Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Fixing a Leica M2 camera and lenses

I inherited my father's Leica M2, 35mm rangefinder camera with a 35mm f/1.4 lens and a 90mm f/2.0 lens.  Awesome stuff!

I won't go into a lot of details about what is wrong with these items; here are the highlights:

  • The 90mm lens does not focus accurately
  • The 35mm lens has lost its focus knob
  • The camera body is old (probably bought in 1959).
I have received an estimate from Leica USA in New Jersey on cleaning and repairing these items:
  • 90mm lens: $350
  • 35mm lens: $335
  • Camera body: $800.
I am shocked.  But I shouldn't be, I suppose.  When a new Leica with a Leica lens costs at LEAST $10K, this should have been expected.  Nonetheless, I am shocked!

I haven't fully admitted to myself that I won't pay for this, but I am pretty sure that will be my decision.

So sad....

UPDATE: Aug 10 2013

I decided to get the 90 millimeter lens fixed and I got it back.  since we're talking about film here, it'll be awhile before I can tell if it's any good.  I'll be real disappointed if its not perfect.

No comments:

Post a Comment