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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

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:

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

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


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

Sherry Krauter in New York

John Van Steltin
Focal Point Inc
300 Center Drive
Suite G177
Superior, CO 80027

Steve’s Camera Service Center
4355 So. Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-0072


Canada

Kindermann Canada Inc.
Attn: Service Department c/o Gerry Smith
3-361 Steelcase Road West
Markham, ON L3R 3V8
Tel:(905) 940-9262


Australia

Shutter Box
1163 Toorak Rd
Camberwell, Victoria 3124
Tel. 61 3 9809 4711


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




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.”

File:JPReis.jpg
Phillip Reis

File:Johann Philipp Reis telephone.jpg
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.