Watch out on M7...

I'd heard reports of M7s locking up. Heck, my first one completely died after a couple rolls of film went through it - dead electronics, no mechanical speeds either. That was 6 months after the first M7 release. But this...
This was a mechanical failure - a frozen camera. It began with film slipping, even though the advance lever and exposure counter moved normally. After rewinding and unloading, the camera advanced... and completely locked. No shutter, no shutter button operation, no film advance lever motion.
There was nothing for it but the care of Leica repair expert Fred Mueller at International Camera Technicians in Mountain View, California.
Two weeks later, the camera is back in my hands. Fred spent a couple hours just taking the thing apart because of the layered electronics covering the mechanical parts. He said the gearing had slipped - it wasn't cocking the shutter completely when the advance lever stopped moving. He exercised the camera for awhile to be more certain it wouldn't happen again, and he gives a 6-month warranty on his repair.
It was $325 I hadn't expected to spend. They aren't building them as well as my old M3... 

Mark Bohrer
Wildlife Photography on the Urban Edge
www.mountain-and-desert.com


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