Bob Michaels
nobody special
Good thought but I see two different aspects.
1) the "ability to pay" are not those with the film Leicas. It is the ones who have the D3's or 1D's, those $6-7K pro DSLR's owned by people who make their living with them. We are way down towards to bottom of the economic repair. Very few below us even bother to have their consumer film cameras repaired.
2) I see most camera repair people not having profit as their primary motivation. They do it because they like cameras and their personal independence. Camera repair is not a profession one chooses for the money.
But then the camera repair people I know tend to pick and choose their customers, not the other way around. And I see classic high end film cameras (like Leica's) costing no more, sometimes less, on a per hour basis. Maybe I am just lucky. Or maybe I just have had better results in cultivating relationships with camera repair people.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Dear Bob,
That's true of all the camera techs I know, and quite a lot of their customers (not having cameras repaired if it costs too much).
Cheers,
R.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
It happens. We had a discussion on a German forum (Phototec) a few months ago where someone who had been beating the mechanical-cameras-last-forever drum for years was shocked that Leica Solms wouldn't touch his goggled Summaron 35 that he sent in for a CLA-type repair. They said they didn't have the replacement parts for this particular lens and wouldn't accept it for service because there was no way to repair it if it got damaged in the process.
Roberto V.
Le surrèalisme, c'est moi
That's what you think...
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
That is, at least until someone starts a cottage industry of making CLE circuit boards. It probably would not be that tough for anyone who knows how. I made a few when teaching electronics years ago.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
Are the schematics documented in any way?
kosta_g
Well-known
this thread is sort of funny... for me anyway. I stumbled upon it this evening after discussing exactly the same thing with my girlfriend yesterday. I thought about getting involved at one point...but I don't have THAT much time free on weekends... and my day-job is rather involving; requires 'mental-downtime' afterwards.
literiter
Well-known
I've done a bit of work on my M2, quite a few years ago now. It is a somewhat easy camera to work on. I'll never do it again though.
Last year I sent my M2 to Gerry Smith at Kindermann for a complete CLA. It was expensive! It was expensive but there is a certain confidence I have in a tech who has done perhaps thousands of M series Leicas in his/her time before they get to mine.
There will be the tools to open the camera, adjust the shutter speed, and adjust the rangefinder etc. and there will be the access to parts.
I hope there is some young person looking over Gerry's shoulder, learning the technique so we can still get these things serviced when he retires.
Last year I sent my M2 to Gerry Smith at Kindermann for a complete CLA. It was expensive! It was expensive but there is a certain confidence I have in a tech who has done perhaps thousands of M series Leicas in his/her time before they get to mine.
There will be the tools to open the camera, adjust the shutter speed, and adjust the rangefinder etc. and there will be the access to parts.
I hope there is some young person looking over Gerry's shoulder, learning the technique so we can still get these things serviced when he retires.