Thread: Leica

I had said I wouldn't — but I will, since you asked.
ER 3.5-14 ASV scope. The elevation was out, not just by a little bit, but optically tracking at a very consistent 71% across the range from what the dial was indicating. Sent back to Germany via Lackland Photographic with a note saying please check and fix the elevation. Reported back as No Fault Found. In the meantime Lackland lent me their demo scope while mine was away; same model with a serial number different by just 11. Same issue found in that one. 71%. Lackland, apparently unable to check such faults themselves, doubted my correct identification of the fault. I had to pay for an independent assessment and report by an optical specialist. Probably fair enough. The German manufacturer's word against an unverified claim. Specialist's finding: elevation running at a uniform 71%. My understanding is that the Demo scope was also returned to Germany, and No Fault Found for that as well.

By the time this was resolved, Leica's range of scopes had changed. With refusal of support from Germany, Lackland said I could have whatever Leica scope I wanted as a replacement, performance & price equivalent or not. So it’s Full Marks to Lackland Photographic for customer support as they would have borne the cost of this themselves.

Footnote: The ER 3.5-14 x 42 was the first scope Leica manufactured, along with its sibling, the 2.5-10x. Same scopes on the outside, different internals. Can I draw your attention to the ratio of the two magnification ranges? So say having accidentally mixed up the elevation spindles by thread pitch during assembly across a batch, Leica were not willing to deal with this. Regardless their chosen approach was to deny any fault existed. That is a pretty grim indictment of a company that positions itself as Top End.