M 240 CLA/Overhaul Experience?

[SaveKodak]

My 240 is working great. I have no problems with it at the moment. I've been shooting with it at weddings and I've put a few thousand shots on it, and I expect to put many more as my wedding season progresses.

But! In order to KEEP it working great, I was thinking I would send it in for service in the off season. Does anyone have experience with this? How long does it take? What does it cost? What do they really do while it's there? Are there any reliable 3rd parties that will CLA a 240?

I bought it 2nd hand so it's probably worthwhile doing generally.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Why send it in...if it aint broke...you never can tell what will happen to it out of your hands..

 

[Huss]

If the focus is fine don't do anything. Most I would do is clean the sensor IF it needs it.

 

[Calzone]

I own a Monochrom that will be 4 years old in February 2017. It has been shot heavily, the edges of the top plate are silvery as the anodize has been worn away, and there are sections of the vulcanite worn smooth from my hand.

I recently have gotten on a waiting list to have my sensor replaced due to the corrosion issue, but meanwhile I still shoot the camera. The defect shows in only some shots and can be corrected in post.

Other than cleaning the sensor which I do myself, no other service is required.

I think the best thing one can do to maintain a camera is use it regularly, and in the case of Leicas and Rollieflexes the more use the better.

IMHO the worse thing one can do with either a Rollie or Leica is not use the camera.

Cal

 

[Ronald M]

Start to worry around 100,000 exposures. Leica is quiet about expected life. Nikon offers shutter life expectancy. I would guess at 150,000 cycles for Leica.

If focus is fine and you have less than 100,000 keep it at home.

Buy a back up. you can not do pro work with one only of anything.

If you send it in, what do you expect them to do? Replace a working shutter?

I think they replace some of the controls on the back as mechanics wear. Card slot wear. Reset RF. For this they take forever, charge plenty, and probably screw up something else on the camera that works now. Then it has to go back again.
Leica service is nothing to brag about. Problem with Digi Leicas is nobody else can work on them. All this is why pros use Canon & Nikon.

If I did pro work with them, I would buy a second one, do 10K exposures and then go back to the first and use it until it fails. Keep repeating as necessary. Use the new one for 10% of the work to keep it functioning.

 

[Calzone]

Start to worry around 100,000 exposures. Leica is quiet about expected life. Nikon offers shutter life expectancy. I would guess at 150,000 cycles for Leica.

Ronald,

Good point about shutter count. My D3X is rated for 300K shutter actuations before service. At 300K the shutter is expected to get serviced not replaced. Anyways this specification is on some Nikon Pro cameras and not all Nikon cameras. The 300K for the D3X is a service interval.

Also depends on whether the shutter is mechanical or electronic. With the electronic shutter in a digital M your 100K estimate might be right though for service.

Cal

 

[SaveKodak]

Thats some great info. I guess I'll just hang until I hit 150k on it. It is working fine. Hell by that time I'll probably be updating to the new M haha.

 

[Godfrey]

Modern cameras with electronic shutter regulation need service far less often than older cameras. Digital cameras have even fewer bits to service than film cameras.

For these reasons, just shoot with it until it stops working. Then have it fixed, if it's still worth doing. My Olympus E-1 is 13 years old now, still working perfectly, and has never been serviced. I don't use it very often any more, it's got a few tens of thousands of exposures on it, but it doesn't seem to care.

G

 

[Keith]

Another use it 'til it stops vote! 🙂

 

[ReeRay]

^^^ and yet another "keep shooting" vote. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[rscheffler]

Leica NJ's service turnaround on lenses is in the 1-2 month range. I've been told they apparently try to turnaround M240 bodies in a couple weeks, but I have not tested them on this, yet.

IMO, their service turnaround times are terrible for a working pro and agree with the already stated opinion about maintaining a back up or an alternative system. There are a number of reasons I still shoot Canon DSLR, such as AF and telephoto lens options. I also shoot Canon because of their CPS support.

Since you're in NYC, here's something I've found worked a couple times back a year or so ago: if the camera needs RF calibration or sensor cleaning, call or email the service department and ask if you can drop it off in the morning for same day service. I've been able to do this twice now, once for a stubborn sensor spot and once for RF calibration. But I can't guarantee it will work now.

 

[MikeChong]

I agree with the ain't broke don't fix it saying. As for the 240, if it's not subjected to harsh weather, bumps, abuse, etc i would say it's safe to keep on shooting. Even the shutter, with thousands of cycles, should be ok, it's not like the crazy 10 or more frames per second like my old 1DX is capable of.

 

[willie_901]

If the focus is fine don't do anything. Most I would do is clean the sensor IF it needs it.

This ^









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