Leica USA Service Review

It got some better -- for a while.

In my experience - expensive and slow, but quality work. Communication quality is good, but infrequent. You won't get an update unless you pester them.

However, if you email them ahead of time with a special request, they'll try to accommodate you. I needed a replacement pull out hood for a lens and didn't want to send the lens in only to have to wait for them to ship the part from Germany. So I wrote an email and the guy ordered the part and emailed several weeks later once the part came in. Only then did I send in the lens, cutting a good month off of the turn around time.

My only experience has been to order a replacement part.
It came f.o.c. by return first class mail. I would not hesitate to use them again.

I unfortunately had to use them alot in the last year and a half, and I am very pleased with the results. First my iiif had a serious shutter issue and went back to Germany, through New Jersey. Camera was gone for quite a while, but came back like brand new, and the price was reasonable.

Then my M6 TTL developed a high speed shutter issue and it went in for repair. Took a while, but work was top notch. Did develop an issue eight months later where part of the leatherette (which they had replaced) started lifting in a corner and they took it back, paid for shipping, put it to the front of the que, and knocked it out in a week and a half. Just got it back (Funny aside, I always send my cameras in without batteries and without the PC socket cap on them, just something to get lost in the process, and the cameras always come back with brand new batteries installed and a new PC socket caps).

Finally, picked up an M8.2 last spring that had been barely used (1640 shutter actuations), but it had some hot pixels, so I sent it to New Jersey. They remapped the sensor, gave me a one year warranty on the camera, gave me two UV/IR cut filters for my M lenses, all for no charge. (I don't believe they are doing this anymore for the M8 & M8.2 cameras).

Anyway, I am very pleased with the work they do. And I have developed a relationship with Carmen where she is very good at keeping the lines of communication open.

Best,
-Tim

Tim, can I ask how much they charged you for the M6 shutter issue? Mine has developed an issue at high speeds and am curious to know how much it might cost for a tuneup.

I let mine go really long, which was a mistake, I think it might have been cheaper getting it fixed if they were just a little bit off. To have mine done, they ended up having to take the body apart, so that meant redoing the leatherette. The total bill for mine was like $490.

Best,
-Tim

Are repairs being performed in the US or Germany?

Depends on the camera and what needs to be done to it. My M6 shutter was repaired in New Jersey, as was the remapping of my M8.2 sensor. My iiif had to go back to Germany as they don't service that camera here in the States.

Best,
-Tim

It may vary from case to case, I don't know, but my experience of communication and employee attitude has been very fine, with high quality of service and pretty good turn around time. They even replaced a defective monitor screen on my M8 without charge a few years after the guarantee had ended (the defect might be something that would be paassed on to the monitor manufacturer, given its unusual nature - a greyspot that was growing in the centre of the LCD). Not only did they replace the monitor but did a thorough check up and fixed without charge the bottom plate fixation lever that had gotten out of whack (no mention, they just did that). A few years prior to that, I had to wait more than a month for my first M8 to be replaced, as it was first sent back to Germany for an attempted repair to a defective (Seiko?) shutter within the guarantee period. They may have wanted to keep the camera for further study, as I was then given a new one to replace it. Later, a six-bit modification to my 21mm lens was done quickly, within weeks, and while it wasn't particularly inexpensive (understandable, as the mount has to be machined), they sent the lens back very quickly and had done a check on it (not sure how extensive, but I presume it went to the collimator bench for a minimum of measurement).

I think my experience indicates a pretty fine response, at least as good as when Leitz Canada or Kindermann used to do repairs to my M3 or M6 (both now ownership history). The only thing that worries me is the transport problem and lack of full insurance at reasonable postal or courrier charges, but of course that would be true with any but a local service facility.