CLA suggestions for everyone.

powasky · May 28, 2013

We're missing a thread that gives member suggestions for CLA's. Please add your information if you have had a rangefinder CLA'd!

I recently picked up a Konica Auto S3 that needed a CLA. Many people suggested Greg Weber as the Konica god, but I found that his prices were very high and that his inventory was running low on spare parts. I ended up sending my S3 to Frank Marshman (aka Camera Wiz) in Harrisonburg, VA.

Mr. Marshman sourced a rewind lever for me and CLA'd my camera for a total of $60 (less than half of what Mr. Weber was going to charge). I received the camera less than two weeks after I sent it.

All in all, Mr. Marshman's services were excellent. He worked hard to return my camera to original condition and communicated well with me during the process. He didn't leave a single mar or mark on my camera from opening or adjusting.

I would not hesitate to send a camera to Mr. Marshman again. His work was top-notch and reasonably priced.

chip j · May 28, 2013

I also recommend Camera Wiz. I sent an enlarging lens there w/a fungus problem, and he even sent me a diagram w/a picture of the" ghost image" That was left after cleaning. He was almost inexpensive.

mgb74 · May 28, 2013

$60 for a good CLA on a classic RF is pretty good - even without rewind lever repair. Love the low overhead of a home based business.

I thought I'd search to see if Marshman / Camera Wiz had a website but couldn't find it. Did find this (there was a url link here which no longer exists) from a year ago.

chip j · May 28, 2013

Thanks much. I have a Vivitar VHE 80mm to send him, plus a 24-40 constant 2.8 Tokina, both w/haze.

Sirius Glass · May 29, 2013

If you have to wait, it is still worth it to have http://www.flutotscamerarepair.com/ do the CLA. I highly recommend them.

For Widelux I recommend http://www.flutotscamerarepair.com/

I take my Hasselblad to Mike at Samys Camera on Fairfax in Los Angeles

kchoquette · Jun 1, 2013

I just got my M4 CLA'd by Youxin Ye from Yye Camera out of Canton, MA and I gotta say, the job he did was incredible. I was lucky enough to spend the time in his shop as he tore my camera down and adjusted it. It was a great experience, and I never expected him to walk me through the majority of the process. At $150, it wasn't particularly cheap, but it's much cheaper than most of the Leica CLAs you can get done, and the turn-around time was two and a half hours! Nothing like getting a brand new feeling Leica in a matter of hours!

ray*j*gun · Jun 22, 2013

kchoquette said:
I just got my M4 CLA'd by Youxin Ye from Yye Camera out of Canton, MA and I gotta say, the job he did was incredible. I was lucky enough to spend the time in his shop as he tore my camera down and adjusted it. It was a great experience, and I never expected him to walk me through the majority of the process. At $150, it wasn't particularly cheap, but it's much cheaper than most of the Leica CLAs you can get done, and the turn-around time was two and a half hours! Nothing like getting a brand new feeling Leica in a matter of hours!

Plus one for Youxin Ye..... hes the best value out there for Barnacks. I have never used him for an M but I hear he is great with them as well.

removed account4 · Jun 22, 2013

ray*j*gun said:
Plus one for Youxin Ye..... hes the best value out there for Barnacks. I have never used him for an M but I hear he is great with them as well.

+3

i live an hour away and dropped it off + picked it up.
he's a super nice guy too!

Spicy · Jun 25, 2013

+4. My hometown is about a 30min trip away and I've gone down to hang out/help keep him company while he services my cameras (done it for a IIIc, an M4-P, and a Canon P). Great fun, learned a lot, and very high on the bang-for-the-buck spectrum. He's a great guy to chat with, as well -- very interesting.

Ed Bray · Jun 25, 2013

Miles Whitehead in the UK has always provided me with good service at very reasonable prices. Not rangefinders for me but Various Film SLRs and Large Format Shutters including a very nice Betax 2 he CLAd for me recently for a very reasonable total cost including return postage of £36.

TheToadMen · Jun 25, 2013

Any good CLA experiences in The Netherlands, Europe? I have a Nikon F4s and a Nikon F5 that died on me after 5 years of not using but laying in a case without batteries. No respons at all with fresh batteries, while my Nikon F801 works fine with these new batteries.

Bert from Holland
Http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl

Peltigera · Jun 25, 2013

Ed Bray said:
Miles Whitehead in the UK has always provided me with good service at very reasonable prices. Not rangefinders for me but Various Film SLRs and Large Format Shutters including a very nice Betax 2 he CLAd for me recently for a very reasonable total cost including return postage of £36.

I have an Exakta Varex II that is in dire need of a CLA - do you have contact details for Miles Whitehead, by any chance?

Ed Bray · Jun 26, 2013

Peltigera said:
I have an Exakta Varex II that is in dire need of a CLA - do you have contact details for Miles Whitehead, by any chance?

http://www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk/

nbagno · Jun 26, 2013

Olympus Repair

www.zuiko.com

I have had a couple of cameras and one lens cla'd. You will hear great things about John if you search but be prepared to wait 6+ weeks for your repair to be completed.

jhgnag · Aug 10, 2013

Any suggestions for a Olympus 35RC? I'd send it to zuiko.com, but his website says he doesn't service these anymore.

I'm in Denver.

powasky · Aug 13, 2013

jhgnag said:
Any suggestions for a Olympus 35RC? I'd send it to zuiko.com, but his website says he doesn't service these anymore.

I'm in Denver.

Frank Marshman did quite a job on my Konica S3...if you don't mind shipping to VA I bet he'd do your 35RC up pretty good at a reasonable rate.

martinjames · Aug 15, 2013

ray*j*gun said:
Plus one for Youxin Ye..... hes the best value out there for Barnacks. I have never used him for an M but I hear he is great with them as well.

+5 for Youxin, great servicing and fast turnaround. I have an M4 serviced by him, as well as a IIIf. Both work very well.

The guy I work for also has lots of Leica gear and between the 2 of us, we've a fair amount of experience with Youxin. Not every servicing incident has been 100 percent perfect at first but he is extremely easy to work with when sorting out and correcting issues. Really nice guy and you simply can't beat the fast turnaround.

thuggins · Oct 21, 2013

powasky said:
All in all, Mr. Marshman's services were excellent. He worked hard to return my camera to original condition and communicated well with me during the process. He didn't leave a single mar or mark on my camera from opening or adjusting.

I would not hesitate to send a camera to Mr. Marshman again. His work was top-notch and reasonably priced.

I hope from this comment (and others), that Frank has gotten over whatever troubles he was encountering. I had him work on a number of cameras about 5+ years ago, and his cost and turnaround time were both great. Then a series of problems started - cameras would be gone for months, it would come back without being fixed, etc. The last straw was three tries to fix the shutter on a Chrome Six. After no improvement at all, I finally got tired of sending it back to him. SK Grimes fixed it up perfectly the first time.

CamCrunch · Nov 2, 2013

This is an amazing idea for a thread! I'm surely going to look back at this when it's time to take my cameras in for a CLA.

jacksond · Nov 5, 2013

Mentioned it on another thread, but for Melbourne Australia Shutter Box in Camberwell is a very good place for a thorough CLA.

Skulls Road · Nov 5, 2013

Mark Hama has my Olympus OM2n and Fujica V2. Pricey compared to what some people are being quoted, $135 each camera. I opted not to send my OM to zuiko.com because I'm incredibly impatient and it didn't need much more than a simple CLA. If it needed parts I would probably send it to someone who has easy access to them. Mr. Hama did a great job on my Yashica 12 so I felt comfortable sending more work his way.

I sent an XD11 to Weber Camera and I ended up paying shipping for nothing. He couldn't fix an electronics issue. Probably not his fault, but I was disappointed none the less.

Eric H. has my MX right now and everyone knows to send their Pentax to him in the USA. No point in wasting your time with anyone else.

tessar · Nov 5, 2013

If you're in Canada and need work done on a Leica, there's nobody better than Gerry Smith at Kindermann (Toronto area): www.kindermann.ca
He did a fine and fast job on my M4-P.

CLA suggestions for everyone.

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