Curious - How much does Leica NJ charge for M8 focus adjustment?

[John Black]

A friend of mine bought an M8 and is having focus issues. He's pretty confident it's the M8 and not his lenses. If he sent to the M8 to NJ to have the focus checked and adjusted (if needed), what does Leica charge for that? $200?

I know it could go to DAG, but I don't agree with that route because I think the M8 should be aligned to Leica's benchmarks. Once the M8 is in spec, then if the lenses needed tweaking, in that case I would send the whole kit to DAG. In theory if the M8 is in spec and DAG matches the lens(es) to that M8, that implies the lenses would also be within proper calibration spec after adjustment too.

 

[robertwright]

NJ charges 200 for a CLA.

 

[John Black]

Thank you.

 

[charlesphoto]

I would send it to DAG if it is out of warranty. I'm sure he charges much less than that and will make sure it is done right. Last time I sent my M8 in for a warranty repair not only was the repair still not done right (the second time - now it needs to go back for a third) but the rf was really out of whack (they were supposed to be fixing sticky framelines so you'd think they would adjust the rf properly). I literally stuck it back in the box to go back for a rf adjust.

Don has done everything for not only a fraction of the price of Leica but always the best.

 

[robertwright]

I should qualify my answer, Leica changes 200 for a CLA of a lens. I asked recently. I do not know if that is the same as work on a body, which is what I see now was your question.

My opinion is if you can send everything in once I would do that. It is not likely that every single part is out of spec. If all the lenses misfocus you suspect the rangefinder. If only a couple misbehave you suspect the individuals.

And it depends which lenses are misbehaving. Likely offenders are summilux 35's and 75's, which exhibit focus shift on stopping down. Noctilux as well. these lenses can only be made to focus accurately wide open after which they will degrade through 2.0-5.6. There are workarounds where you tune the lens to be a little front focused wide open so that the drift as you stop down stays more in the dof. DAG would be my choice for that kind of thing. this has nothing to do with the rangefinder.

 

[John Black]

I do not like having lenses tuned to specific bodies because that will most likely lead to issues for the next owner. Also if the lenses are adjusted to a misaligned RF body, the lenses can exhibit added CA, fringing or softness. I'm not saying that's an absolute, but the door has been opened. My preference is to get the M8 calibrated to spec and work from there. I sent an email to Leica NJ asking the cost and will update the thread after they replied.

Charles - as an update to our PM discussion; Leica replaced the M8. It took ~6 months of back and forth, but they finally made the situation "right".

 

[robertwright]

certainly DAG can tune the body or the lenses to spec. I only meant sending it all in at once means you can avoid turnaround time if it is not one or the other.

As for the lux issue, adjusting these lenses to "spec" might not be the best thing. Whatever the spec is for the noctilux, if it is dead on wide open you can bet it is very out at 2.8. this is just what the lens does naturally. making it front focus very slightly wide open will make it more usable across the aperture range. Just remember to inhale before shooting

the only other issue is that DAG is on a "need to use" basis. If you need to use it, remind him a lot and it will get done faster Also expect many emails to go unanswered...it gets done however...you just have to be a (nice) squeaky wheel.