"recently cla'd" yeah, right

[Stu W]

I think the term CLA has been misinterpreted as completely stripped down to all 10, 000 pieces, with each piece polished and cleaned, lubricated with some exotic precise viscosity rare anti-friction compound, and every mechanism adjusted using the decay of cesium as a reference. I assume that a cla consists of cleaning and adjusting the rangefinder, lubing the standard lube points, and checking that shutter speeds are within specs. Stu

 

[greyhoundman]

Most people would love to believe your first description. LOL

 

[Stu W]

Most people would love to believe your first description. LOL

3 Year waiting list though.

 

[greyhoundman]

And a extra $250.00. 😉

 

[Gumby]

I think the term CLA has been misinterpreted as ...

What "cla" means (in terms of service performed to a camera/lens) is worthy of a whole separate thread. It is such an abused buzzword.

 

[cmogi10]

My recently CLA'd M6 had a sticky shutter which went away after a couple rolls of film...it seems like everything is recently CLA'd.

 

[ocean7]

CLA's are not made equal. DAG, Youxin, Sherry Krauter or Gerry Smith are not the guys from the camera store at the corner of the street.

 

[greyhoundman]

But they still don't strip the cameras to their original pile of parts.

 

[ocean7]

Of course they don't.

But I tend to trust them more than my local store that mainly sells DSLR and has on the shelf two used Leica M that their own "all around" tech serviced.

 

[mllanos1111]

Hi,

Where in Southern CA do you live?
I have a friend that is a fellow Nikonian and he's going to sell his M6, 28/2.8 and 135/2.8 also a BNIB Leica compact flash.
If your interested He lives in Marina Del Rey and I can give you his info for you to contact him if you like.
Let me know.

Marco

ok, i've been browsing evil-bay and am getting close to pulling the trigger on either an m4 or m6, and as i am getting close for the right moment i have asked a few sellers if they could prove the "recently cla'd" statement in their add and by whom was the cla performed. NOT ONE seller has responded to my question. really makes me suspicious.

i'd be willing to spend a few hundred more on a camera that has indeed been recently cla'd but i want to see proof. otherwise i'll wait for a cheaper camera and plan on the cost to send it off to get all gussied up.

at least we could look at images to try and get an idea about the "minty-ness" of the item being sold (aren't they all "minty" these days?) but a cla is pretty tough to see in a few pictures.

anyone else ever had this thought?

- chris

 

[David Murphy]

I think the term CLA has been misinterpreted as completely stripped down to all 10, 000 pieces, with each piece polished and cleaned, lubricated with some exotic precise viscosity rare anti-friction compound, and every mechanism adjusted using the decay of cesium as a reference. I assume that a cla consists of cleaning and adjusting the rangefinder, lubing the standard lube points, and checking that shutter speeds are within specs. Stu

Yes Stu that's pretty much correct. The goal is return it to "factory specs" -- which is what the camera's usually need to be used effectively rather than extensive restoration.

 

[jlw]

I think the term CLA has been misinterpreted as completely stripped down to all 10, 000 pieces, with each piece polished and cleaned, lubricated with some exotic precise viscosity rare anti-friction compound, and every mechanism adjusted using the decay of cesium as a reference.

Yeah, but then there are the sellers who think "CLA'd" stands for "Coated with Lighterfluid And Dried." That's one advantage of seeing the receipt -- at least you have some vague notion of what work was done, and whether it was done by a shop or a do-it-yourselfer.

 

[greyhoundman]

So you have to own a shop to be qualified?

 

[Krosya]

But they still don't strip the cameras to their original pile of parts.

Well that may be, yet I know DAG has a couple of different types of CLA that he does. A more extensive one, where he does take a camera apart quite a bit - costs more.
Also, some places dont really provide a "proof". DAG sent a receipt with the camera to me with a list what was done to it and when, as well as how much it cost. So if I ever wanted to sell that camera, I'd have a "proof". On the other hand, when Youxin CLA'd my M3, all my proof could be just a series of emails, yet no real receipt/invoice to show for.
Anyway, regardless of what add on ebay may say, I'd pretty much expect to have to do a CLA on older camera. It's just part of life. Yet, I have never had a camera I got from ebay really needing a CLA. All worked just fine. I had CLA done so I would feel better, or in case of my M6, partly to have VF upgraded to fix the flare issue. So CLA was a good idea to have done at the same time.
So, you just never know.

 

[FallisPhoto]

ok, i've been browsing evil-bay and am getting close to pulling the trigger on either an m4 or m6, and as i am getting close for the right moment i have asked a few sellers if they could prove the "recently cla'd" statement in their add and by whom was the cla performed. NOT ONE seller has responded to my question. really makes me suspicious.

i'd be willing to spend a few hundred more on a camera that has indeed been recently cla'd but i want to see proof. otherwise i'll wait for a cheaper camera and plan on the cost to send it off to get all gussied up.

at least we could look at images to try and get an idea about the "minty-ness" of the item being sold (aren't they all "minty" these days?) but a cla is pretty tough to see in a few pictures.

anyone else ever had this thought?

- chris

Particularly on leaf shutter cameras, a lot of the people there consider an at-home shutter flush to be a CLA. Well, it's not the same thing. On any camera I have bought from ebay, no matter how "minty" the buyer says it is, I figure I am going to have to do some work on it and at least give it a CLA. It's just something you expect with ebay cameras.

 

[David Murphy]

One thing to look for is factory training. The major camera makers over the years have apparently been training repair techs. Don at DAG told me on the phone something to the effect that he lived two years in Germany being trained at Leica -- I'm sure that's a longer course than most. I have a tech I use here who has attended and been certified at numerous Canon, Minolta, etc. training courses. He's recently been factory trained to repair digital cameras. I'm sure though that like auto mechanics there are some good "shade tree" specialists as well -- not to discount them. I know of techs that specialize in binoculars and movie cameras (e.g. Arriflex) for instance.

 

[BillBingham2]

I had three CLAs done on FSU cameras, two came back marginally better (the Kievs) and one (the FED2) I did not notice the shutter lag on the second curtain. They guy who did them was said to be the best, my only thought was he had an off week. I thought the FED 2 was fine, I ran a test roll for focus and shutter speed, everything looked fine. I lost money on the deal as I split a second CLA with the buyer of the FED. The 2nd CLA made some stuff better, but she his not 100% yet.

I've had some stuff CLAd by DAG and there is a world of difference. Had some Nikon stuff done by APS in Chicago who did a fine job, bit costly though. Should a local guy or gal be able to do it, yes 15 years ago. Not today, they do not get enough practice to keep their skills up, IMHO. I say buy new or send it to the best, much less head aches.

On the topic of answering question, there is no such thing as a stupid question for a customer, IMHO. Buying camera stuff is very emotional. I was going to sell a 90mm to a guy who just did not fall in love with the lens when I met him. He was looking for perfection and the lens had some surface dirt. Which I thought cleaned off well, but he just wanted perfect. He was a guy who should buy new. Life goes on, I found someone else who is in love with the lens. You need to set expectations on both sides of the transaction up front and deal with respect.

I never thought to keep the CLA receipts, seems the scam artist on EvilBay have figured out another thing to make our lives harder. In the future, I keep digital images of everything.

B2 (;->

 

[kevin m]

Isn't this "evilbay" nonsense just a little bit childish? It is what it is. Learn how it works and use it. Or don't.

Even if a seller's description contains all the information I need, I email him with a question anyway, just to see how promptly and politely he responds. The response dictates whether or not I make a bid.

I just bought a lovely Canon RF lens from ebay after a pleasant email exchange with the seller, and the lens turned out to be every bit as nice as he described.

 

[ocean7]

Even if a seller's description contains all the information I need, I email him with a question anyway, just to see how promptly and politely he responds. The response dictates whether or not I make a bid.

That's what I do too. Sometimes I was ready tu pull the trigger but the reply I received from the seller told me to look elsewhere.

 

[kevin m]

Sometimes I was ready tu pull the trigger but the reply I received from the seller told me to look elsewhere.

Right. I've been scared away from a few "good deals" that way. 😀

I think the seller should gladly offer proof of the CLA, since the claim of having one is obviously meant to make the camera sell for a higher price than one without. But if I was asking, I wouldn't demand "proof," I'd just ask if he still has the receipt for the work.