The Leica failed me – AGAIN

The last picture I took with my Leica SL2-S is not a pretty one. After working flawlessly at the start of our summer vacation in Brittany last August, my expensive premium German mirrorless full frame camera, from one exposure to the next, started behaving strangely again, giving me the shivers when I noticed. Because it was exact the same behavior the SL2-S showed before failing me at the second day of our Israel vacation in 2022, when the camera was brand new. With a defect of the electronic shutter. You can read about my frustrations with Leica and its customer service back then here and here.

The camera was fixed, but I never used it with the same confidence as my Nikons, Fujis and Olympus cameras. There was always a bad feeling. That it could fail me again. From one moment to the other, as before. So when on vacation, or on a photography gig, I always felt I had to carry a second camera as a backup. This is why in France I also had my trusted workhorse Olympus OM-D E-M1X with me. Which was good. Because it has happened again. The exact same error. The Leica failed me – AGAIN!

But at least I got a free physics lesson out of it. The rest was expensive….

For the full saga between me and the Leica customer service in the past 4 months following the renewed hardware failure, continue after the jump….

As said, the behavior of the camera in the four or five exposures prior to the total failure of the SL2-S with the orange “system error” message in the display, was the exact same as two years ago. Knowing it was a hardware defect, I just stashed the camera in its bag and used the Olympus for the rest of our trip through Brittany. After our return to Nuremberg in early September, I brought it to the Leica Store in town where I had purchased it in Spring of 2022. And where I had returned it to after the first defect.

I told the store manager about my frustrations experiencing the exact same failure again. And that my expectations are that, despite the SL2-S being already a few weeks out of the 2 year warranty, Leica repairs the camera for free, as this was obviously the same hardware issue with the electronic shutter. Which, if you google it, seems not to be an uncommon thing with the SL2 family. Anyway, they told me that they will send it to Leica HQ in Wetzlar, that it could take some weeks and they will notify me when the camera is ready for pickup. Then….silence….

About eight weeks later, I called into the store to check whether they have heard from the Leica customer service and when the camera would be ready for pickup. I was told that just the day before (what a coincidence!!) they had heard back from Leica HQ in Wetzlar. That they are sorry, but have discovered that the SL2-S had suffered from an imposed shock damage. And that they need to charge me for the repairs about 800 Euros, but would give me a discount. I told them that this can’t be the case, that I never mishandled, let alone dropped the camera. And that the body shows absolutely no signs of a fall or any other impact. And that it is the exact same error that happened to me two years ago.

I then asked for a contact in the HQ customer service, that could give me an explanation on why they think I have mistreated my camera.

Eventually I was provided an email contact of a person in the Leica Customer Service in Wetzlar. I wrote him a kind message, explaining my frustration with the premium camera that has failed me twice with the same system defect. That I always have treated the camera with utmost care. And that I simply want to understand from what facts they derive their shock damage accusation. And whether they imply that I have dropped my camera not only once (in Israel), but seemingly twice (in France). I also told them that given the brand reputation of Leica and the marketing of the SL2-S as a professional tool, I expect a free repair, as it was the same error that killed the camera twice.

I got a reply by email, but the answer was disappointing. They confirmed that back in July 2022 (during the warranty period), they received my camera with a defective shutter. During the repair, they also noticed that the sensor position had shifted out of tolerance. And that they replaced as well the sensor carrier and the sensor. They also confirmed that now, in September 2024, the camera had exact the same malfunctions.

They offered to repair the camera, now out of warranty, with a generous discount, but still would charge 350 Euros. And then came something that made me really mad! Because I got a lecture in physics from the customer service person at Leica HQ.

And here I quote now directly from the email: “We can only determine the actual condition in the initial inspection, but not the cause. However, the SL camera family has a very robust camera body on the one hand and a very high weight on the other. Force is mass times acceleration. If the camera is subjected to heavy braking, even in a camera bag, very high forces are exerted without the camera showing any external damage. This can lead to a defect in the shutter. If the sensor position is also displaced, we must assume that there has been an external effect, even if the camera shows no signs of external damage.”

Leica, if you read this: ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? You dare to lecture your customers about Newtons law of motion??? Suggesting, that even if we don’t throw our cameras to the ground, but merely swing our camera bags around (I have yet to see a photographer do this), your expensive, professional tool runs the risk of malfunctioning?

So clearly stating that I have a clean conscience, never mistreated the camera, just suffering twice from the same, full system failure complete out of the blue wasn’t recognized. Instead I got a physics lesson. And an invoice. And no choice other than to pay the invoice, in order to at least be able to sell this sorry “professional” tool. The e-mail finished with the note, that the offered discount on the repair “is not an admission of guilt, but rather our customer-oriented approach”.

I picked up the repaired camera yesterday. 4 and a half months after I dropped it off at the store where I have purchased it.

Sorry, Leica, your kind of customer-oriented approach is a total disgrace.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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