An open letter to Leica

While I'm certain this will have little to no effect (other than to make me feel better) I'd nevertheless like to offer the following.

I contacted my primary camera dealer, Capture Integration May of this year regarding the purchase of a new Leica 135mm lens. I am primarily a landscape photographer and while I normally use a medium format digital back to capture my images I am now also using a Leica M9 along with 4-Leica lenses. I decided in May that I wanted to add a 135mm lens to my kit for a number of reasons namely landscape. I'm headed to Jackson Hole WY for the better part of October where I plan on doing a combination of landscape and some wildlife. Jackson Hole in October promises to have spectacular Fall colors and I had hoped to utilize a longer than 90mm lens to bring in the scenery. Then there's the wildlife. The moose should be displaying full antlers not to mention the elk that migrate there each year as well as the many buffalo. All of these can be seen near the roads in the area and I had hopes of using my Leica M9 in a way that might not be conventional. While I might be able to get by with my 90mm I would still feel more comfortable with the longer reach that the 135mm would have afforded me.

Why have I written all this? The simple answer is that I placed the order with Capture Integration in May and it's now early September and I'm within weeks of my trip and Leica has not filled the order. While I understand I could go to another dealer to get the lens I need I believe in customer loyalty. Why is Leica ignoring Capture Integration and not filling this order? I've checked another dealer's site and this same lens goes in and out of order status every couple days. Is the reason this particular order has been filled is that my dealer is too small? It certainly wasn't small when I bought my M9 and 3 of the 4 lenses in February.

So Leica, please tell me what's it going to take for my dealer, Capture Integration to finally receive the lens that's been on order for several months?

Okay I don't expect an answer from anyone in Leica but I do feel better. Oh and just for the hell of it - if I should ever hear from Leica on this I'll post their response.


Don