If only

[eudemian]

If only I had a digicam on me, or even a mobile phone camera I would have been able to record my son shaking hands with his bassist hero Marcus Miller at the Montreux Jazz festival.

Instead, I could only look on in envy as people in the crowd got their shots with an amazing array of phones and little shiny steel cased digicams.

Instead I had an M8 and Noctilux so I cannot post anything.

Oh, yes,, there was this little error message, Faulty shutter. I don't know how that factors into the equation.

Guernsey Tom

[wparsonsgisnet]

bummer

Your kid has good taste.

[ammitsboel]

How nice, did you kill anybody with it on the way out?
You could take a trip to Solms and throw it through their window with a note on it.

[erl]

Originally Posted by eudemian

If only I had a digicam on me, or even a mobile phone camera I would have been able to record my son shaking hands with his bassist hero Marcus Miller at the Montreux Jazz festival.

Instead, I could only look on in envy as people in the crowd got their shots with an amazing array of phones and little shiny steel cased digicams.

Instead I had an M8 and Noctilux so I cannot post anything.

Oh, yes,, there was this little error message, Faulty shutter. I don't know how that factors into the equation.

Guernsey Tom

Comiserations on your loss. Some things are not repeatable and that is when anything that can fail, will! (Murphy's Law)

Your inability to post is not, as you declare, because you had an M8 + Noctilux. From that you should have been able to post "the best" pics! Your problem is that your "man made" machine chose that moment to do the inevitable of all machines. Fail! Fortunately(?) it told you it had failed. Some cameras do not, and you keep shooting obliviously. That is worse.

I hope 'service' get you back in action very soon.

[jimmy pro]

Originally Posted by eudemian

Oh, yes,, there was this little error message, Faulty shutter.

The big question now is will you let Leica put you in another one just like it for free or pay them for the new one that might be more reliable?

[jimmy pro]

Originally Posted by erl

Your problem is that your "man made" machine chose that moment to do the inevitable of all machines. Fail!

Yeah I suppose my Canon 1DS-MkI is gonna fail to someday...after all it's 5 1/2 yrs old and has over 150K activations. What a POS. Wish it was a Leica

Fortunately(?) it told you it had failed. Some cameras do not, and you keep shooting obliviously. That is worse.

Yeah, that black screen on the monitor after every shot when the shutter craps out is so easy to miss without an error warning

Actually, if Leica was really customer service orientated they'd put an error warning on the box (Just joking. We all know the whole disaster could of easily been avoided if only he'd of listened to people when they said to get a second M8.)

[Philinflash]

Originally Posted by eudemian

...

Oh, yes,, there was this little error message, Faulty shutter. I don't know how that factors into the equation.

Guernsey Tom

This is news. It seems that Leica anticipated this sort of development sufficiently to have devoted software engineering time and resources to generate the error message. What does that tell us about the reliability of the shutter?

Personally, I would rather have a bullet-proof shutter, no error message, and some useful firmware.

[noah_addis]

All cameras fail. I've had Canon 1d and 1dMKII bodies crap out on assignments, as well as several Nikon D1H failures (including two in one weekend once on an out-of-town assignment).

And cameras always seem to fail or lock up at the worst possible time. I've missed moments, but never been completely out of luck since I always have a backup body, no matter which system I'm using.

[jaapv]

Shutter error. It usually denotes mechanical failure through for instance dropping the camera (or poking something through the shutter blades, but I'm sure you did not do that..)

[plasticman]

Originally Posted by jaapv

Shutter error. It usually denotes mechanical failure through for instance dropping the camera (or poking something through the shutter blades, but I'm sure you did not do that..)

But you kindly thought you'd point it out to everyone, just in case Jaap...?

[jaapv]

The twist you give it now is not my intention...

[eudemian]

Sorry Jaap, I like a lot of your posts but if you are saying I poked something through the shutter, you are wrong. If you are saying that I dropped my camera, the one with the thumbs up, eyepiece magnifier, new skin, black dot, etc. then you are again mistaken.

I wondered how long it would take for the blame to shift from Leica to the idiot user.

Guernsey Tom

[JGW]

This is very annoying for you and just should not happen; but it does...
Though photographers always remember the pictures they miss, and this applies whether they have a camera with them or not. One good point that may be to your advantage is that cameras returning from Solms having had their shutters repaired seem to be coming back with slightly quieter and smoother operating shutters.
Good luck
JGW.

[SJP]

I am confident that Jaap had no intention of pointing to anyone. His statement is true that many cases of shutter failure is due to mechanical impact or stuff getting into the shutter blades. This is as true for a Leica as for any other camera with a shutter.

Sometimes shutters fail for no obvious reason. Sometimes they fail from a lot of use. Sometimes they fail because they are faulty from manufacture.

All of this is speculation and brings no-one anywhere useful. What counts is that you are pissed of with your M8 failing when you least wanted it to. I was very sorry to hear that.

[photogdave]

All those photos from mobile phones and shiny digicams are going to suck anyway! At least you have the memory of the event.
I was at a Police/Elvis Costello concert the other week and I wasted too much time trying to get a decent shot by focusing a Canon G9 through some binoculars. I got a few decent shots but the whole exercise was pretty frustrating. I was able to relax and enjoy the show better once I put the camera away.

[jimmy pro]

Even back in the days of film (removeable backs & loading film) it may of been true that some shutter failures was due to poking fingers, and/or chips of sprockets, but not most shutter failures. And I have to believe that we're all much to intelligent not to see that it's much less likely with digitals, where you actually have to stick your fingers or something else down into the camera. I won't say it never happens, that once in a while some guy messes up like that, maybe while trying to clean the sensor or whatever, but suggesting to someone that's what he did is tanamount to calling him an idiot.

[erl]

Originally Posted by jimmy pro

Even back in the days of film (removeable backs & loading film) it may of been true that some shutter failures was due to poking fingers, and/or chips of sprockets, but not most shutter failures. And I have to believe that we're all much to intelligent not to see that it's much less likely with digitals, where you actually have to stick your fingers or something else down into the camera. I won't say it never happens, that once in a while some guy messes up like that, maybe while trying to clean the sensor or whatever, but suggesting to someone that's what he did is tanamount to calling him an idiot.

Let's be quite clear on the last point. Jaap did NOT say that!

Several posters seem to be determined to infer that he did.

Read his post with intelligence and understanding, please.

[overgaardcom]

Marcus Miller. That's something.

With such great taste, as a father, I would cry a little tear.

Pity with the M8. For occasions like that one usually only carry one camera and no backup.

[emraphoto]

Originally Posted by ammitsboel

How nice, did you kill anybody with it on the way out?
You could take a trip to Solms and throw it through their window with a note on it.

damn i have read some funny stuff on this site but this one is AWESOME! i'd make sure it hit someone on the way through...

[4season]

No matter what my primary camera may be, I like to also carry a backup, and lately, that camera has been the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-W300, as reviewed on Luminous Landscape.