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Frustrated... Where is the M9 firmware fix?


NikonJeff

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I understand that Leica is a small company and the M240 has taken a lot of their resources to launch/fix/update but come on... The last firmware they released (1.196) for the M9/M9P was July of 2012 and it was not well vetted. The workaround was to install 1.176 (which I did) as I use the discreet mode quite often.

 

I've been corresponding with Mark Brady at Leica USA off and on since last November and he said that Leica was aware of the issue and it should be addressed with the next firmware update but he didn't have a feel for when that would take place...

 

I checked in with Mark 2 weeks ago and he still didn't have any new information for me but suggested that I email the M Product manager directly (Jesko Von Oeynhausen). I emailed him on 10/10/13 and to my surprise I haven't even received a courtesy "Thank you for contacting Leica" email...

 

It's a little disheartening to have all of this money tied up in gear that I love to use (M9/MM and of course Leica glass) that has been more or less ignored. My MM locks up out of the box in discreet mode as well...

 

Anyone else feel this way or is it just little old me??? Definitely has stopped me from even considering an M240 at this point...

 

Signed - holding the bag in NY :p

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There is no excuse for them not fixing this.

We need to keep the pressure on right now - before the firmware engineers who worked on it forget the flow of the code ( a new engineer is likely to break something else by not realising all timing constraints )

 

I use discrete mode on my M9-P and have deliberately not update the firmware on it to keep it alive. I upgraded my MM as they said they had fixed discrete mode : they have not :mad:

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Now that Leica is busy trying to produce the M(240) and to rectify problems there, I don't expect them to release any further firmware updates for the M9 or the MM. It's a discontinued model, and they're too busy not fixing the M(240) issues.

 

The M9 might be discontinued, but the M-E, which shares the M9 code, is still a current model and should still be provided with the necessary firmware fixes as appropriate. Having said that, I don't hold high hopes for an update.

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My MM locks up out of the box in discreet mode as well…

 

Anyone else feel this way or is it just little old me??? …

 

I use the discreet mode since buying my first digital M, a M8.2 some years ago.

I use discreet mode exclusively, 100% of the time.

 

With my M8.2 and latest firmware, discreet mode works perfectly reliable 100% of the time - I never had the camera lock up or other issues - never needed to drop the battery or revive the camera - the M8.2 feels bullet proof to me.

 

With the M9, I had issues from day one - camera locks up from time to time - with certain combinations with some back then state of the art SanDisk cards, it was a nightmare to use, locking up regularly and corrupting cards beyond readability with other devices.

 

I went through all firmware iterations with the M9 and as of October 2013, I use FW 1.176 in combination with my last stock of SanDisk 8GB 30MB/s cards only.

 

This seems to be the most reliable combination for me, as I use discreet mode exclusively.

 

With my MM, discreet mode was buggy since the day I bought it, but I have been conditioned by Leica digital products, that part of their characteristic is to act up and be sometimes buggy in daily operation. I consider this now normal and don't expect any different.

 

The latest firmware version, I use on my MM is FW 1.002, which seems almost stable for discreet mode use. It happens occasionally, that when using discreet mode, the shutter does not re-cock automatically after taking the finger off the shutter release, but the camera will continue to write to card (I presume, as the red LED will keep flashing) and after a several seconds delay will most of the time re-cock the shutter.

 

This behaviour is by far not as vicious, as the M9 behaviour with certain firmware versions, simply locking up completely without warning or worse, corrupting SD cards.

 

 

One simple measurement, I learned, using Leica digital cameras is to ALWAYS carry plenty of backup SD cards and batteries with me. This way in the course of a lockup or unfixable solution, I always simple swap cards and batteries and fix issues rather quickly.

I try not to get excited about this buggy behaviour anymore.

 

The irony here is, that my original Leica M8.2, a slightly improved version of the M8, which had to take so much criticism since it's introduction always worked absolutely 100% reliable without any issues what so ever.

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Now that Leica is busy trying to produce the M(240) and to rectify problems there, I don't expect them to release any further firmware updates for the M9 or the MM. It's a discontinued model, and they're too busy not fixing the M(240) issues.

 

Interesting to note that fuji just released a firmware update for the X100 (discontinued model) I know leica are a smaller company but I really feel they need to invest more into tis side of their business model

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This may sound a bit cynical, but I guess they're perfectly aware of the fact that, compared to other brands such as Fuji, Leica's customers are on average more loyal.

This probably makes them think that - given a certain quantity of resources (people and time) - they should focus on the M.

On the other hand loyalty shouldn't be taken for granted, because even the most loyal customers can become pissed off (sorry for this, I don't know the "elegant synonym").

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Does the discrete bug affect single-shot mode as well as continuous mode! I use discrete all the time, but only single mode (but I still use 1.162 as it is problem-free for me).

 

It sure does. Quite frequently it will be writing to buffer and won't re-cock - even after a single shot, and a reliable SD card.

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Now that Leica is busy trying to produce the M(240) and to rectify problems there, I don't expect them to release any further firmware updates for the M9 or the MM. It's a discontinued model, and they're too busy not fixing the M(240) issues.

 

Well the M9/M9p may be "discontinued" but the MM and M-E are both current and in production models which essentially share the same base firmware. So I have a hard time understanding how they can with good conscience simply stop addressing issues with the firmware...

 

Funny thing is I've been a loyal Leica shooter since middle school (circa 1978) when I picked up my first camera which was my grandfather's 1936 Leica IIIa... So my expectations may be a little high but I don't think it's out of the question.

 

Thanks for listening to my soapbox rant, and yes I understand that some folks don't have any issues with discrete mode on their camera but it unfortunately happens on both my M9 and MM.

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I am also frustrated. I use the discrete mode all the time and it doesn't work flawlessly on my M-E.

Since the camera is still under guarantee, does it make sense to send it back to Leica to have it fixed? If they cannot, I could ask for a full refund.

I tried to downgrade the firmware to the previous version but it is not possible with the M-E.

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I think for a niche and high-priced product such as Leica, customer service and product updates are always neccessary. Unless the product is truly obsolete and unfixable with firmware upgrade.

 

Imagine having a BMW and going to an Authorized BMW Service and say "Wow that model is discontinued we simply forget about it". LOL

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I use 1.196 and have never had a problem in any mode including discrete. I use Panasonic Gold card exclusively and have taken thousands of trouble free shots in the 10 months I have owned the m9. I bought the last Black M9 B&H had in January. I am super happy, and I am very pleased with my decision not to wait on the M240.

 

-Eddie

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