Hexar RF still being serviced? - Page 9

lewis44 · 12-30-2009

The Final Chapter

Again a couple of phone calls from Precision. Mark, (the person I am dealing with) Explained that they got the Leica lenses in and also rented a M7 for the testing. They thought it was my lens and not the camera.

They put the Konica 50mm on the M7. Perfect.

Leica lenses on the M7. Perfect.

Damn, maybe it's the camera after all. More tests.

Mark calls me back. "You were right, it was the camera" and "It was as you suggested" the lens mount on the camera needs to be shimmed.

"How 'Bout That"

Yesterday UPS dropped the camera and lens on my doorstep.

This morning I loaded a roll of film in the Hexar and rolled the dice.

Well, the camera focuses perfectly and the images were right on. Wonder of Wonders, the Journey is over.

As big a hassle as this was (started in July) I have to give a hand to Mark.
He said the Hexar would not leave the shop until it was fixed and did not care about the costs involved. He kept his word.

They rented the M7 and Lenses and that plus the shipping and time involved in doing this 4 times had to set them a lot more than I paid for the repair.

The benifit for all of you Konica Hexar RF owners is that now, Precision Camera has the knowledge to work on your camera and should not make the same mistakes again.

aizan · 12-30-2009

you are one tenacious dude.

amateriat · 12-30-2009

Well, with all the grief they've gotten, the had little choice but to get better at all this. We'll make them "precision" Hex-techs yet!

And, thank you for your perseverence in all this.

- Barrett

Issy · 12-30-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewis44

The Final Chapter

Mark calls me back. "You were right, it was the camera" and "It was as you suggested" the lens mount on the camera needs to be shimmed.

Did you buy this camera new, or used? I wonder, if used, somewhere along the life of this camera, during all the hub-bub about focus plane differences (Hexar RF vs Leica), some one removed the shims.

Bill

amateriat · 12-30-2009

Bill: quite likely the shim(s) were taken off. This isn't th efirst time I've hear about this sort of thing happening.

- Barrett

lewis44 · 12-30-2009

Quote:

Did you buy this camera new, or used?

I bought it used.
I had one that I purchased new years ago and did not have a problem.
I did read somewhere that those with problems took out shims to get Leica lenses to focus correctly, but my first one had no issues with it.
That was why I mentioned the cameras lens mount to Precision, but I didn't get to talk to Mark until about a month or two ago.
He was the only one who seemed to understand what I was talking about and was determined to get it right.
I really appreciated his effort

Issy · 12-31-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Issy

... somewhere along the life of this camera, during all the hub-bub about focus plane differences (Hexar RF vs Leica), some one removed the shims.

Bill

btw, I currently am in the camp that maintains there was never any issue with the film plane to mount distance (and the shims should never have been removed), but I do believe there are certain Hexar RFs that have slight differences in how the RF focus cam engages with the lens mount, Leica/CV/Zeiss vs Hexanon. I have one, in fact. But that is a story/debate for another topic...

Doug · 12-31-2009

Congratulations, Randy, on getting a satisfactory result, finally. Maybe I need to seek out Mark myself! I've been dealing mainly with Jillian, occasionally with Myles. I did get a phone message (likely response to a recent email) from someone there last week, I assumed Myles, but the connection was so bad I couldn't make out much of it. After the Holidays, I'll dig into it again... It's been 11 months now.

Royale With Cheese · 01-10-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug

Congratulations, Randy, on getting a satisfactory result, finally. Maybe I need to seek out Mark myself! I've been dealing mainly with Jillian, occasionally with Myles. I did get a phone message (likely response to a recent email) from someone there last week, I assumed Myles, but the connection was so bad I couldn't make out much of it. After the Holidays, I'll dig into it again... It's been 11 months now.

Hope yours would be alright soon!

Doug · 01-11-2010

Thanks! I phoned Precision today and was quickly connected with Myles. This is good because most often I've "timed out" their call waiting and just left a voicemail. He says they are dedicated to fixing this HRF properly and being done with it. Maybe he used the phrase "once and for all" but this is its 8th trip across the country to them for repair. So, "eight times and for all"? As always we hope for the best!

And the magic name does seem to be "Mark", as Myles asked me to enclose a previous "Final Repair Ticket" and write on it "Attn: Mark Soares". I also printed my two previous emails (unanswered) on the back.

I've long since given up on this camera; I figure a "final" repair will be a pleasant surprise. So I'm not getting upset about it... no point. Hasn't worked so far, but it's possible that a good attitude on my part could return a better result from them than a nasty letter.

lewis44 · 01-11-2010

Doug,

Quote:

"a good attitude on my part could return a better result from them than a nasty letter"

I worked for me and like I said in my previous post, Mark did say "it would not leave until it was right and he checked it."

After dealing with him I think you are in good hands now.

Doug · 02-01-2010

I got a phone message from Precision (a Vickie or Nikki) last Thursday (Friday was its one-full-year anniversary of sending there for the first time) just letting me know my HRF had been fixed and shipped, no other detail. Now, having nearly completed its 8th round-trip for repair, it's sitting at the UPS distribution depot 3 hours east of here, due for delivery tomorrow morning.

Could it possibly be fixed?????? I will quickly run through a roll of way outdated Kodak Ektapress 1600 to check for correct function...

amateriat · 02-01-2010

Here's hoping, Doug, for all our sakes. I think they're going to be among the best places to get a Hexar fixed as a result of all this.

Besides, that camera must have more frequent-flier miles than you do by now!

- Barrett

sepiareverb · 02-01-2010

Did Precision send you flowers for your anniversary?

Seriously, fingers are crossed. You're a more patient man than I.

Doug · 02-01-2010

Thanks! Here's hoping for a miracle. The last few times it's gone back to them on a Next-Day-Air tag, but other travel has been by truck. Like this current trip has jumped around a bit to Kentucky and Indiana before getting on a main route West, typical of their shipments. So, lots of bouncing around, I expect, and indeed there have been some RF misalignments show up, and one instance where some screw must have been loose, allowing the RF alignment to shift around at will with taps of the hand.

Doug · 02-02-2010

Whew! I think it's ok! Maybe Mark does have the magic touch.

It ran through a whole roll of 36 exposures without a hitch, and the processed film confirms it.

As I use additional film, hopefully without problem, I'll become more confident of the lasting nature of the repair, and send some positive feedback to Precision. Hopefully, restating Barrett's good point, with the recent experiences from several of us here, they'll be in a better position to deal with future HRF service.

lewis44 · 02-02-2010

Doug,
Wonderful News

sepiareverb · 02-03-2010

Wow. That's one valuable Hexar!

Doug · 02-03-2010

I hope the value of the experience will exceed their cost... As I recall my original cost was about $110, and they then put it through their repair shop 8 times and paid for 15 UPS trips across the country. It's been a lot of bother for me, and for them.

Doug · 02-21-2010

I've been too busy to use the camera much, but I've shot three rolls of film with it now with perfect function. No skipped frames, no counter reverting to 0... it runs the film through one frame at a time and rewinds at the end just as it should. There is a slight vertical misalignment in the RF that goes away when I move my eye to the top of the eyepiece, but I think I can live with that.

It's been a long and bumpy road to this point, and I'm just happy to have the camera back and working properly.

sepiareverb · 02-22-2010

Congratulations. You must have earned some kinda karma on this one.

mpve · 04-11-2010

Look here: http://www.kamera-service.info/

I was assured they can CLA an Hexar RF and also have replacement parts...

amateriat · 04-11-2010

At some point, I think we'll want to together a little list of places that can reliably service the Hexen (RF & AF). This will be of benefit for both us users and the shops providing service. At least the news is getting better, albeit slowly.

- Barrett

gliderbee · 04-11-2010

In Germany, these guys should be able to service a Hexar (that's what they tell on eBay anyway): first link is on eBay, second one is the "real" one:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...#ht_2066wt_939

http://www.kameraklinik.de

Stefan.

Arjay · 04-15-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by gliderbee

In Germany, these guys should be able to service a Hexar (that's what they tell on eBay anyway): first link is on eBay, second one is the "real" one:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...#ht_2066wt_939

http://www.kameraklinik.de

Stefan.

I have used Kameraklinik recently. They CLA'd my Hexar AF competently (cleaned AF system, replaced camera top shell w/ LCD and VF eyepiece, solved shutter switch problem and checked shutter speeds). Work quality was good, communication required some initiative on my part (see below), pricing - well I guess it was appropriate considering that I was having a collectors item brought back up to speed.

They have their own stock of Konica spares. It appears they bought up all Konica/Minolta spares supplies when the KM camera operation was closed down in Germany! They claim they had to move their office to have more room for massively increased spares stock.

A word of caution: They are not very good at answering emails. If you want to keep track of your camera's repair status, you will need to phone these guys. It helps if you speak German.