Leica M cost of ownership ?

Don't get a CLA just for the sake of getting one. If the camera is working smoothly, shutter speeds are fine, etc. save your monery and buy more film

PS I bought my M6 new in 1988 - it's never had a CLA and it works just fine - I use a lot of slide fim with it so that would indciate problems.
 
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Under the conditions that you state I guess every forty years. But, let us be conservative and say every 20 years. Run a roll or two throught it. If it looks good then keep shooting. On most mechanical cameras that have had modest unprofessional use all that goes is the light seals. Now, on cameras with more complicated electronics the meter may go off. I had an F4 that had bleeding in the view finder. Right now just enjoy.
 
Stefan,

Remphoto is right, with Leicas the more you consistently use them the better they like it. If you leave them sit for a couple of years the shutter speeds go off a bit. I had one go slow on the slow speeds and another go slow on the fast speed. Other than that no issues ever.

Do budget in your initial purchase a CLA from someone you trust just in case. Being on this side of the Pond I would recommend Sherry or DAG if you were here. Not sure who on that side.

Another approach to getting the speeds accurate again is to annoy your family during an evening in front of the TV. Start a one end of the scale and shoot 100 frames dry fire (no film) then change to the next. Do this on every speed top to bottom 10 time (1000 frames each speed). This will loosen up the grease inside which is where the problem is most time. I found a rapidwinder quite handy for doing this but not required.

B2 (;->
 
Back in the day, you could go into a good camera shop and they would have a number of used M bodies. If you happened to be friendly with the shop's Leica expert, you would receive advice on which of the bodies had the cleanest sounding shutter and other subtleties that only an expert would catch. That's how I bought my M4-2 and later an M6 Classic (thanks Abdi at Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus). Unfortunately, I know of no current camera shops within a 100 mile radius which stocks any Leica equipment, new or used.

As to the need to service mechanical cameras, as much as I love the Canon FD system, I've had to do a number of repairs over the years as the cameras aged (10+ years) including film door light seals, loose eyelets, mirror squeaks and battery doors.
 
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Stelios said:
Bought my beloved M6 in 07, take good care of her (ie shooting in rain, shooting in heat, dropped it on the pavement a couple of times, had the occasional knock on doors while transfered on my shoulder) and so far works flaulessly (touches wood). My only problem was when I tried to open a beer bottle with it. I failed 🙁
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Been some talk on APUG lately about the beer bottle opening module on the M6 failing more often/quickly than the less useful photo capture module. I was interested in buying an M6 until I saw that thread. Saved me a bundle.
 
pagpow said:
Been some talk on APUG lately about the beer bottle opening module on the M6 failing more often/quickly than the less useful photo capture module. I was interested in buying an M6 until I saw that thread. Saved me a bundle.
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LOL, if you own an M6 and a Canon F1, you will never need to buy another hammer. The M works fine for small nails and the F1 will drive spikes!😀
 
If you have to worry, don`t buy one.

A cla every ten years. My new M4-2, M4-P, and two M6`s have never had a cla, all bought new.

All the M2`s and M3`s were significantly more trouble but were all used. Every one required a cla
 
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