Recommendable Leica M repair facilities in Europe?

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I want to give my recently purchased M4 a CLA, but I was a little surprised about Leica Denmarks qoute for this service: 3500 DKK roughly 400$! It does include a full 1 year warranty on the body, but still!
I mailed John Van Stelten, and he will do it for under 200$, but shipping and insurance will bring the total up to just under 400$.
Camera Repairs & Restoration in Luton, England (mentioned on Andrew Nemeth's Leica FAQ) are, according to their homepage, so busy that they don't reply to emails or accept repairs until august.

Are there any European readers with some recommendations for qualified repair facilities in EU?

For the American readers: Besides a possible price difference, what are the pros and cons of sending your equipment to a qualified independent repair facility like Van Stelten vs. the authorised Leica distributor?

-- Niels H. S. Nielsen (nhsn@ruc.dk), July 08, 2001

Answers

I have always used Dan Goldberg (DAG) in Wisconsin. Compared with Leica Service Department, he's usually much quicker, a lot less expensive, will service STL cameras, and in my experience he always does reliable work where the Leica distributor varies from superb to unacceptable, apparently depending on whom they have hired for the service department this week, as well as the phase of the moon. E. Leitz even used to be snotty over the phone, but lately they seem to be really trying to help.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), July 08, 2001.

In Canada I've had very good service from Kindermann Inc. They've done general cleaning, lubrication and adjustment to specifications on all three of my Leicas. I've found them fast, professional and very reasonable pricewise ($260 CDN + tax).They're located in Markham just outside Toronto, Ontario.

-- Peter J. Hanlon (peter.hanlon@cityofsaintjohn.com), July 08, 2001.

Don Goldberg: 2451 Thatcher Lane McFarland, WI 53558 608-838-4769

KINNDERMANN (CANADA) INC. 361 Steelcase Road West, Unit #3 Markham ON L3R 3V8 905-940-9262

Sherry Krauter Golden Touch Quality Camera Repair 118 Purgatory Road Campbell Hall, New York 10916 914-496-8834

Reinhold Mueller Toronto, Canada 416-467-6992

Don Goldberg is generally quick, reliable and fairly priced. Sherry is excellent but may take a while and is sometimes hard to reach. The Canadians have fine reputations.

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), July 08, 2001.


I'd ask Hans Pahlen-

hans.pahlen@mark.komvux.se

I'll bet he knows who could do the job. After a recent R body experience w/Leitz USA, I'll be using DAG or Kindermann.

-- Dave Doyle (ddoyleis@home.com), July 08, 2001.


Also in England, and a little closer to you, the LHSA lists...Andrew Frankham, 54 Roseacre Lane, Bearsted, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 4JG. I have no other references on him though. Perhaps our friends in Great Britain can comment on his work(?).

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), July 08, 2001.


I am still in shock over the buys that you made. While I fly to Denmark and hope to visit Photographic in Copenhagen, the one day I am able to get there, the store is closed due to a robbery. Bummer! But it sounds like you got a great package, Niels. I would contact Hans Pahlen, as suggsted. He would be a great resource for repair recommendations.

-- RP Johnson (rpjohnson2@mindspring.com), July 08, 2001.

I'm in shock, too -about the shipping costs you quote! Since even the best repair shop occasionally screws up, you need to be able to access whoever works on your camera quickly and cheaply......

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), July 08, 2001.

Good suggestions, I am waiting for an answer from Hans Pahlen.

Unfortunately, the Danish postoffice does not offer additional insurance on parcels to US, so it is too risky to use them. I tried to do an online calculation on FedEx and UPS, and they both charge around 100$ for the required service Denmark->USA. It is less expensive in the other direction, but I will also have to pay 25% VAT on the repair charge. An EU repair facility will be more convenient and less expensive.

RP -I thought about you when I went to Photografica to buy a body cap for my new camera. What a bad luck. The robbers drove a car through the window and trashed around 30 Leica M/R/LTMs plus even more lenses!

-- Niels H. S. Nielsen (nhsn@ruc.dk), July 09, 2001.


Despite its name, this repair service cares for Leica M products as well, and AFAICT their service is pretty good. Being in the EU, customs shouldn't be a problem (namely non-existent). Turnover is five to ten days for non- professional items, CLA price appears to be in the € 100 area.

-- Oliver Schrinner (piraya@hispavista.com), July 09, 2001.

I sent in my M2 to Leica Switzerland. They wanted 560 SFr. which is like $310. I called the man and he says that includes a complete repair of the camera. He takes the entire thing apart and replaces small springs, relubes, etc... A simple CLA would run more like 250 SFr. according to him. At first I thought it was a bit steep but from what I understand Leica themselves do a good job and the M2 should be as good as new when I get it back.

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), July 09, 2001.


What about the Leica factory itself (in Solms--not too far from Frankfurt)? Don't they do service?

-- Buzz Andersen (buzz@scifihifi.com), July 11, 2001.

I just got back my cameras from Solms in Germany.

Leica Denmark told me not even to repair my M4, but to just buy another one. Their quote was HIGH.

I'd go with Solms again and again. Excellent service, beautiful work, reasonable prices.

I had my M3 go through an overhaul. They put in a new rangefinder (they asked first). I thought "why not". Curiously, the new rangefinder has frames for the 35mm. The magnification is the same, as far as I can tell, so it confirms the rule of thumb: "If you can see it through the M3's finder, it's a 35mm." In other words, you really have to press your eye up there to see all of the lines.

Anyway, Solms, by all means.

-- Daniel Ridings (daniel_ridings@yahoo.se), August 05, 2001.


You see the 35mm frame because they replaced the old M3 finder with a M6J finder. I asked Leica 2 weeks ago. There is only a limited number of original M3 finders left. They are only offered if the M3 is in a very good condition. The complete M3 finder costs about 430 Euro.

-- Eckhard Brass (eckhard.brass@addcom.de), January 14, 2002.

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