 and expect people shooting Blads and Mamiyas to go for it?

Yeah they need money big time, if the S2 fails, I think that will be it for leica.....
 
Like many of the others here, I do not traverse or lurk on other sites. I'm very happy to see the post here as I would never have know what a special company Leica has become.

To answer the question, yes they do need the money. These days who doesn't.

I am very sad to see that Leica responded to him after he purchased their flagship. It does show the complexity that is digital cameras these days.

Perhaps the 8.6 will have reasonable weather seals?!?

Thanks for the post and I hope Leica gets their head screwed on straight soon. While I have moved away from Leicas, IMHO another nail in the coffin.

B2 (;->
 
Your story does not seem to be as simple as you told it. I doubt condensation could have caused this. I have been in plenty of sub freezing taxi cabs in Thailand and then step out into hot and humid streets I can see and feel condensations all over my gear. Sometimes I am prepared and have them in plastic bags but on many occasions I simply don't. Unless the guts in the camera also experience rapid temperature change which in my experience really do not at least not in the circumstances you described the wetness is only superficial.

But how difficult is it to have the most rudimentary weather sealing on the M8?
 
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I do most of my camera forum browsing here, so its the first time for me to hear of this. If it was me, I'd be pissed off and plenty motivated to spread my story all over the internet as well. Assuming the OP is telling us the whole truth of course ...
 
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