Bill Pierce
Well-known
As many of you know, my first two M8’s, some of the first delivered, went belly up and were replaced by Leitz by an M8 that has seen a lot of work and performed flawlessly. Recently I took a month off and thought it would be a good time to have the M8 upgraded with the quieter, lower vibration shutter and bright line frames set for two meters.
The new shutter is much quieter; the new frame lines, excellent for my use of the camera. Unfortunately, when it was returned the camera worked in auto exposure mode but not in manual. The right hand of the repair shop gives and the left hand takes away. Essentially, set one shutter speed, get another... Also on manual, if the top speed on the shutter dial (1/4000) was set, the screen information would indicate 1/8000 of a second, a speed not longer available with the new shutter. On manual, if you set the lowest speed (8 seconds) and the shutter would open for about 4.
Losing the camera for a second month just to repair Leitz’s own mistakes makes the camera useless to me professionally. I’ve pretty much given up on the camera as a professional tool, in spite of the fact that it is an exceptional camera when working. This is as much a problem of service as it is a camera problem.
I emailed the Leitz service center a rather whiney letter hoping they would offer a quick, local service since they had created the need for another visit to the repair shop and it was probably a very simple repair. I got the following message -
Thank You for Your e-mail.
I am out of the office until 17th of October 2009.
That was on last Friday, the 9th.
I've always been a fan of Leica, even sharing the stage with Walter Huen in the “old days” when the Leica School was presented at photojournalism schools. As a journalist I won the Leica Medal of Excellence. In that guise I've taken film Leicas into some very ugly situations and they have survived and performed well.
Giving up on Leica after they have entered the digital world that is now essential for a journalist is neither easy nor pleasant. Truth is, it’s very sad. But since I have given up and no longer will be using rangefinders, this thread will be my last posting on the Rangefinder Forum. To say that it’s been fun is an understatement. This forum has some rather wise and gracious folk who have been a pleasure to communicate with and learn from. As for the rest of us, enthusiasm and consideration for others has been remarkable on this forum - and that also has made it a pleasure.
The new shutter is much quieter; the new frame lines, excellent for my use of the camera. Unfortunately, when it was returned the camera worked in auto exposure mode but not in manual. The right hand of the repair shop gives and the left hand takes away. Essentially, set one shutter speed, get another... Also on manual, if the top speed on the shutter dial (1/4000) was set, the screen information would indicate 1/8000 of a second, a speed not longer available with the new shutter. On manual, if you set the lowest speed (8 seconds) and the shutter would open for about 4.
Losing the camera for a second month just to repair Leitz’s own mistakes makes the camera useless to me professionally. I’ve pretty much given up on the camera as a professional tool, in spite of the fact that it is an exceptional camera when working. This is as much a problem of service as it is a camera problem.
I emailed the Leitz service center a rather whiney letter hoping they would offer a quick, local service since they had created the need for another visit to the repair shop and it was probably a very simple repair. I got the following message -
Thank You for Your e-mail.
I am out of the office until 17th of October 2009.
That was on last Friday, the 9th.
I've always been a fan of Leica, even sharing the stage with Walter Huen in the “old days” when the Leica School was presented at photojournalism schools. As a journalist I won the Leica Medal of Excellence. In that guise I've taken film Leicas into some very ugly situations and they have survived and performed well.
Giving up on Leica after they have entered the digital world that is now essential for a journalist is neither easy nor pleasant. Truth is, it’s very sad. But since I have given up and no longer will be using rangefinders, this thread will be my last posting on the Rangefinder Forum. To say that it’s been fun is an understatement. This forum has some rather wise and gracious folk who have been a pleasure to communicate with and learn from. As for the rest of us, enthusiasm and consideration for others has been remarkable on this forum - and that also has made it a pleasure.
