I have used their coverglass replacement service a couple years ago but ended up selling my M9. Luckily, I now have a M9-P with the sensor replaced by Leica in 2017.
For those considering this service, please read Kolari's disclaimer at the end of the page. Although Kolari offers great service, there is always a chance they could break/crack the sensor during repair. If that happens, they would send an expensive paper weight back to you.
But yes, read the disclaimers. Looks like there are a lot of variables and things that can go wrong with this service. No surprise that Leica 'simply' replaced the entire sensor (and seems to be common procedure with all manufacturers' sensor repairs).
Thanks for clarifying this! I have re-worded my post.
I was sent the sensor replacement link and thought the price had gone up.
They are also working on M9-P, M-E and M9 Monochrome bodies for either coverglass or entire sensor replacement which was not the case before. (It was M9 only)
Another thread had me revisit Kolari's M9 sensor glass replacement service and I noticed they're now also offering CLA services for Leica M8 and M9 models with ~1 month turnaround and options to pay more for one week or 1-2 days turnaround. One interesting option is rear screen cover replacement with quartz glass. Also interesting is that they're buying used Leicas and refurbishing them for resale on their site. A bit pricy but interesting.
It's a bit of a niche but at least another option than sending to Leica and waiting however long they take now...
From Kolari's site:
CLA Service Details:
Deep Body Clean:
Our Kolari certified technicians will carefully clean external components, and will perform a professional sensor cleaning. We’ll check the viewfinder for fog and if present will clean both the front and rear sides of all glass elements in the top plate to remove any fog build up over time. If the existing skin is coming loose we can replace any old, failing skin glue with new strong adhesive tape to ensure the body skin stays securely in place.
Mechanical Re-lubrication:
If the rangefinder lever arm and wheel are not moving correctly we will re-apply long last lubricant. This ensures that the rangefinder properly interacts with the lens and the lens focus position matched the rangefinder readout.
Rangefinder Calibration:
Have you ever had your images come out with the focus short or long or do your rangefinder’s focus cues have a visible vertical misalignment even when you’re zeroed in? If so you may have a horizontal or vertical rangefinder misalignment that needs recalibrating. Our technicians will verify the unit’s rangefinder and if this needs adjustment we will accurately recalibrate the focus point and focus cues.
Optional Rear Screen Quartz Glass Replacement:
We can now replace the original rear screen glass with new, scratch and fingerprint resistant, anti-reflective coated quartz glass. This is a replacement of the original plastic screen with much harder quartz removing the need for additional screen protectors. Leica M9-P models have Sapphire screen glass which, while harder than plastic, are still softer than quartz.
Please note: If you have a sticky/glitchy menu wheel or mode dial, we are able to address these issues but cannot cover this under our standard CLA service. Please let us know ahead of ordering and we can arrange an additional service to have this addressed.
My friend sent his to Beijing China replacing the filter glass and paid $450 excluding shipping, came back taking perfect pictures.
The only problem is that they don't really market themselves outside of China, and they also service all kinds of camera including e.g replacing processor chip on camera motherboard, so they're highly occupied throughout the years.
Amessengerphoto wrote:
For what it’s worth, I used Kolari a while back, got their upgraded sensor cover glass and the camera worked fine when I got it back.
Same here. I replaced the corroded cover glass on my M9, and everything went smoothly. The color remained unchanged when I compared side-by-side images.
I picked up an M9P from Kolari that came with the repair and didn’t notice any issues in color or IQ either. Had it for about 2 years but I just sold it for a Q2 Reporter since it didn’t get the expected use I thought I would with the camera.
