Defective MP

[joseph_barbano]

Last week, I purchased two brand new black MPs 0.72 from a local

authorized Leica dealer. Incredibly, one of the cameras had a

defective lightmeter and/or ISO dial. This is a brand new camera!

 

Ironically, inside the camera box, there's a card signed by the

final inspector who checked out the camera prior to packaging

testifying that the camera is working properly. How pathetic?

 

I returned both cameras and bought two Chrome M6 TTL's, .58

and .72.

[eliot_rosen]

Maybe the meter was working when the inspector signed the card. :-)

[ronald_moravec1]

E mail Leica and tell them. They are loosing money and can`t afford for this to happen. Two M body sales lost-how sad.

[stephen_w.]

What was defective? My NIB M7 blinking ISO light comes on (blinks) for no apparent reason sometimes. I have to "wiggle" the dial to get it to stop. I assume when it blinks, the exposure would be "off" by a maximum of the next ISO setting (1/3 stop). No Passport.

[__hank_boneroneo1]

<<I returned both cameras and bought two Chrome M6 TTL's, .58 and .72.>>

 

That'll teach 'em!

[brunom]

Joseph

 

 

Maybe it was damaged in transit between the factory and the dealership?

 

Regards

 

Bruno

[terry_rory]

Yes Hank it may teach them.

 

Joseph is returning new (profit making) stock and replacing it with used gear that Leica will not get a penny from. He is also adding to the seemingly endless reports of defective MP's on a popular Leica forum that many potential buyers could be influenced by. This forum is read by many, many more times the number of people we see contributing.

 

(A silent but important population of people who will scan forums like this for feedback on new Leica products before buying.)

 

No company (especially one with such a specialised and expensive, low volume product) can comfortably ignore such feedback for too long.

[lee hamiel]

Sounds like our experience with a brand new M7 - Quality control issues.

 

I contacted Leica in Germany & they appreciated the first person comments instead of Leica USA eventually getting back to them I'm supposing. I've received phone calls from NJ prior to even having sent the body back as I'm waiting on an out of town shipment from my son before I can return the body. They did offer a loaner body in the interim so I do feel they are trying to do the right thing. Maybe they are getting used to this as well.

 

Thanks for the post as I was considering an MP instead of the M7 & will probably get another M6 or two as well.

[feli]

Why didn't you just exchange the defective MP for a new one? If your dealer was willing to take both back and swap them for two TTL, it would seem that he would have had no problem giving you a new MP. The MP is a much nicer camera than the TTL (unless you need the flash support)? I fail to follow your logic.

[joseph_barbano]

Feli: The dealer did not have any new MPs and I wanted to close the deal then and there. The M6's were new w/Passport and more than $700 cheaper than the MPs. So, after the experience with the MPs, buying the M6's seemed straigthforward.

 

BTW, prior to returing the MP, I called and spoke with Ernst Hauptmann, Leica USA in Rockvale, who confirmed that the behavior was faulty. Sometimes the meter would work, sometimes not; sometimes the ISO dial would work, sometimes not.

 

I wonder if Leica follows this forum?

[joseph_barbano]

To clarify: The dealer did not have another new MP to replace the defective one I returned.

[__hank_boneroneo1]

<<I wonder if Leica follows this forum?>>

 

Likely they do - and laugh each time they're forced to eat cake.

[notraces]

Uh .. why in the world would you do that? The MP is one of the finest cameras I've ever

owned and used... A simple discussion -- and swap -- that's all you needed to do...

[paul_neuthaler]

I would have walked out& bought a clean M3 or M2 on Ebay.

[bob soltis]

Stephen W.,

 

I recall seeing a post on this forum that pressing one's face against the M7's ISO dial

causes a short that makes the dot blink. (?) I've noticed similar flashing with my M7.

 

Happy Holidays/joyeaux noel and bon ani/rozdyetsvom christobom e snovom godom (no

cyrillic font)/Frohlick Wienachten

[stephen_w.]

Bob,

 

Yeah, I posted about it (I think), maybe another, or maybe in a private e-mail to Jay, who sold the camera to me for a buddy.

 

Dumb design, but not really a problem given the larger LEDs (not distracting). I use the M7 in manual.

[Uhooru]

I also get that ISO "wobble" and have to just jiggle it. Also my M7 had a wrong bearing in the film advance mechinism and since it was off warranty I had to pay to get a 2 year old camera fixed for something that was a manufactoring error. Still now that its ironed out it works great and I expect it should for a long, long time. some of these problems are Leica's but things can happen in shipping and it seems the retail store should check these cameras before they sell em.

[stephen_w.]

Yeah, but people like sealed boxes for such gear. I know I do.

[skeeter]

you actually lucked out. the ttl's are much better cameras, if you ignore the m7.

[robert_gries]

I purchased an MP new that developed a faulty mter after 2 months. I sent it back to Leica and they fixed it promptly. I was initially a bit upset that a new camera would have such a problem, but I think that the MP was still a good purchase.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

"The ttl's are much better cameras, if you ignore the m7."

 

On what basis do you say that?

[richie chishty]

I am glad I don't have to worry about buying two new Leica MPs! My five year old chrome Leica M6 TTL 0.72 is running fine after many hundreds of rolls of film. I guess I should knock on wood! :-)

[ben z]

My MP (a demo)had a shutter "irregularity", was under Demo warranty and had it back in perfect condition in less than 2 weeks door to door and it has worked fine since then. I decided at the end of the 1 yr to cough up the $125 for another 2 years of warranty just in case. No problems with the ISO however mine is the original M6 type ISO, which I purposely sought out after seeing the new style at a store and feeling (right or wrong) that it was a cheapened design. I didn't know about the obnoxious eyepiece redesign at that point or I would have passed on the MP altogether. My recent purchase of an M6 classic for $850 has kind of embittered me on how much money I dropped on the MP, but it's still a good camera. But, Mechanical Perfection my eye!

 

Then again a buddy of mine returned his 3 week old Canon 1D Mark-II to the store for a replacement because it died on him. While he was there another customer brought back a dead 20D he had for less than a week.

 

Personally I'm not about to get my blood pressure up over a malfunctioning camera no matter how much it cost, so long as there's a fix for it either under warranty (preferably) or at reasonable cost. I wish my own body was that easy to fix!

[skeeter]

bill, you are entitled to your opinion, i have my own. i guess if everyone agreed with you, leica would sell only one camera.

[skeeter]

actully bill, pardon me, i thought you had made a prior comment above.

 

i think the control features make more sense. i use ttl. my personal fav is the m7. i see people extolling the virtues of manual exposure settings, as if the m7 isn't capable of this. i see the m7 as an m6ttl with the additional feature of ae, if you want to use it. i find under certain circumstances it comes in very handy. i also like the longer shutter speed options (up to 32 seconds) when using the ae mode. i think it is even quieter than the purely mechanical shutter. hope this answers your question.