The Definitive Leica Technician List For CLAs and Fixes

I just got my BP M4 back from Youxin Ye, it was jammed. Turned out one of the shutter curtains let go. Youxin examined the damage, gave me 3 choices of action and 3 different costs. I choose to have the curtains both replaced and to have a CLA.

He did a great job, camera works great, smooth as warm butter. He kept in frequent contact with me. Total time was a little under 3 weeks.

I am very, very happy with his bedside manor and his work.
 
In Australia (Adelaide) I use Ron Pinksterboer at Twin City Camera House http://www.camerahouse.com.au/our-stores/sa/adelaide-twin-city.aspx
Ron is good, knows his stuff and is reasonably priced. I dont think he is specifically Leica trained but as I say he knows his stuff and has been able to handle everything I have thrown his way - CLAs, lens adjustments and fungus removal, proper reassembly/calibration, leica M rangefinder adjustment and the like. I have also seen him strip down, test, repair and reassemble digital cameras.
 
For Australia, may I recommend Camera Electronic, 230 Stirling St., Perth, Western Australia 6000 (www.cameraelectronic.com.au).
I've used them on 3 occasions and have been very happy with the work their technician (Ernest Cesar) has done. They are not the cheapest, but the quality is well worth the price.
 
Sherry K -- Current Status

Sherry K -- Current Status

Has anyone had recent work done by Sherry K? I have had a camera up with her for a little over 3 months and am starting to wonder. I called a few weeks ago for an update (didn't get much info back), and I've called again this week and haven't gotten a call back. Any semi-informed speculation would be welcome --

Update: Called again and talked to Sherry yesterday. Camera comes back next week. Disappointing experience overall.
 
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I've only had experience with Wil van Manen at Kamera-service.info.

I've had my 503cx CLA'd, which runs beautiful. I had also sent in a Hass 80mm C, which came back unserviced. I called them about it and they insisted that if I had paid for it (which I had) the lens had been CLA'd, when obviously it hadn't been. Times were more than a stop off. After a little (slightly unpleasant) back-and-forth they offered to re-service it.
 
jacinto Lirola has been repairing cameras for New England camera shops for decades, he's also my father, but reach out to him if you're in NY/CT/MASS etc as he's located in CT. any mechanical camera he can repair, lenses too.

jacinto.lirola@gmail.com - just say you saw his info here.

cheers,

jesse
 
ali_baba said:
jacinto Lirola has been repairing cameras for New England camera shops for decades, he's also my father, but reach out to him if you're in NY/CT/MASS etc as he's located in CT. any mechanical camera he can repair, lenses too.

jacinto.lirola@gmail.com - just say you saw his info here.

cheers,

jesse
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does he have experience with Contax or more directly, a Super Nettel?
 
Jan Pedersen said:
On the West coast but i have good experience with http://www.advancecamera.com/

Last year i had my Nikon F serviced, shutter and meter was not working. I got it back and the camera is working and almost looks like new. Ask for Jody Fisher to work on the camera, i belive she is a Nikon specialist.
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A somewhat different experience here. But it was a few years ago -- A Rolleiflex SL 35E with a sticky shutter release button. What would seem an easy fix for even myself today. The camera was functional, but the sticky release was irritating. When the camera came back from "repair" it was fully non-functional. An included note said something about parts unavailable. I was left scratching my head as to how they managed to get to such a point.

An unacceptable outcome from a reputable repair business. I'm not sure what happened, but maybe a brand new trainee in over their head? Broke a part in the process? I wish I had simply decided to clean it myself (I'm assuming sticky release from dirty mechanism, as usual). It was clearly a lighter-fluid flush level of repair. Oh, and they charged me for the "repair" :confused:

It seems my experience with ACR is different than many others. Bad luck?
 
oltimer said:
In Canada I have (2) Favorite Tech's. David Yau who I knew when he was at Wild Leica, and retired but still is doing a lot of quality repair. Jerry Smith at Kinderman is another top Leica man.
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Sadly, Jerry has retired. I tried to send him some work a few months ago and he really wasn't interested.

Don Goldberg just did a great job on a M2 and 35 Summaron for me. Price and turnaround times were very reasonable. I don't trust anyone else with my lenses.
 
Another tip of the hat to Don Goldberg. I sent DAG a '68 black paint M4 a month or so ago. We had several brief phone conversations & emails. The work involved a CLA for a '68 black paint M4 and a conversion for a recent Leicavit MP to that camera. The work was fast , communication & shipping excellent.
My first choice was to have the work done in Canada. I spoke to both Horst Wenzel & Gerry Smith & neither had the parts to do the conversion. I then spoke to both Stephen Gandy & Youxin Ye with the same results. I was reticent to call DAG because of my assumption that with his reputation he be stacked deep in work. He'll be my go-to guy for Leica M work for sure. The camera is smooth as silk, just as it was when new & great to have access to a highly-trained and experienced technician.
 
iphoenix said:
For Australia, may I recommend Camera Electronic, 230 Stirling St., Perth, Western Australia 6000 (www.cameraelectronic.com.au).
I've used them on 3 occasions and have been very happy with the work their technician (Ernest Cesar) has done. They are not the cheapest, but the quality is well worth the price.
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For anyone who might find themselves in the same boat...

12 months ago I had Ernest from Camera Electronic repair and re-cement the viewfinder prisms in my M2 after I got the dreaded VF blackout following a knock to the lens. It wasn't a cheap fix but reasonably priced, and much less than the cost of replacing the body.

A year later and the repaired VF is still working flawlessly - highly recommended.
 
Uncle Bill said:
Aside from Jerry Smith, anyone else working on Leica in Canada currently?
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I spoke with Gerry several months ago when i needed my M4 worked on. Besides a CLA i wanted it adapted to take a Leicavit. It turns out that he didn't have the parts (DAG did). Apparently he was winding down or retiring. Horst Wenzel in Vancouver still works on Leicas.
 
If you are lucky enough to live in Thailand, AVCamera in Bangkok have a technician who does excellent work. He did a CLA on a Leica 1 and IIIC for me and they came back like new; and has just fixed a sticking shutter on my M3, carried out a CLA, and recovered the leather (which I supplied), for $100!
 
Camera Electronic, Perth, Western Australia have informed me that with the retirement of Ernest Cesar (their highly capable senior technician) they will be concentrating on servicing digital cameras only.
 
Hello, for Leica enthusiasts, it is very important to find a reliable address to repair Leica equipment. I would like to share a quality and reliable address for services: CLA, refurbishment, modify, upgrade Leica cameras and lenses in Vietnam. All Leica use films and digital.
Mr Thanh Dang Viet
Postal Address:
125/16/12 BUI DINH TUY St, WARD 24, BINH THANH DISTRICT, HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
700000
Telephone: +84902349935
Email: dangvietthanh416@gmail.com
 
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