Sensor crack and out of warranty

[meino]

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there is a longeivity issue

 

I have had many digital cameras and have never heard of sensor breaking

Other things break, but not the sensor (for example Canon 5D sensors falling off the mount due to faulty glue)

 

With a product like this, ones does need to have confidence that if it lay down for 10 years, your could blow the dust off and take it out for a few shots for old times sake!

 

Due to the cost of the M9 (even post M10), I would personally recommend taking advantage of the annual extended 290 EURO warranty with the M9 while you keep it, as its a small price to pay for piece of mind. Its also transferrable and gives a future buyer confidence proportional to the time left.

 

just see the following thread:

 

D3 Cracked Sensor Pics (Update) - FM Forums

 

regards

Meino

[wattsy]

I would personally recommend taking advantage of the annual extended 290 EURO warranty with the M9 while you keep it, as its a small price to pay for piece of mind.

 

I bought the extended warranty for my M9 but I wouldn't describe €290 as a small price to pay - it's roughly what I pay to insure my car. I doubt I'll bother with it again when the extended period expires in October (which might be a moot point - it's not clear to me that there is the option to extend the warranty indefinitely).

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[jaapv]

Is car insurance that cheap in the UK? I pay triple that for my wife's Suzuki Swift. And my nominal insurance rate is about ten times that - fortunately I have a 70% no-claim discount.

[Hank Taylor]

It would be interesting to know the % of sensors for the M9 that need to be replace because of a defect

Hank

[jaapv]

It is still quite low - under fifty, I estimate.

[jaques]

there is one claim that Leica has consistently made that I find interesting in light of this thread:

 

"

Compact, Built for a Lifetime, and Enduring in Value

 

It is not rare for a Leica to become its owner's lifelong companion. This also applies to the digital Leica M9 and equally to the M9-P: despite the considerably larger sensor, it has been possible to maintain the compact body size of their predecessors, the Leica M8 and M8.2. With dimensions of only 139 x 37 x 80 mm, the Leica M9 and M9-P retain the ideal size of the M series and the unique honor of being the world's smallest full-format digital system cameras. The one-piece, full-metal housing, made from a high-tensile magnesium alloy, and a top deck and bottom plate machined from blocks of solid brass, provide perfect protection for their precious inner mechanisms. The digital components and shutter assembly of the M9 and the M9-P are similarly constructed with a lifetime of endurance in mind. Free updates ensure that the cameras' firmware always embraces the latest developments. In short: an M camera is not only an investment for life, but also a lifelong companion."

 

 

this claim strongly suggests Leica believes the product has a very long life ahead of it. Or at least it is clear they claim such a long life. The wording is a little devious: do they mean the 'life' of the camera, or the life of the owner? The last line indicates that they mean the owners life... but this line, "The digital components and shutter assembly of the M9 and the M9-P are similarly constructed with a lifetime of endurance in mind", seems to be taliking of the 'life' of the digital componentry. Even when I first bought in on the M9 I was surprised to read a claim like this about a digital camera. We have become used to the idea of digital disposability.... so when I read the claim above I did so with a grain of salt: it is advertising after all, however I couldn't help being swayed by it also on an emotional level. I liked very much the idea of buying a camera that would last many, many years: especially considering the scale of the investment I was about to make.

 

 

I am concerned about the truthfulness of the claim above, and I hope that Leica really do intent to (and actually can) stand behind it. It seems that many on this forum do not really expect their M9 to be working in 10 years- let alone in the twilight years of their life. I know Leica has an older demographic.... but some of us hope to be around in a little more than decade or even two...

Edited May 2, 2012 by jaques

[AlanG]

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I am concerned about the truthfulness of the claim above, and I hope that Leica really do intent to (and actually can) stand behind it. It seems that many on this forum do not really expect their M9 to be working in 10 years- let alone in the twilight years of their life. I know Leica has an older demographic.... but some of us hope to be around in a little more than decade or even two...

 

Only time will tell.

 

The statement below seems at odds with the other thread about a few cameras falling off of their tripods due to the body shell failing:

 

"The one-piece, full-metal housing, made from a high-tensile magnesium alloy, and a top deck and bottom plate machined from blocks of solid brass, provide perfect protection for their precious inner mechanisms."

Edited May 2, 2012 by AlanG

[jaques]

It is still quite low - under fifty, I estimate.

 

this doesn't gel with the 52 or so that hoppyman calculated from the forums alone. I also highly doubt Leica would have made a public comment on this issue for such a small number of cameras.... though I may be wrong.

 

Personally I would be surprised if even 10% of the worlds M9 owners have ever even logged onto this forum- let alone posted a comment. For instance how many Japanese, Chinese, and Saudi forum posters are there on here? Not too many that I have noticed. But I wonder what percentage of M9's go to just Japan let alone China? If more than 50% of all cracked sensors had been reported here- one would assume that to mean there are maybe 10,000 m9 owners who are members of this forum (I reduced the figure to take account of those who only joined to post the problem)? Could that be right? How many members are there on this forum?

 

Now lets say the 52 reported here are actually only 10% of the total incidences... just hypothetically- then from 52,000 cameras (not 30,000 ) we get a figure of 1%...

 

Which is kind of alarming I think for a central component like that. Especially when you consider that whatever caused them to fail is not known. Some sensors cracked immediately: others cracked months after the camera was purchased. This tells us more could crack in the future.

 

If we are lucky; there may be a 'half life' time frame involved: in other words if it hasn't cracked by x months chances of it cracking decrease by y factor every month thereafter. This may be true if the problem/possibility of cracking is limited to certain sensors only. Time will identify (crack) those individuals and then the problem will be over...

 

Unfortunately it seems to me more likely that the causative design flaw exists in all sensors (perhaps to a greater or lesser degree), and therefore more time + same intrinsic defect + ongoing use, vibration, etc= higher chance of cracking as time goes by...

 

A lot depends on the cause and as long as that is unknown it is impossible to say with any certainty what will happen down the track.

 

However I am not too worried: I am one of those people who stupidly thinks: 'it won't happen to me', and so far it hasn't However I could imagine the issue is worrying to those at Solms... I believe in the next few years at least- Leica will replace these sensors in and out of warranty- as the damage to reputation not to do so would be very high I think, and it is not the Leica way...

 

(having said that I was disappointed they didn't repair my M8 LCD out of warranty- I believe the coffee ring defect is a manufacturing one and should be repaired gratis...)

Edited May 2, 2012 by jaques

[jaapv]

From the mouth of Leica, nearly all incidents have been reported on this forum. It seems that the “victims” find their way here. If Geoff calculated 52 I guess the number is still well below 100.

[wattsy]

Is car insurance that cheap in the UK? I pay triple that for my wife's Suzuki Swift. And my nominal insurance rate is about ten times that - fortunately I have a 70% no-claim discount.

 

It varies considerably but I pay about £275 fully comp for myself and my wife (as second driver). That said, my car is probably in one of the cheapest insurance groups and that is based on 70% or so no-claims discount.

[wlaidlaw]

I only pay £750 for a LHD Porsche Turbo in the UK but I have a clean licence for 40 years and it is 27 years since my last insurance claim (stolen car), other than a couple of windscreen replacements, so I guess I am regarded as a reasonable risk. Just hope I am not speaking too soon, touch wood, stroke the black cat, say good morning to Mr. Magpie, etc etc.

 

Leica has handled the cracked sensor problem so well, I think it is a non-issue.

 

Wilson

[asmith]

I pay about £1,000 a year for a Mercedes E class coupe 350, and I too have a clean licence. But I am over 80 and the premium doubled when I passed that Mark. I hate to think what will happen if and when I pass 90.

Alwyn

[henry joeng]

Just an update on my out of warranty M9 suffering a spontaneous sensor crack.

I bought my M9 at Japan in Nov 2009, and found to have sensor crack after 2.5 year use in May 2012.

Leica Germany has repaired it free of charge and I just receive the camera through the leica service center in Hong Kong today.

Though I have to pay USD 360, as I have asked for an additional engraving on the top plate like that of a M9P

Thanks for keeping the promise, Leica Germany!