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marknorton · 10.04.2007, 01:16

Turning our attention to the other side of the clam-shell, this is what we see.

Clamshell Front Internal.jpg

So, from the left:

- The battery case with the two flying red/black wires to supply power to the back of the camera
- The sensor board which is actually the aluminium plate secured in three locations – look for the green locking lacquer, top left, top right, bottom centre.
- The sensor circuit board is soldered directly on the back of the sensor which is mounted on the aluminium plate, apparently using epoxy. The flex print at the bottom connects to the DSP board on the back of the camera.
- To the right, there is the shutter/motor-wind controller which is run under control from the M16C processor, removed in this picture.

Here’s a close up of the battery connections.

Battery Connections 2.jpg

The red/black wires feed the DSP board and power is fed to the M16C processor through the flex print – check out the wide connections which make use of more than one contact on the connector. Interestingly, all the brass contacts from the battery holder apparently make it through to the microprocessor for monitoring purposes, even though the current battery doesn’t use them all. This may allow for different batteries in the future.

Here’s a close-up of the Sensor Board.

Sensor Board.jpg

This was the board that was supposedly replaced by the hardware recall and we understood at the time that the sensor was not being replaced. However, the sensor is soldered to this board, you can see the rows of soldered connections (4 * 15 pins), so it’s not clear exactly what was done.

This is a later camera and did not need to the hardware recall. If I was to open my M8 which did go back (which I’m not about to do, one M8 in bits is enough), I might find some more specific information on what was done.

In any event, this is the electronics which interfaces to and drives the sensor. Look at the board and you can see a certain symmetry which matches the dual output architecture.

Look also here at the bottom fixing. You can see the shims which fit underneath to precisely position the sensor relative to the lens mount. Because the sensor is mounted at three points (like a tripod), it can be adjusted to be square to the lens axis in all directions by fitting shims of different thicknesses under each mounting point.

When I removed the sensor, I was very careful to keep the shims from each mounting point separate so that when I put the camera back together again, the sensor alignment will not be disturbed.

Leica does this very precisely. The thinnest shim of any there is 0.01mm. I’ve measured the thickness of the shims and they are as follows:

Left: 0.61mm
Right: 0.49mm
Bottom: 0.34mm

So, deep breath, remove the sensor.

Sensor Front.jpg

With the sensor removed, you can see the back of the shutter:

Shutter Rear View.jpg

10.04.2007, 01:16	#5 (permalink)
marknorton Erfahrener Benutzer Join Date: 12.11.2002 Posts: 7,217	Re: Anatomy of the Leica M8 Turning our attention to the other side of the clam-shell, this is what we see. Clamshell Front Internal.jpg So, from the left: - The battery case with the two flying red/black wires to supply power to the back of the camera - The sensor board which is actually the aluminium plate secured in three locations – look for the green locking lacquer, top left, top right, bottom centre. - The sensor circuit board is soldered directly on the back of the sensor which is mounted on the aluminium plate, apparently using epoxy. The flex print at the bottom connects to the DSP board on the back of the camera. - To the right, there is the shutter/motor-wind controller which is run under control from the M16C processor, removed in this picture. Here’s a close up of the battery connections. Battery Connections 2.jpg The red/black wires feed the DSP board and power is fed to the M16C processor through the flex print – check out the wide connections which make use of more than one contact on the connector. Interestingly, all the brass contacts from the battery holder apparently make it through to the microprocessor for monitoring purposes, even though the current battery doesn’t use them all. This may allow for different batteries in the future. Here’s a close-up of the Sensor Board. Sensor Board.jpg This was the board that was supposedly replaced by the hardware recall and we understood at the time that the sensor was not being replaced. However, the sensor is soldered to this board, you can see the rows of soldered connections (4 * 15 pins), so it’s not clear exactly what was done. This is a later camera and did not need to the hardware recall. If I was to open my M8 which did go back (which I’m not about to do, one M8 in bits is enough), I might find some more specific information on what was done. In any event, this is the electronics which interfaces to and drives the sensor. Look at the board and you can see a certain symmetry which matches the dual output architecture. Look also here at the bottom fixing. You can see the shims which fit underneath to precisely position the sensor relative to the lens mount. Because the sensor is mounted at three points (like a tripod), it can be adjusted to be square to the lens axis in all directions by fitting shims of different thicknesses under each mounting point. When I removed the sensor, I was very careful to keep the shims from each mounting point separate so that when I put the camera back together again, the sensor alignment will not be disturbed. Leica does this very precisely. The thinnest shim of any there is 0.01mm. I’ve measured the thickness of the shims and they are as follows: Left: 0.61mm Right: 0.49mm Bottom: 0.34mm So, deep breath, remove the sensor. Sensor Front.jpg With the sensor removed, you can see the back of the shutter: Shutter Rear View.jpg __________________ Mark Last edited by marknorton; 10.04.2007 at 01:18.