RECOMMENDED LEICA REPAIR FACILITIES

In general it is advisable to have any service work that needs to be done to leica equipment done by Leica.  That way we have the assurance that the work is done in accordance to Leica standards.  However, that does not mean at all that other, independent service companies cannot do equally good work.  In many cases these individuals received their initial training at Leica.  For instance, Don Goldberg of  DAG in Wisconsin worked for several years at Leica in Wetzlar.  After that he worked for several years at the Leica service department in Rockleigh, New Jersey before opening his own business.  I have used him for my own Leica service work for years and I can certainly attest to his competency and quality of work.

For a complete list of worldwide Leica Service facilities, please go to:

http://us.leica-camera.com/service/service_and_repair/worldwide_network/

Below are some select service facilities, including reputable non-Leica camera repair service companies.

Germany

Leica Camera AG

Customer Service

Gewerbepark 8

D-35606 Solms

Tel. +49(0)6442-208-0

Wetzlarer Feine Mechanik

Ottmar Michaely

Niedergasse 41

D-35630 Ehringhausen

+49 (0)6443/833880

Fotomechanik Reinhardt

Katzenwinkel 72

D-30966 Hemmingen

+49 (0)5101-585278

Gerard Wiener

Landwehrstr. 12

D-80336 München

+49 (0)89-595072

Paepke-Fototechnik

Inh. Dieter Paepke

Rather Broich 57

D-40472 Düsseldorf

+49-(0)211 – 98 68 88 0

United Kingdom

CRR

Luton UK

www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica

Malcolm Taylor

Herefordshire, UK

Phone No 01568 770542

Protech Camera Repairs, Unit 1

Vulcan House Farm

Coopers Green

Uckfield

East Sussex, UK TN22 4AT

Optical Instruments (Balham) Ltd

39 Neville Road

Croydon, Surrey

UK CR0 2DS

Tel: +44 (0)20 8664 9799

Italy

SAMCA (S.N.C.)

VIA DEI LANDI 15 R

16151 Genova

Tel.(PH): 39 010 412237

Netherlands

Will van Manen Kamera-Service

Dorpsstraat 81

2712 AD ZOETERMEER NL

Tel. +31 79 316 33 39

www.kamera-service.info

USA

Leica Camera Inc.

1 Pearl Ct, Unit A

Allendale, New Jersey 07401

Phone: 800-222-0118

Fax: 201-995-1686

Don Goldberg (DAG) in Wisconsin

www.dagcamera.com/

Sherry Krauter in New York

www.sherrykrauter.com/

John Van Steltin

Focal Point Inc

300 Center Drive

Suite G177

Superior, CO 80027

www.focalpointlens.com/

Steve’s Camera Service Center

4355 So. Sepulveda Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90230

(310) 397-0072

www.stevecamera.com/

Canada

Kindermann Canada Inc.

Attn: Service Department c/o Gerry Smith

3-361 Steelcase Road West

Markham, ON L3R 3V8

Tel:(905) 940-9262

www.kindermann.ca/

Australia

Shutter Box

1163 Toorak Rd

Camberwell, Victoria 3124

Tel. 61 3 9809 4711

www.shutterbox.com.au

Argentina

Victor E. Nasello

Hipòlito Yrigoyen 615, PB “A”

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Phone (5411) 4343-4076

India

Latif Precision Works

24, CHOWRINGHEE ROAD

KOLKATA-700087

INDIA

Phone: 91 033 2249-2265

www.latifprecisionworks.com

ERNST LEITZ, PHILLIP REIS and ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

What if...?  How often have we contemplated certain occurrences in the light of what has or hasn't happened?

In a book by W. Erb about the Leica company is a short paragraph with a transcript from a newspapaer article that translates as follows:

“On September 1864, the 39th meeting of the German Naturalists and Physicians took place in Giessen. (Giessen is a town very close to Wetzlar)  Particular efforts were made to remain competitive during the subsequent exhibition of microscopes.  For the young mechanic (Ernst Leitz) there was a special task.  Phillip Reis planned to demonstrate his invention, the telephone, since his first try in Frankfurt on October 16, 1861, had failed.  Ernst Leitz successfully completed the preliminary work with the help of his technical knowledge, so that on September 21, 1864, the final recognition was not denied the inventor.”

Phillip Reis

Reis' Telephone

Ernst Leitz

Photograph by Oskar Barnack

After reading that short paragraph one has to wonder: What if Ernst Leitz had become interested in telephones?  Could there have been a Leitel (Leitz Telephone)?  Considering the fact that Ernst Leitz did not start his work at the Wetzlar Optical Institute until 1865, this seems to be a possibility.

It is also interesting to note that Alexander Graham Bell did not show his invention of the telephone until 1876, twelve years later, yet he is generally credited with the invention of the telephone.   The above account very much proves that this is not at all the case. 

Alexander Graham Bell

Besides Reis and Bell, many others claimed to have invented the telephone. The result was the Gray-Bell telephone controversy, one of the United States' longest running patent interference cases, involving Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Elisha Gray, Emil Berliner, Amos Dolbear, J. W. McDonagh, G. B. Richmond, W. L. Voeker, J. H. Irwin, and Francis Blake Jr. The case started in 1878 and was not finalized until February 27, 1901.  However, regardless of the claims by Bell and others, nobody demonstrated a working telephone prior to Phillip Reis.