Dave Moeller
1-Sep-2004, 19:22
I wanted to toss a quick note of praise out for Shen-Hao.
I purchased a Shen-Hao 4x5 a little over a year ago. The camera's been great, and I've never wanted for movements.
A few months ago I did notice a small crack in one of the springs on the back of the camera. Looking at it, it appeared to me to be a defect in the metal as opposed to a defect in the manufacturing of the camera. (The crack started in the middle of the metal, not at the edge or at a screw hole.) I figured that if I treated the camera gently I could get away with using it for a while.
Unfortunately, it worked well enough that I completely forgot about it. Two weeks ago as I was (luckily) finishing up for the day, and as I pulled my last film holder out of the camera I was greeted with the sound of a piece of metal hittnig the ground. The spring had split in two.
I contacted a couple of retailers who handle Shen-Hao as well as writing directly to the company through their web site. None of the retailers had a quick answer for me (apparently part problems are rare enough that nobody stocks parts), but the next day I heard back directly from the manufacturer. Nine days later I had a new set of springs in my hands, free of charge. The package had been sent the day after I'd emailed them; allowing for the time zone difference they apparently mailed the parts upon receiving my email.
No point to this other than praise for the manufacturer for backing their product and being very responsive to a customer.
I purchased a Shen-Hao 4x5 a little over a year ago. The camera's been great, and I've never wanted for movements.
A few months ago I did notice a small crack in one of the springs on the back of the camera. Looking at it, it appeared to me to be a defect in the metal as opposed to a defect in the manufacturing of the camera. (The crack started in the middle of the metal, not at the edge or at a screw hole.) I figured that if I treated the camera gently I could get away with using it for a while.
Unfortunately, it worked well enough that I completely forgot about it. Two weeks ago as I was (luckily) finishing up for the day, and as I pulled my last film holder out of the camera I was greeted with the sound of a piece of metal hittnig the ground. The spring had split in two.
I contacted a couple of retailers who handle Shen-Hao as well as writing directly to the company through their web site. None of the retailers had a quick answer for me (apparently part problems are rare enough that nobody stocks parts), but the next day I heard back directly from the manufacturer. Nine days later I had a new set of springs in my hands, free of charge. The package had been sent the day after I'd emailed them; allowing for the time zone difference they apparently mailed the parts upon receiving my email.
No point to this other than praise for the manufacturer for backing their product and being very responsive to a customer.