Some issues after using the S Typ 007 for a while

[leicapages]

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Folks,

 

I have been using the S Typ 007 in the Faroe islands, in Iceland and in Belgium over the past months and am experiencing a few issues that I would like to share. The camera was used with the Vario 30-90 and that combo was on most occasions a joy to use. However, there are a few quirks:

 

1. GPS is a real pain. For me it is important that images have GPS location data embedded, so I always use with GPS on. That said, its implementation in the S (both 006 and 007) leaves a lot of room for improvement. In most cases, one has to wait patiently for the GPS module to lock its position - that means waiting idle for over 5 minutes in most cases before being able to take a shot with GPS on. In my humble opinion, this is not really workable. Only when GPS has been locked shortly before, the next location goes relatively "fast". I am not talking about switching the camera on and off but leaving it on all the time. Leica must really do something about this urgently. On the positive side, the GPS issue in the high north, present in the 006, is not an issue for the 007 (meanwhile, we are still waiting for a FW remedy on the 006).

Small side-note: the LCD display on the 007 shows if GPS has been locked or not (not possible on the 006 - only on the back LCD, which is quite annoying). I have noticed on a few occasions that, while it shows that GPS is not locked, the image does contain GPS data nevertheless. Something is weird here.

 

2. I am encountering white horizontal stripes on images using high ISO values and with Live View on. Not the case if Live View is off. I rarely use LV but that should really not happen on a camera with this price tag. I have read about some others having experienced this issue and will certainly contact Leica for a remedy.

 

3. On several occasions I noticed that, after taking a shot, the image in the viewfinder remained black. The image is fine so it cannot be the shutter I guess (with the Vario, only the Focal Plain Shutter in the camera is used). It could rather be the mirror but I am not sure. Work-around: switch off the camera and restart. Very weird. Happened when the battery volume was about half-way (2 stripes out of 4) but that hardly be the reason I guess.

 

4. Another quirk, which is only solved by switching the camera off and back on, is that it sometimes goes "berzerk": focus does not lock anymore, it continues hunting back and forth even on normal subjects, and the in-viewfinder horizontal scale shows odd points. It happened not just once but several times. Odd.

 

The camera is loaded with the latest FW and brand new. Time to contact Wetzlar I guess.

 

On the positive side, no issues with the Vario 30-90 lens, autofocus works well (touch wood).

 

Pascal

 

[leicapages]

Here is an image that shows the horizontal stripe issue.

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Edited September 11, 2016 by leicapages

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GPS up towards the poles be it south or north takes considerable longer to acquire accurate signal if at all, this is not a Leica problem but a problem to GPS in general. It works best a bit north of the equator, or to put it in other words, over the height of the U.S.A. further West or East does not matter. But further sound or north from the mid point of the U.S.A. degrades GPS accuracy/speed. 

[dritz]

I concur with your observation about GPS.  I often have the little info "i" icon with the GPS icon, and my pictures have no GPS information. I'm standing outside on a clear day but no signal.  Yes, a bit frustrating that hopefully can be fixed in firmware. 

 

Dean

 

 

Folks,

 

I have been using the S Typ 007 in the Faroe islands, in Iceland and in Belgium over the past months and am experiencing a few issues that I would like to share. The camera was used with the Vario 30-90 and that combo was on most occasions a joy to use. However, there are a few quirks:

 

1. GPS is a real pain. For me it is important that images have GPS location data embedded, so I always use with GPS on. That said, its implementation in the S (both 006 and 007) leaves a lot of room for improvement. In most cases, one has to wait patiently for the GPS module to lock its position - that means waiting idle for over 5 minutes in most cases before being able to take a shot with GPS on. In my humble opinion, this is not really workable. Only when GPS has been locked shortly before, the next location goes relatively "fast". I am not talking about switching the camera on and off but leaving it on all the time. Leica must really do something about this urgently. On the positive side, the GPS issue in the high north, present in the 006, is not an issue for the 007 (meanwhile, we are still waiting for a FW remedy on the 006).

Small side-note: the LCD display on the 007 shows if GPS has been locked or not (not possible on the 006 - only on the back LCD, which is quite annoying). I have noticed on a few occasions that, while it shows that GPS is not locked, the image does contain GPS data nevertheless. Something is weird here.

 

2. I am encountering white horizontal stripes on images using high ISO values and with Live View on. Not the case if Live View is off. I rarely use LV but that should really not happen on a camera with this price tag. I have read about some others having experienced this issue and will certainly contact Leica for a remedy.

 

3. On several occasions I noticed that, after taking a shot, the image in the viewfinder remained black. The image is fine so it cannot be the shutter I guess (with the Vario, only the Focal Plain Shutter in the camera is used). It could rather be the mirror but I am not sure. Work-around: switch off the camera and restart. Very weird. Happened when the battery volume was about half-way (2 stripes out of 4) but that hardly be the reason I guess.

 

4. Another quirk, which is only solved by switching the camera off and back on, is that it sometimes goes "berzerk": focus does not lock anymore, it continues hunting back and forth even on normal subjects, and the in-viewfinder horizontal scale shows odd points. It happened not just once but several times. Odd.

 

The camera is loaded with the latest FW and brand new. Time to contact Wetzlar I guess.

 

On the positive side, no issues with the Vario 30-90 lens, autofocus works well (touch wood).

 

Pascal

[leicapages]

GPS up towards the poles be it south or north takes considerable longer to acquire accurate signal if at all, this is not a Leica problem but a problem to GPS in general. It works best a bit north of the equator, or to put it in other words, over the height of the U.S.A. further West or East does not matter. But further sound or north from the mid point of the U.S.A. degrades GPS accuracy/speed.

 

I have noted no particular difference between GPS locking "speed" in continental Europe vs Iceland or Faroe islands.

[tom0511]

If I was in your position and would encounter such problems with the shutter/mirror I would send the camera to Leica for repair.

 

[erlingmm]

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I live in Norway, and have used the S007 as far north as above the arctic circle. I never experienced the same type of GPS problems with the 007 as I had on the 006.

[leicapages]

I live in Norway, and have used the S007 as far north as above the arctic circle. I never experienced the same type of GPS problems with the 007 as I had on the 006.

Indeed, no problem with the S Typ 007 in het high north. The "high north" problem only manifests itself with the S Typ 006 but, according to what I saw as new features with the firmware 4 released last evening, that problem should now have been effectively dealt with on the S Typ 006 as well.

 

The bigger issue of (much too) slow locking on both S cameras in general remains, however.

[leicapages]

If I was in your position and would encounter such problems with the shutter/mirror I would send the camera to Leica for repair.

Needless to say that this will be my practical way forward but I just wanted to see if I was alone in these remarks. Judging by the (lack of) reactions it seems that my problems are exceptional, which is actually good news.

[albireo_double]

Needless to say that this will be my practical way forward but I just wanted to see if I was alone in these remarks. Judging by the (lack of) reactions it seems that my problems are exceptional, which is actually good news.

 

 

Pascal you are not alone in these remarks (as you know, I had the horizontal white stripe problem in High ISO / LV which was fixed through sensor remapping - through a file Leica sent to me by email and I installed it myself, like any FW update). But you already know that, as we exchanged private messages. I am just restating it here for the benefit of any other S007 owners.

[albertknappmd]

We were in Northern Canada and Greenland last year and no GPS issue with S...

As to other problems... send back to Leica for fix.

Albert     

[LorenzoLandini]

Pascal, 

 

Did you experience the "black" view finder both in Belgium and in Iceland or only in Iceland? I haven't experienced such a problem with my S (nor I've been to Iceland with it), but generally speaking it's not uncommon that at freezing temperatures the mirror becomes sticky. Once in a while I experienced the same with other cameras. Batteries also performed poorly at freezing temperatures. A CLA may help. 

 

Cheers, 

Lorenzo 

[leicapages]

Pascal, 

 

Did you experience the "black" view finder both in Belgium and in Iceland or only in Iceland? I haven't experienced such a problem with my S (nor I've been to Iceland with it), but generally speaking it's not uncommon that at freezing temperatures the mirror becomes sticky. Once in a while I experienced the same with other cameras. Batteries also performed poorly at freezing temperatures. A CLA may help. 

 

Cheers, 

Lorenzo 

 

Regrettably, nothing to do with freezing as temperatures were -all things considered- summer like in Iceland: between 10 to 15 degrees C.