The Heavenly Leica M5…

[hap]

I've opted to send my M5 to DAG...not a leg and an arm cost

Will fix the meter for 1.5v batteries, add a battery, look at the shutter, adjust the RF etc.

 

[Richard G]

Another great thing about the M5, with that 21mm on the previous page, is that it is a bigger, flatter device to orient to keep the horizon level and to keep the film plane parallel to a flat subject, important with very wide angle lenses photographing buildings.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Another great thing about the M5, with that 21mm on the previous page, is that it is a bigger, flatter device to orient to keep the horizon level and to keep the film plane parallel to a flat subject, important with very wide angle lenses photographing buildings.

As long as you have a 21mm/28mm that doesn't extend far enough in the back to break the meter stalk.....

 

[chuckroast]

I've opted to send my M5 to DAG...not a leg and an arm cost

Will fix the meter for 1.5v batteries, add a battery, look at the shutter, adjust the RF etc.

My experience with DAG is that it's worth the wait and the price. That said, though, I've also had excellent service from YYE.

 

[splitimageview]

Except Youxin doesn't work on the M5. 🙂

 

[chuckroast]

Except Youxin doesn't work on the M5. 🙂

Ohhhhh that's right, I guess I knew that, duh. Anyway, DAG did a bangup job on my very nice 50 Jahre "Jubilee" M5. The meter is right on and it runs like silk.

 

[splitimageview]

DAG has worked on two for me. 👍👍

 

[Ororaro]

Youxin… LOL

Geez guys…

 

[splitimageview]

Explain?

 

[Ororaro]

The guy has zero Leica training. He made his name with 80$ clas that consisted of simply squirting oil in Leicas, and pray it would last at least a year.
I was there before he even existed. Basically he got into the game by doing cheap clas and sliding along. Somehow he got hyped along the way.

I’d never send him anything, and will never buy a “yye clad camera”.

Simply put: who knows, knows.

 

[splitimageview]

The 'oil squirting' (rumor? claim? accusation?), whether real or otherwise, was floating around here over a dozen years ago.

Is this from first-hand experience? or are you re-posting someone else's old stories?

If he were indeed simply doing shoddy work for the past decade, seems as though after all this time he would have long since exited the scene; as it is, he just revamped his website not to mention the daily recommendations on all the Leica forums and discussion groups.

 

[Coldkennels]

To be fair... while I've never sent anything to YYe, I've also heard first-hand reports like that over on the Leica subreddit in recent years. And I've personally had ridiculously shoddy work done by Aperture here in London, and those guys are often talked about in the same way as YYe is.

Every "tech" is going to have off days, of course. But considering how small the selection of people who are willing to work on Leicas is (and how many people send in perfectly functional cameras for "CLAs"), it wouldn't be too surprising to have a substandard tech be widely lauded in the community - especially when the "greats" like DAG and Cameraworks UK have waiting lists that run as long as they do.

 

[splitimageview]

Yes, I've had to send items back to DAG for a re-do. I've sent YYE many cameras, going back many years, although none recently. Never an issue.

His lead time used to be days, now it is months, that is an indicator of sorts.

As far as Leica training goes, there are only two left in the US to my knowledge. (I won't use one of those again, from personal experience.)

And Leicas are not all that difficult to work on, to be perfectly honest, compared to many other types of cameras. Any tech that can reliably work on *THOSE OTHER* cameras can certainly handle a relatively simple Leica. 😀

 

[Ororaro]

The 'oil squirting' (rumor? claim? accusation?), whether real or otherwise, was floating around here over a dozen years ago.

Is this from first-hand experience? or are you re-posting someone else's old stories?

If he were indeed simply doing shoddy work for the past decade, seems as though after all this time he would have long since exited the scene; as it is, he just revamped his website not to mention the daily recommendations on all the Leica forums and discussion groups.

Leicas are not hard per se, I agree. But there is something to be said about a shop having the parts, proper tools, and deep knowledge.Sending a Leica in pieces and receiving it back properly assembled, is something not a lot of techs can do.

Who can work on a Leicaflex is certainly worthy. Dag will do it, yye…

 

[splitimageview]

None of the above, just stating facts. 🤣

Your turn to answer questions!

 

[splitimageview]

I see you edited your reply. 😉

Not a lot of techs will accept cameras in parts and pieces. I can't say I disagree with that policy, for many reasons.

 

[Ororaro]

I see you edited your reply. 😉

Not a lot of techs will accept cameras in parts and pieces. I can't say I disagree with that policy, for many reasons.

My reply was originally me asking you if you were related to yye.

In general, people sending their stuff to him will get super defensive, as if he was their Papa.

I decided to delete ny original question because even if he was your Papa, I still wouldn’t recomend him. I once had to get rid of a M4-P that he SOAKED in oil.

 

[Ororaro]

I see you edited your reply. 😉

Not a lot of techs will accept cameras in parts and pieces. I can't say I disagree with that policy, for many reasons.

Let’s have a real talk for a moment.

A True tech will accept the job. Becaise that is his job.

Besides. A true tech will litterally rejoyce from such a job.

The tech that does not accept that job is an amateur, a lazy tech, a con-tech, an insecure tech. definitely not a pro by any stretch.

 

[splitimageview]

A 'true tech' may also realize that taking on someone else’s unfinished job could be a recipe for wasted time at a minimum, having to deal with potentially damaged parts that were the previous tech’s responsibility, missing (irreplaceable) parts, and who knows what else. Maybe the previous tech isn’t even a qualified tech, but a completely untrained hack! On the contrary, a legitimate 'pro' has likely already experienced the pain of accepting someone else's assembled hack project, it is perfectly reasonable and understandable to therefore reject a disassembled one.

And yet the second tech potentially is the one that will suffer the consequences of an unhappy customer and negative internet posts.

I can completely understand if someone like DAG decided to skip such a project considering those of his caliber have far more work than they can possibly complete in a reasonable time as it is.

 

[Coldkennels]

On a semi-related note... have you ever looked at Oleg's page for repair work/service?

Some explanation about repair cost. All prices for the CLA service are fixed. It mean you pay fixed price, and total for repair never exceed this price. It mean you will never get bad surprice like "ahh, camera is very bad inside and I need more money for my hard work". If camera had a hidden problem - it's my problem now. You pay fixed price for getting working camera back.

There is only one exception - if your camera have a missing exterior parts. Putting new parts for FSU cameras cost nothing, but some exterior parts for Contaxes and Leicas may cost additional money. Anyway, exterior parts are easy to see! You will see for what you pay.

What included into CLA? I completely disassemble camera for access to all parts. Springs of curtains or optical parts inside RF- all will be cleaned. Old grease will be removed, and I'll glue all should be glued. And after deep cleaning I'll assemble camera again. That is why price is fixed. No matter what is actual problem was, I'll fix all problems during assembling camera back. With proper adjusting and proper lubrication.​

I added the emphasis on that first paragraph, as it really shocked me. I've recently acquired an early Kiev II from a local auction house for a steal, so I'm going to send it to him eventually. It's good to know I'm not going to get stung in the process; can't say that about most technicians.

I also looked further down the page and found this, which made me laugh:

Yes, possible to service camera if you sent one disassembled. But here is an additional fee 30 euro for getting puzzle back.

That emphasis? All Oleg. 😅