Customer Reviews

Leica Camera Repair Handbook

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Superficial, not enough to really get you started on actually repairing Leica Cameras. Covers way too many models from all the screw mounts, M and even R models with 1-2 pages at the most for each one. The book essentially gives you an idea of what it takes to repair cameras but is not a step by step illustrated guide for actually repairing them. This is what I expected and was disappointed.

Thomas Tomosy in response to Mr Zef Basha:

You are confusing your terms. Concise is not superficial, in fact, just the opposite is true. An advanced technical text fattened with irrelevant, superficial sentences and paragraphs with obvious platitudes and banalities, fit, at best, for neophytes is what superficial is. My books have been called "stern", "consize", "not much hand-holding," "terse" even "hard-core" but never superficial because they are not. My previous books cover the basic repair methods. If you are a beginner you should have bought one of those. In the present book only specific repair methods are discussed that are relevant to Leica equipment. The description of the book, the table of contents and the introduction tells you exactly what the book is about: Leica bodies, lenses and accessories, 41 items in all. Bodies get the most space, from four to nine pages each. Lenses and accessories get fewer pages, enough to fully describe disassembly, repair, cleaning and adjustments. That's all, no padding. Had you read the book, you would know that there are information on every page that is unique and you would be hard put to find anywhere else. You owe and apology, not to me but to your fellow Leica lovers whom you dissuaded from buying a useful Leica repair manual.

Thomas Tomosy, author

This book is a fabulous compendium of Leica nuts and bolts and mechanical esoterica, rolled into a little more than 100 pages plus appendices. No, it is not encyclopedic in its coverage, nor would it be practical to aspire to such an objective given the number of pages available. Yet it is difficult to imagine a more concise and engaging source. Personally, I am troubled by promoters and spin doctors, and regret that the editorial billing shown above oversells the capability of any one-volume source. Phrases like "with GREAT DETAIL this book outlines ALL of the techniques needed to repair and restore Leica cameras, lenses..." are plainly implausible in the eyes of any Leica afficionado, given the variety and complexity of the cameras and lenses offered by this superb maker. Yet I was instantly drawn to this book and deeply impressed by the amount of ground that the author covers in a short space. The book is well worth the asking price. On sale, it is a steal.

H. Thomas Mitchell

Leicaphiles with a desire to work on SM and M mount Leicas have several books to choose from. Because the U.S. military purchased them in quantity and because military manuals are, when not classified, in the public domain there is the military manual: there are National Camera and Valera books which still circulate and have been reprinted by Ed Romney and others: and factory Leica repair documentation exists in some quantity even if not officially available "outside the trade". Romney and Lippincott have also written on Leica extensively as did Izaak Maizenberg in his Russian camera book, inasmuch as several Russian cameras were copies of Leicas.

This covers the same stuff, and does a reasonable job, although some things such as curtain replacement aren't as covered as would be appropriate.

Although Leicas are among the better cameras to work on, they are valuable enough that they are best left alone by beginners. That sort of limits the legitimate market for a book such as this, so that although I think Tomosy has done a reasonable job, this is an area that really requires an exceptional effort to build on the available literature. I do encourage him to write more camera repair books but I hope he will concentrate more on areas where beginners and casual hobbyists can concentrate their efforts without incurring big bills for each 'oops'. Perhaps a book on mechanical 35mm Pentaxes or the electronic Bronicas that digital has made hobbyist-attractive (for electronic fans) on eBay might be in the future.

Leica Camera Repair Handbook is a good book, it is not for begginer or professional, I think it is target for hobbist, but in this book it miss some important things, like how to replace the shutter curtain - a very common problem in old screw mount Leica, it did mention about the rangefinder problem a good plus. I have bought many repair books that wroten by him.

After purchasing an SL that needed a cleaning I bot this book hoping to open it up and clean the viewfinder. I even had hopes of cleaning the dust from the 50mm summicron lens. My anticipation grew as I awaited this magical tome that would help me restore this old classic almost to its original condition. Then I received this book. I might as well have bought a manual on do-it-yourself brain surgery. Camera repair is not for the laymen and this book is not written for the laymen. It is written for the seasoned camera repairmen that may need to get the lay-of-the-land for the occaisonal Leica repair he has to perform. This book assumes the reader is well versed in camera repair. I put it on ebay 6 minutes after receiving it - nuff said.

I now own 3 of Mr. Tomosy's books and they are only modestly useful. This one misses by about a mile.

To some people this book will seem over their heads, a bit too technical and hard to comprehend. Aimed perhaps at camera repair professionals.

Actually, it doesn't suit either the person who wants to make a small repair or someone who wants to make a more technical repair. There's not a word there on how to replace the shutter or any number of things that many reasonably competent DIY do every day. It's not something I would do on just any camera. My M series are treated with care and professionally serviced. There are repairs that are beyond either my ability or willingness to spend the time and those go out.

But it helps to have good clear instruction. Shocking as it seems, just taking something apart and putting it together again can allow a simple repair. As one reviewer notes, there is better information out there for specialist groups/forums. After buying this I received a detailed service manual for my IIIf screwmount Leicas. In the same way, I have acquired fairly complete service manuals or instructions from those willing to share on
Soviet made imitations of Leicas (which are good for practice and confidence building).

Cameras are a bit like a mix of car mechanics and working on watches. But to use the car analogy, the Chiltonor Haynes type manuals sometimes fall a bit shy in the detailed information you need by covering too many years, but they're adequate. On the other hand, there are the full blown shop manuals for a specific model vehicle. Also useful (drive a Detroit truck occasionally and you'll know why).

This Repair handbook doesn't really come close to the skimpiest Chilton type book. It may be asking too much to cover both M series and Screwmount in one book, but the title is a misnomer. It is not really a repair handbook.

What a disapointment!
the book is not at all sufficient to operate small repair on leicas. it assumes too much knowledge and lacks step by step explanations and diagrams. I have found much more usefull dismantle description and repair instructions for free on the web. moreover, the subject treated are not systematic at all. restoration is treated on one camera, speed tuning on another. most of the pictures are useless as they descibe dismantle stages without showing the parts been discribed in the text for better clarity.
This book is the output of someone who apparently is a good repairman but completely lacks any comunication skills.

Very very interesting not only Leica M but also R A must for the Leica fan. Not because we want to repair it but because is it useful for understand how it is built

I was hoping for a trouble shooting guide for a malfunctioning Leica IIIg. All this highly recommended book told me was how to disassemble the cameras.