My 'Glitch Report' so far

[tashley]

1) Mine froze this weekend, a feat I managed only once in over ten thousand frames over three or four M8s. I was shooting in single shot mode onto a brand new Extreme III card (which seems pretty slow, especially to format) and I was shooting at a rate just fast enough to keep the buffer light blinking. After maybe five frames and with the buffer light still blinking I pressed Play, then began to zoom in to check focus, and the camera totally froze at 'large pixel display' stage before the zoomed image had resolved to full resolution. It was a remove the battery job, but I didn't lose any shots.

2) When you format the memory card, because it takes so long, it's tempting to put the camera down and let it get on with it. Don't. It won't Auto Off and half an hour later you'll notice the screen still on and the battery draining merrily away.

3) I do get the odd bit of stripe. An example is posted below.

4) There is definitely something going on with some of my glass that worked perfectly at all distances on my last M8.2 - for example, if I focus my 28 cron on anything about fifteen feet away and use F4 or less, I am very likely to get the subject very slightly less in focus than the background. Enough to more than lose the advantage of there being no AA filter but not enough to ruin the shot. I have tested this and all glass at close distances of around 1.5 metres and they are all impeccable at that distance and at all apertures.

5) My CV glass will have to go. The 15 is nicely sharp to the edges but has colour drifts that will get boring to fight with and the 35 skopar, a lens I love, is not sharp to the edges unless you stop it down to its diffraction limits.

I am about 450 shots in and don't regret the decision. There are some teething issues to sort out, higher ISO is not such an improvement as I hoped (I'm afraid I personally don't buy the argument that it's significantly better if you print to the same size as you did with the M8 - I wanted more pixels so I could print bigger) and mine is one of those with current firmware at delivery but which does not record the camera serial number in EXIF. I have already decided that if that is a return to base job, I will simply return the camera for a refund and wait until things improve. But otherwise, once I've sorted out these issues above, I should be set!

Here's a stripey one: 50 lux, 1/125th at ISO 1600 indoors in a room that allows a lot of light in but still has plenty of shady areas. The shot is a 100% crop but in the original it is just to the right of the right-hand vertical 'thirds' division and seems to run only 2/3rds of the way down from the top BUT the subject matter makes it hard to judge that accurately...

Tim

L1000309.jpg

EDIT: Here's the full frame for reference, makes it easier to see...
L1000309-Edit.jpg

[jaapv]

Interesting, Tim, it sounds like the camera is trying to do too much processing at the same time, so it is probably a matter of tuning the firmware. Early days, I would say. As for the high ISO stuff, I find it hard to reconcile you result with the images Riccis posted. Could you elaborate?

[sean_reid]

Originally Posted by tashley

1) There are some teething issues to sort out, higher ISO is not such an improvement as I hoped (I'm afraid I personally don't buy the argument that it's significantly better if you print to the same size as you did with the M8 - I wanted more pixels so I could print bigger)

Hi Tim,

But you can print bigger (at a given ISO) with the M9 than with the M8. No matter what print size you choose the noise will be less with the new camera.

Thanks for the report.

Cheers,

Sean

[tashley]

Originally Posted by jaapv

Interesting, Tim, it sounds like the camera is trying to do too much processing at the same time, so it is probably a matter of tuning the firmware. Early days, I would say. As for the high ISO stuff, I find it hard to reconcile you result with the images Riccis posted. Could you elaborate?

The trouble with ISO measurements is that they are so personal and we all respond differently to the mix of colour and luminance noise and the balance of NR and detail preservation but for my purposes, I see about a half to possibly two thirds of a stop improvement over 640. I have a strong sense that as with the 5DII the firmware is fighting banding, too, but I find that hard to demonstrate. In any event I expect the ISO performance to top a one stop improvement when the FW is sorted and when my workflow is optimised.

It's not a huge issue but I had slightly higher hopes is all, and were I shooting flash free under tungsten at the moment I would probably take the 5DII and 50 R Cron combo and just hope the banding stayed away!

T

[tashley]

Originally Posted by sean_reid

Hi Tim,

But you can print bigger (at a given ISO) with the M9 than with the M8. No matter what print size you choose the noise will be less with the new camera.

Thanks for the report.

Cheers,

Sean

Yup that's perfectly true - what I meant to say was that I had hoped for a stop and a half in printability and it's more like two thirds of a stop IMHO but as I say, these things are very subjective.

BYTW Sean I was going to add to The Long Thread but thought it was just toooo long; but I did want to say that anyone who thinks your reviews can be bought by manufacturers has let their cynicism about the world suffocate their common sense. It's also rather insulting to the intelligence of those of us who pay for your reviews because we believe that they will be detailed, thoughtful and fully objective. As indeed they are.

Best

T

[plasticman]

Crikey Tim - I don't know if you noticed, but your focus on that kid's face looks waaaaaaaaaay off!

[sean_reid]

Originally Posted by tashley

Yup that's perfectly true - what I meant to say was that I had hoped for a stop and a half in printability and it's more like two thirds of a stop IMHO but as I say, these things are very subjective.

BYTW Sean I was going to add to The Long Thread but thought it was just toooo long; but I did want to say that anyone who thinks your reviews can be bought by manufacturers has let their cynicism about the world suffocate their common sense. It's also rather insulting to the intelligence of those of us who pay for your reviews because we believe that they will be detailed, thoughtful and fully objective. As indeed they are.

Best

T

Thank you.

Cheers,

Sean

[chris_tribble]

Tim - agreed that formatting seems to take longer (and the over-right option takes forever) - and I'm only working with 2GB Sandisk Extreme cards at the moment - ordered a batch of 4s and 8s which should arrive soon. No other freezing or striping on anything I've seen yet.

[sean_reid]

Originally Posted by chris_tribble

Tim - agreed that formatting seems to take longer (and the over-right option takes forever) - and I'm only working with 2GB Sandisk Extreme cards at the moment - ordered a batch of 4s and 8s which should arrive soon. No other freezing or striping on anything I've seen yet.

34 seconds actually

[Hatro]

Tim,

and mine is one of those with current firmware at delivery but which does not record the camera serial number in EXIF.

Just read your email and checked the Exif files of my M9 and M8u; none shows the s/n??!!
Btw, I bought the M9 at the Leica Shop in Solms and I updated the firmware to the current version by myself.

Helmut

[chris_tribble]

Ah - there's that too. My sn's xxxxxxx ...

[Shootist]

Tim sorry to hear of these problems.
I am sure the write times and the format times will come down with newer firmware.
They did with the M8 once Leica sorted out problems.

I find it best to wait until the red light stops blinking before I do any else with the camera except take another shot.

[stnami]

What's with the censorship, you post images of strangers without blocking out the faces........? I just find this very surprising

[HankBar]

I wrote earlier about a 8 GB (ADATA) card, that worked in the M8, not in the M9.When I found a card that worked in the M9, it was impossible to delate all pictures: I had to delete them one by one. And the same happened as stated by the OP: the light flashed forever and I could not put the M9 off.

[tashley]

Originally Posted by stnami

What's with the censorship, you post images of strangers without blocking out the faces........? I just find this very surprising

I am pleased to have been able to surprise you!

Maybe it's art. Maybe it's about the homogeneous nature of individuality in a society that manufactures people as if they were products.

Maybe not. I leave all interpretation to the viewer.

[tashley]

Originally Posted by plasticman

Crikey Tim - I don't know if you noticed, but your focus on that kid's face looks waaaaaaaaaay off!

Actually it was sensor dust.

[dpattinson]

Originally Posted by sean_reid

34 seconds actually

Interesting, that might be a regression - the M8 became much faster at formatting cards with one of the firmware releases - can't recall which one.

[sean_reid]

I think the M9 is doing a more in-depth kind of formatting. My hunch is that its doing that help reduce possible problems when shooting.

[sean_reid]

Originally Posted by tashley

Actually it was sensor dust.

Someone dust that poor kid and wipe the Vaseline off his or her head.

[sean_reid]

Originally Posted by tashley

I am pleased to have been able to surprise you!

Maybe it's art. Maybe it's about the homogeneous nature of individuality in a society that manufactures people as if they were products.

Maybe not. I leave all interpretation to the viewer.

Oooh,,,very good. You're alert today...