Topic: How much for a CLA?

[Francois]

I'm planning on having some work done on my grandpa's Leica but I want to know what I'm getting into before hand.
I was thinking about sending it to Gerry at kindermann in Toronto, but I'm afraid it's going to cost more to get it serviced than the actual value of the camera, it is just a 1C after all...

So, what do you think?

[02Pilot]

I'd say plan for $200+, depending on what it needs (curtains, primarily). It's probably pushing past the bounds of the value of the camera as a camera (depending on cosmetics), but if it has sentimental value you have to consider that as well.

Of course, if you're not the sentimental type, you could sell it to me as-is. I've been thinking about a Ic (or a Standard) lately.... 

[Bryan]

I have used Yye Camera a few times.  He has a great reputation and his prices are great.  As little as $150 depending on what you need done, plus shipping.  New shutter curtains or a new beam splitter will cost a bit more.  I guess you don’t have to worry about a beam splitter with a Ic. 

http://www.yyecamera.com/price_list.html

[Francois]

No worry about a beam splitter, or a self timer, or slow speeds, or flash contacts.
The curtain is still in good shape.

What I'm worried about is that when I talked to Gerry on the phone, he told me that he doesn't have any parts for it and he was pretty worried about cracking the vulcanite when taking it apart...

[02Pilot]

Yeah, the vulcanite is probably pretty brittle at this point. How concerned are you about keeping it 100% original? I've recovered two Barnack Leicas with replacement skins from Hugo Studio, and they're very, very close to the original in appearance and feel.

I wouldn't be too concerned about a lack of parts - most of the time the originals are fine, just sticky from failed lubricants and accumulated crud.

[Francois]

Not surprising in a sense, especially when you consider it never had a CLA since it left the manufacture!

[SLVR]

I've had Gerry Smith work on all my leicas. He's not cheap. Prepare for a $300 bill Francois. Plus shipping.

To be honest, Gerry isn't the be all end all of leica repair. He didn't fully fix my M4 before I sold it. I brought it in to him with a problem of the shutter jamming at 1/1000 in cold weather. He fixed the jam but the shutter speeds went out of wack not too long afterwards. I sold the camera off because I could have used the money but it was a disappointment.

I loved that little M4 and i'm always yearning for another "classic" M body style.

I never brought it back to him to get the shutter speeds repaired because I simply didn't have enough time or money to keep sinking in to the camera to have him touch it. That being said, when I was having focus issues with my Summicron on my M2 I thought it was the lens and gerry put my lens on his collimator to check it right away and determined that the lens was not at fault free of charge.

Just don't piss him off.

[Francois]

Good to know.
Considering that 300$ is almost half the camera's value, I'll really have to think about it long and hard.

EDIT: I just talked to a lady at a local camera shop and she tells me that they had to stop sending camera to Gerry because of his temper. When there is a camera he doesn't want to work on, he just sends it off to Leica Germany without telling the camera owner and sticks them with the repair bill.

[Bryan]

Contact Yye Camera, he's pretty good about responding.  As long as the shutter curtains look good you should only expect around $150 plus shipping.  I had one I thought was going to need new shutter curtains, turned out the old ones just needed to be re-attached. 

[02Pilot]

Youxin Ye is good. He did a set of curtains for me after I had CLA'd the camera (not realizing that the curtains were perforated) and actually cut the bill to account for the fact that he didn't have to clean up 70 years of ick. Be advised that he's often backlogged for several months.

[SLVR]

I just talked to a lady at a local camera shop and she tells me that they had to stop sending camera to Gerry because of his temper. When there is a camera he doesn't want to work on, he just sends it off to Leica Germany without telling the camera owner and sticks them with the repair bill.

I could believe it. However there are things that he can't do at his place. For example I had a V4 summicron that I wanted him to fix the wobble in. He took a stab at it but really it didn't fix anything. He said it would have to be sent off to germany in order to get it in fully working order again.

He's old as dirt and I've heard that he can't retire for some reason so that could also add on to the rage. I've always tried to stay on his good side and when I know I'm bothering him I end up taking the brunt of his extremely dry jokes.

He's not the only option but he does have a history. Whether its good or bad is up to you. I will still send my M5 over to him if it develops any more issues only because he's local and probably the fastest option out there to be honest.

There is also David Yau. Him and Gerry used to work in Midland together. Though David Yau was the one who CLA'd my M2 the first time. He was the one who told me that he was retired and no accepting work when I told him that I wanted my M2 looked at months later after it developed an issue. Later I found out he's the guy doing all of the work for HIT Camera here in Toronto. Slimey leica repairmen there are...

There are horror stories everywhere.

[Francois]

Last night I contacted Camtec in Montreal. They operate the Leica boutique, so I figure they probably know what they're doing. I was surprised to hear the man tell me that they send all their camera out of Canada.

I'm awaiting their call today... So we'll see