Sent my Contax N 100 Makro off to KEH Camera Repair (Georgia) to see if they could fix the AF after talking with them on the phone and they said they would look it over. The lens was otherwise a cherry and worked great MF. After six weeks and being told they could not fix the AF, I had the lens sent back to me expecting to just use it with manual focusing. Well here are the first shots.
Looks to me that they got the elements all out of wack. Cannot imagine sending back a lens in that condition. I really don't think anything happened during shipping. They did pack the lens very well and there was no indication of damage to the box. Frustrating to say the least.
Yes I contacted ToCAD. Very pleasant on the phone, but they said they would have to send it to Contax Japan for repairs. In retrospect I should have done that.
I have emailed KEH tonight and need to give then the opportunity of a reply and hopefully a solution.
This was one of my favorite lenses. I had debated about just keeping it as a MF lens after the AF went out. So it went from being a great AF lens, to a very good MF lens, to now an NF (No Focus) lens. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to this.....
I'm calm. Having a thousand dollar lens broken by a repair shop would have bothered me in the past.....but now I'm older and much more mature (nah....it's really the tranquilizers at work).
I have no doubt it will be made right. Isn't that right Dozer? errrrr...Good boy...errrr
KEH acknoledged that they broke a a Conurus circuit board while working on the lens. They the went ahead and acquired replacement parts from Conurus and reassembled the lens properly this time.
So they made good on fixing their error for which I give them due credit. The lens is back in my hands 10 weeks after this fiasco started. Mistakes happen. They fixed it, no charge to me.
Glad you are happy with the outcome Doc but......had you not called them out were they just going to blow off the breaking of the circuit board? Seems so as they sent it back to you broken. I'm not impressed with KEH.
Worked with Dan for my D3 purchase from KEH and it was hassle free. No issues, and good communication. He was clear that the return/refund process can take 2+ weeks from the date of return (received at KEH), so they are upfront about there return policy.
Edit - Must agree that it sucks when things go bad, and when shipping/insurance can cost $30 and up, but I still feel safer buying from KEH than adorama when it comes to used equipment. And definitely better than eBay.
Seems like KEH has been a little so-so on their work and their gear checks recently (lots of people complaining) but it appears they do everything they can to make things right when they don't quite work out.
That said, how the heck does a circuit board problem cause the above?
