How long does DAG take these days? - See follow-up thread

[summicron1]

I've used DAG for decades and yes the wait time is somewhere between a week and a year. BUT he said he would repair an R3!!!! Then he is the only person in the world willing to take on that Herculean endeavor.

in the end i have just asked for the camera back just to end the aggravation -- i don't even have an estimate yet. I sympathize with him having a backlog, but to make some wait a year while he turns others around in 6 weeks (see above) is not right.

 

[beemermark]

The reason no one will repair an R3 is that there are two surface mount circuit boards on each side of the prism with a hornet's nest of wires between them (and wires going every where else). The solder joints break where the wires connect to the CB. Figure out what wire is the problem is, re-solder the wire(s), put all back together only to find out that another wire broke. I thought everyone quit repairing them 20 or more years ago. I really liked the camera but I went through 3 (2 are around here somewhere). Gave up an bought an SL2. There is a reason DAG can make a repair in 6 weeks and other repairs take a year, he's no different than any competent Leica repair person. Good luck, post on here if you get it repaired an by who. I'd love to get one of mine working again.

 

[summicron1]

The reason no one will repair an R3 is that there are two surface mount circuit boards on each side of the prism with a hornet's nest of wires between them (and wires going every where else). The solder joints break where the wires connect to the CB. Figure out what wire is the problem is, re-solder the wire(s), put all back together only to find out that another wire broke. I thought everyone quit repairing them 20 or more years ago. I really liked the camera but I went through 3 (2 are around here somewhere). Gave up an bought an SL2. There is a reason DAG can make a repair in 6 weeks and other repairs take a year, he's no different than any competent Leica repair person. Good luck, post on here if you get it repaired an by who. I'd love to get one of mine working again.

i have just asked for it back. If it is that difficult --and i told dag this in june -- and he doesn't want to do the camera i'd pay to have it sent back. I have now sent him the postage.

The problem is strictly mechanical -- a linkage under the lens mount which, I thought, would be simple. If not, no biggie, send it back and no hard feelings, is what i told him in june.

since then silence. if he's just snowed under and the place is overwhelmed, my advice to him would be to refuse any more repairs of anything until he works through the backlog. If he's doing stuff he wants, and letting other stuff slide, that's his pirogative but i don't want to play that game.

 

[craigclu]

Two DAG episodes in the last year or so and I couldn't be more pleased with the experiences. More prompt than expected and what I thought were write-offs (M6 TTL and CL) are both like new and doing duty as designed.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Are there common issues with the M6TTL now that it is becoming a "mature" camera?

 

[Chrismat]

I sent my M5 to him for a cla and it took 15 months. It had the internal light leak problem that the camera suffers from with age. I also wanted the camera to get a basic cla. I had read in other threads that Zack's can fix the M5 light leak problem, but I read that after I sent him the camera. I called him a few times, he finally got it repaired. The camera works great, no light leaks after putting about 15 rolls through. Don't know if I would send another camera to him or not, but it may be a moot point since my M5 and my R-E will probably be the only Leicas I will own.

 

[summicron1]

The reason no one will repair an R3 is that there are two surface mount circuit boards on each side of the prism with a hornet's nest of wires between them (and wires going every where else). The solder joints break where the wires connect to the CB. Figure out what wire is the problem is, re-solder the wire(s), put all back together only to find out that another wire broke. I thought everyone quit repairing them 20 or more years ago. I really liked the camera but I went through 3 (2 are around here somewhere). Gave up an bought an SL2. There is a reason DAG can make a repair in 6 weeks and other repairs take a year, he's no different than any competent Leica repair person. Good luck, post on here if you get it repaired an by who. I'd love to get one of mine working again.

finally heard from DAG -- apparently he fixed the meter linkage thing easy but has been trying to get the auto speed selector to work and can't and the circuit board IC (whatever that is -- internal computer?) is bad so he's giving up and sending it back and I told him I much appreciated his efforts.

he also said he'll never do an R3 again ... says this one reminded him why he won't. He sent me a picture of the wiring you describe and, wow, yeah, real mess.

So there we are. I'm going to amend the top post as well. Sorry but I guess your R3s will be joining mine on the shelf. I have two SL2s to assuage my feelings, so I'll survive somehow.

 

[MattKing]

I'm going to close this thread - but I did amend the title, and am happy to refer you to the follow-up here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/dag-comes-through-were-cool.195685/