When I first started with this blog, I thought the bleeding edge occurred when users like me get too far in front of technology. A recent experience has made me think that there’s another bleeding edge. That one occurs when you get too far behind.
I have a Linhof Technika that I purchased in the 80s. I used it for many years, stopping when I switched to digital. When I became enamored of the slit scan images, I thought it would be a great camera to use with the Betterlight back. Time had not been kind to the camera, and the focusing track was sticky at one end and loose at the other. I checked the website of the importer, and found that they recommended Marflex. I called them up, and they said to go ahead and send the camera in, and that they’d give me an estimate.
I sent the camera off, waited a couple of weeks, and gave Marflex a call again. They hadn’t yet had a chance to look at the camera, and said it would be the end of June before they could get to it. At the end of June, I called again. They still hadn’t looked at it. I called in early July, and we agreed on a price of $250 to fix the camera. Marflex said it would ship by the end of the month.
Toward the end of July, I noticed that the Linhof importer, HP Marketing, was recommending Nippon Photoclinic in New York City in addition to Marflex.
Early in August, I called again. The new shipment estimate was the end of August. Early in September, I called again. They said the camera would ship by the end of the next week. I called again the third week of September, and they said it would ship by the end of the month.
in October I placed two calls and got an answering machine both times. Then I got a voice mail asking for shipping instructions. I dictated them into an answering machine.
The camera arrived today, packed in the same boxes I used to send it. It appears to work fine. Round trip time: a little over five months. The bill was $225, which was less than what they quoted.
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