M9 P 'freezing up" or Card read problems? {merged}

[jaapv]

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Thanks Peter. Don't worry, this is but an interim icon

[k-hawinkler]

Jaap, I have recently encountered a similar problem... from time to time, my M9 will hang up after I shoot three or four (rapidly, in an exposure bracket). The red write action led near the lcd continues to blink, almost as though the buffer is full after a measly four RAW. After what feels like an eternity but is probably more like 4 seconds, the shutter recocks and things seem to return to normal.

 

I do have discreet always on and only use single shot mode. The problem started after I downloaded FW1.196 because I needed the new 50 AA profile... when I got my fantastically smooth new Sumicron, I got some odd colors in low artificial light. So I thought I should load the 50 AA profile, and it did seem to make a difference (surprisingly). I imagined this was a coincidence, but is the hanging problem an issue in FW 1.196?

 

Contacting Leica USA is not really a helpful option. They are very polite, but have little ability for technical support of any kind.

 

Also, I miss your old forum icon and have been meaning to tell you. That sure was a beautiful M that always came up next your name!

 

Thanks, Peter

 

 

Using "discreet" mode seems to cause the problem.

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/2159890-post196.html

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[thighslapper]

This is a camera specific problem.

 

Probably with voltage regulation and buffering at the bottom of it.

 

Thousands of Leica users never have any problems with SD cards ... no matter what they use, so it cannot be a purely card issue, particularly if several are now affected.

 

If a completely new and fully charged battery and new SD card (low capacity) doesn't solve it I would ask Solms to check the camera.....

[mp58]

It has begun happening to me now, with my late 2012 m9-p, the hangup described in varying degrees by other posters. I thought at first it was because I was using a 16gb card, so I went back to my older 8gb san disk cards. Interestingly, the very first time the hangup happened was at home, just after I had put a Luigi half case on the camera and was shooting a few frames just to see how the camera felt in my hand with the half case on it. After a couple photographs, the camera stopped working. No lights, no sound, no action of any kind. The battery was not fully charged, but it was not anywhere near 1/2. I took everything out (card and battery) and tried again. No go. I ended up going to get a different battery, and the camera came to life again.

 

Last evening, I was shooting at a music venue, and right in the middle of the concert, it did the same thing. I was very careful not to shoot too many photos in rapid succession.

The camera locked up and all I could see was the three dotted lines cycling at the bottom in the viewfinder. It did this for a while. FWIW, I use the standard release for the shutter (not discreet), I do not have auto review activated, and I never use continuous release (although sometimes it does do the double shot to my surprise). I missed two whole songs trying to get the camera to come back to life. I changed the battery out twice, and when nothing worked, I though maybe I just THOUGHT I had two fully charged batteries with me. Finally, after a while, I pressed the shutter release, and it worked again.

 

I two have an M8, so I have a newish set of M9 batteries and my old M8 battery. My first order will be to get a new battery and a couple new 8gig cards. I have always had the latest firmware in this camera. I bought it used from my longtime dealer, and it came with the latest firmware.

 

I am hoping the fresh battery and new cards will do the trick. Will keep you posted...K

[wda]

When this problem was first reported by several members, on advice I switched from Sandisk to Lexar Professional cards. So far I have not suffered from the reported problem. Offered simply as anecdotal evidence.

[Go Figure]

Not necessarily. The images are most likely still on your cards, just corrupted.

Don't do anything to worsen the situation by writing on your cards.

If you can't recover them, Leica CS in Solms probably can.

They know how the corruption happens and have a better chance of recovering.

 

There could be something seriously wrong with your camera or just the usual problems a number of us have experienced.

Do yourself a favor and get a Panasonic Gold memory card.

At least that way you should be able to avoid some of the typical issues.

 

You may get in touch with:

 

 

Leica professional repair service

You are a professional photographer? Your Leica product requires servicing or repair at short notice? Please contact our professional repair service at the Solms factory in Germany. Here your Leica product will be serviced and repaired quickly and expertly.

 

Address:

Leica Camera AG

Leica Customer Care - Profi Service

Solmser Gewerbepark 8

35606 Solms

Phone:

06442 208 189

Fax:

06442 208 339

E-mail:

andrea.frankl@leica-camera.com

 

Good luck.

Fantastic to have found and read this !

 

You are the only other M user I now know using Panasonic cards !!!

 

Unfortunately I just posted about the problems that I keep having with my M8s and the 8GB Panasonic Gold cards.

I use the grey tabbed ones - as the yellow/orange tabbed ones will absolutely not work with one of my M8s ...

Would you please contact me to share experiences as I am at a complete loss here and went back to using my Lexar Professional 133x 2GB card.

 

Much obliged,

Mark

[Mark Pope]

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My m9-p started to act up yesterday. It locked up, then after re powering, I had a card error. I took out the battery and reinserted it then changed the card. Thankfully, the problem seems to have gone away. At least for the time being...

The battery is one that I used with my M8, so it's pretty old.  Having recently updated the firmware makes me wonder if the battery is the cause.  The battery had slightly more than 75% power left.  Anyway it's being discharged now and I will recharge it and see how I get on.

 

i think it's time to invest in a new battery or two, as well as some new memory cards.  £90 for a new battery seems a lot, but compared to how much I used to spend on film, or on the camera for that matter, it's peanuts.

[jaapv]

Discharging a Li-Ion battery is not a good idea. It will only deteriorate it further. If you manage to discharge it completely  (using a light bulb or such) you will kill it.

Discharging was needed for for instance Ni-Cad batteries, as those would exhibit a memory effect, which Li-Ion does not have.

My M8 batteries are still good, btw.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-tips-for-extending-lithium-ion-battery-life/

 

(Disregard the 30 times reset discharge bit, Leica cameras and batteries communicate to prevent this problem)

[Mark Pope]

Jaap,

Thanks for the advice WRT Li-Ion batteries.  I just left the camera switched on with power saving disabled.  Anyway, it's mot now as I bought a couple of new batteries for the M9-P.  The suspect battery has been disposed of.

[Mark Pope]

The suspect battery has been disposed of...

 

Or at least I thought I had disposed of it!  Anyway, I had an old ex-M8 battery in my M9-P this afternoon.  When I was out shooting, the camera display flashed up a warning saying the battery was low.  So I changed the battery out and when I returned it was put on charge.  Almost immediately the '80%' light on the charger came on.

[uhoh7]

Tobey, yes the cards were formatted before re-using after the last firmware upgrade (a long time ago now). I am a vigorous reformatter - after every "shoot" once the images are copied to the computer and backed up.

Well in that case, prepare for problems on the M9, because the formatting is not good.

 

I've shot over 100,000 frame on mine now, and it used to freeze fairly often and eat cards in the way that the OP describes.

 

I stopped formatting and guess what? 40,000+ frames later it has not frozen once, and my cards work like new.

 

I will never ever format a memory card on the M9, after the first use.

[Go Figure]

Well in that case, prepare for problems on the M9, because the formatting is not good.

 

I've shot over 100,000 frame on mine now, and it used to freeze fairly often and eat cards in the way that the OP describes.

 

I stopped formatting and guess what? 40,000+ frames later it has not frozen once, and my cards work like new.

 

I will never ever format a memory card on the M9, after the first use.

 would you please take the time and provide us with a detailed written account of your successful card procedures  ( ...and what card to use )

[NZDavid]

There used to be an SD card sub forum but I can't find it now.

 

I found this free (for Macs) program for image recovery after my M9 froze: http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Data-Recovery-Wizard-Free/3000-2248_4-75676950.html?tag=dre

Edited October 24, 2015 by NZDavid