Help Me Solve The Shutdown Problem

[fotografr]

The history:

--I received my M8 in mid-January. It worked for just over one day, then suffered total electronic failure. I sent it back to Solms. Leica engineers put the top plate onto a completely new camera and returned it to me.

--The replacement worked for just over one week and the same thing happened. Actually, I was still able to record images, but was unable to access anything on the LCD. None of the back buttons worked. I returned it to Solms, and again the top plate was fitted to a new camera and I received it yesterday.

--The second replacement worked fine for one day, but this morning has once again shut down. I am able to record images but cannot access anything on the LCD. With the previous two cameras, I did everything others recommend. I left the camera on for 24 hours, replaced the battery with a fresh one; tried different memory cards. Nothing worked.

--The card I use is a San Disk Ultra II 2 GB, which is listed as compatible by Leica.

--My card reader is a Promaster Universal high speed USB.

--I use a PC with XP Pro OS.

Does anyone have any ideas how we might go about isolating the problem? I've asked my contact person in Solms to discuss this with the engineers and let me know if they have ideas about what is going on. If it doesn't get nailed down, I'll return the camera for a refund and give up on the M8.

I know there are some brilliant minds on this forum. My hope is that we can work together to solve this problem once and for all.

Cheers,

[jaapv]

There is a suspicion floating in the air - charger?- battery? a combo of the two?? Can you charge another battery on another charger (after draining the camera) and see what happens?

[sdai]

I'm curious, Brent ... how can you confirm it's a new camera fitted underneath the same top plate? There's no way I can believe that you've got hit by three dead cameras in a row.

[robsteve]

Originally Posted by fotografr

worked.

--The card I use is a San Disk Ultra II 2 GB, which is listed as compatible by Leica.

--My card reader is a Promaster Universal high speed USB.


Cheers,

Have you tried a different SD card. The Sandisk cards are also notorious for being counterfeit if bought off Ebay.

Did you get new charger or batteries with any of the replacements?

Robert

[mitchell]

Probably not helpful, but I wonder if there's something in your set up that's causing the problem to 3 cameras.

Is your charger faulty?

Is there a big static charge in your house?

I almost get the impression that there are a number of users who have had problems with more than one camera. And, most, like myself, who haven't had any.

A charger problem, enviromental problem, or some particular way (which should be harmless) you use the M8, are the only things I can think of, except bad luck to get three lemons.

It seems like it's a mystery for Leica as well.

I wish I could be more helpful.

Best,

Mitchell

[george]

Is there any similarity in where the shutdowns occurred? Inside, outside, wherever? My one temporary shutdown happened outside in bright sunshine at 4C temperature. It got cured with camera under jacket in five minutes. And it may have been a time factor alone. I did not change the battery and it lasted for another 150+ pictures.

[guy_mancuso]

Brent change the cards out and i have a extra charger if you need one brand new. 3 times in a row is just downright wrong. Change everything up . Batteries charger and cards. Until we get real answers which there working on . i would do this

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by jaapv

There is a suspicion floating in the air - charger?- battery? a combo of the two?? Can you charge another battery on another charger (after draining the camera) and see what happens?

I'll try a different charger, but I have used two different batteries and changing them doesn't help.

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by sdai

I'm curious, Brent ... how can you confirm it's a new camera fitted underneath the same top plate? There's no way I can believe that you've got hit by three dead cameras in a row.

I can't confirm this, but I do believe the person I've been in contact with in Solms. He told me the inside had been completely replaced. The thing is, I'm sure they don't like having to tie up their repair shop any more than I like having to send cameras back. It's in both our best interest to work this out properly.

[jrc]

I had one temporary crash before the complete crash that sent my camra back to NJ, but I know one thing for sure: When I started having problems I started messing with batteries -- drained them overnight, switching back and forth, etc. (I have three of them.) I would not be surprised if battery/charger are implicated. But that's not good, because when I get my repaired camera back, what do I do? Keep using the same batteries and charger? I don't even know where I can get another charger. I would pay for another charger and batteries, if that's necessary, but without them, I might as well not have a camera.

JC

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by robsteve

Have you tried a different SD card. The Sandisk cards are also notorious for being counterfeit if bought off Ebay.

Did you get new charger or batteries with any of the replacements?

Robert

Robert,

This same problem happened with both of my 2GB cards. The other one is a Kingston and both were purchased from distributors rather than eBay. I have heard about the counterfeit problem, but I don't think that's the problem here.

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Brent change the cards out and i have a extra charger if you need one brand new. 3 times in a row is just downright wrong. Change everything up . Batteries charger and cards. Until we get real answers which there working on . i would do this

Guy--Thanks very much for the offer. My dealer here has a couple of M8s in stock and is going to let me charge a couple of batteries with their charger. I'll post the results here.

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by george

Is there any similarity in where the shutdowns occurred? Inside, outside, wherever? My one temporary shutdown happened outside in bright sunshine at 4C temperature. It got cured with camera under jacket in five minutes. And it may have been a time factor alone. I did not change the battery and it lasted for another 150+ pictures.

George--I can't isolate any environmental similarities. One shutdown happened at my home, the other at my office. Once the camera had been outside in fairly cold weather, but this time it was pretty mild and only outside briefly.

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by mitchell

Probably not helpful, but I wonder if there's something in your set up that's causing the problem to 3 cameras.

Is your charger faulty?

Is there a big static charge in your house?

I almost get the impression that there are a number of users who have had problems with more than one camera. And, most, like myself, who haven't had any.

A charger problem, enviromental problem, or some particular way (which should be harmless) you use the M8, are the only things I can think of, except bad luck to get three lemons.

It seems like it's a mystery for Leica as well.

I wish I could be more helpful.

Best,

Mitchell

Mitchell--

My charger, I suppose, could be faulty. Each time my camera is replaced, the same charger comes back.

My home doesn't have any static problem. I have humidified air throughout the heating season.

[guy_mancuso]

Originally Posted by fotografr

Guy--Thanks very much for the offer. My dealer here has a couple of M8s in stock and is going to let me charge a couple of batteries with their charger. I'll post the results here.

Great glad that can happen for you there. If anyone wants to buy a extra don't go to the store go to Guy's bargain basement discount house instead. ROTFLMAO

If i can find it than I can sell it. I got everything. LOL

[fotografr]

Originally Posted by jrc

I had one temporary crash before the complete crash that sent my camra back to NJ, but I know one thing for sure: When I started having problems I started messing with batteries -- drained them overnight, switching back and forth, etc. (I have three of them.) I would not be surprised if battery/charger are implicated. But that's not good, because when I get my repaired camera back, what do I do? Keep using the same batteries and charger? I don't even know where I can get another charger. I would pay for another charger and batteries, if that's necessary, but without them, I might as well not have a camera.

JC

Actually, I can't even drain my battery overnight now because I can't access the menu to disable the automatic shut-off. I am going to try a different battery charger with a new battery to see what effect that has.

[guy_mancuso]

Brent do that and DON"T put a card in. Let's see what happens without it. Try the old process of elmination

[wlaidlaw]

The following is not meant to be a facetious post. Back in the early 70's I part owned a consultancy, which specialized in quality and reliability for the UK motor industry (we failed). During that period, I went to a seminar on quality control in Zurich. One of the speakers was from Breitling, the Swiss watch manufacturer. He said that it was well known that there were certain people on whom watches simply would not function properly and they had no real idea why but that it might be something to do with personal static electrical fields.

In that this forum has its suspicions as to the M8's vulnerability to static electricity, I just wonder if this might explain why certain members are suffering multiple camera failures and some none. Not very helpful I know but if perhaps you put a small piece of aluminium foil where the bottom plate goes over the locating tag, that might improve electrical bonding and forestall the next failure.

Wilson

If Leica isn't checking the chargers as step one of their root cause analysis, that would be very strange and disheartening. As much as I wish the charger were the problem, I doubt that it could be possible that such an obvious thing would be missed.

[jaapv]

It was the first thing they replaced for me, way back in December.