M7 or a Zeiss Ikon ZM?

[Huss]

I tried to service the M7 in Toronto last summer. No one would touch it.

I have a feeling you would have had the same experience with the Zeiss.

 

[sanmich]

I tried to service the M7 in Toronto last summer. No one would touch it.

Did you try Leica?

 

[sakrafd]

I sent my ZM to Zeiss in Kentucky at the end of February for repair - the meter stopped working after a local shop re-calibrated the rangefinder. The camera was forwarded to Germany in early March for estimate/repair. I just received an email from them stating that it will understandably be delayed due to the corona virus pandemic.

The repair form I used to start the process can be found here:

https://zeiss.secure.force.com/CZPRepair/?page=1&region=Americas&area=consumer&lang=EN

Note that "Zeiss Ikon body (black/silver)" appear at the bottom of the Product Data drop down.

 

[Huss]

That is great to know Zeiss HQ still services the kamera.

 

[Archlich]

That is great to know Zeiss HQ still services the kamera.

I had a similar experience like 10 years ago, having sent the camera to Oberkochen. Turnaround time was decent.

I assume though they had to ship it off to Cosina after all.

 

[Tim Gray]

I got my M7 serviced by DAG this year. No problem. And it was with the metering circuitry.

 

[Huss]

I got my M7 serviced by DAG this year. No problem. And it was with the metering circuitry.

what was the problem?

 

[Tim Gray]

Not really sure how to describe it. The shutter dial would no longer set the right speeds, the auto exposure setting would randomly act like a fixed shutter speed, etc. DAG said, “Repaired main meter/shutter switch assembly, put meter system in good working order.”

 

[Beemermark]

DAG serviced mine this year also

 

[kshapero]

I sent my ZM to Zeiss in Kentucky .

What's in Kentucky? 😕

 

[Bob Michaels]

Not really sure how to describe it. The shutter dial would no longer set the right speeds, the auto exposure setting would randomly act like a fixed shutter speed, etc. DAG said, “Repaired main meter/shutter switch assembly, put meter system in good working order.”

I had the same problem but with my Zeiss Ikon. But I was on a road trip through NW Florida and took it to a little one man camera repair shop in Pensacola. He had never seen a ZM before but found it very standard and was able to repair it in 15 minutes.

 

[sakrafd]

What's in Kentucky? 😕

The regional Zeiss service center for the US is in Hebron, KY. They inspect the product (lens, camera, etc...) and forward to repair facilities in Germany/Japan if it can't be fixed locally.

 

[ramosa]

I would take the M7, but would prefer an M6 ...

 

[kshapero]

The regional Zeiss service center for the US is in Hebron, KY. They inspect the product (lens, camera, etc...) and forward to repair facilities in Germany/Japan if it can't be fixed locally.

Got it. I would have never guessed that.

 

[Huss]

I had the same problem but with my Zeiss Ikon. But I was on a road trip through NW Florida and took it to a little one man camera repair shop in Pensacola. He had never seen a ZM before but found it very standard and was able to repair it in 15 minutes.

Sounds like all that was needed was cleaning of contacts under the dial.
They oxidize after some years.

 

[Huss]

I would take the M7, but would prefer an M6 ...

I prefer the superior build quality, better VF, more accurate shutter, more accurate metering, and AE w/ manual metering of the M7.
M7 is nice that it also has 2 mechanical speeds in case batteries fail.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Sounds like all that was needed was cleaning of contacts under the dial. They oxidize after some years.

Even simpler than that. When Cosina built the first batch of ZM bodies, they had not figured how much to tighten the screws. So sometimes screws backed out from normal use and things like the dial simply came loose. All that was required was reassembly. I also had several from later production runs where this was no longer a problem.

I did have a shutter hang up intermittently on a ZM. My local camera repair tech said it was the same model as used on some Nikons, I think an EM-10 so he just replaced mine with one from a parts donor body. Quick and cheap repair.

I also had a shutter button corrode from my shutter finger wicking sweat down into it. My local guy knew another repair tech who had a ZM parts donor body so Fed-Xed him the shutter button which he swapped into mine. That repair took a total of 5 days and and also cheap.

 

[Beemermark]

A ZM is selling (based on sold listings) for between $1600 to $2500, average looking to be around $2000. The M7 between $2800 and $3300, average around $3000. I find it hard to believe these prices. The M6 and M4-2 selling for astronomical prices. Seems like the best deals for solid, well built cameras, are the M2 & M4. I keep think about selling my M7 (since I tend to gravitate to my M4) but just can't do it. Maybe when they hit $5000.

 

[james.liam]

A ZM is selling (based on sold listings) for between $1600 to $2500, average looking to be around $2000. The M7 between $2800 and $3300, average around $3000. I find it hard to believe these prices. The M6 and M4-2 selling for astronomical prices. Seems like the best deals for solid, well built cameras, are the M2 & M4. I keep think about selling my M7 (since I tend to gravitate to my M4) but just can't do it. Maybe when they hit $5000.

With 2020 barely half way through I believe anything unimaginable is now possible. And not in a good way.

 

[sanmich]

A ZM is selling (based on sold listings) for between $1600 to $2500, average looking to be around $2000. The M7 between $2800 and $3300, average around $3000. I find it hard to believe these prices. The M6 and M4-2 selling for astronomical prices. Seems like the best deals for solid, well built cameras, are the M2 & M4. I keep think about selling my M7 (since I tend to gravitate to my M4) but just can't do it. Maybe when they hit $5000.

Most M7 I see (I was thinking about selling my 0.58) are around 2500$