M9 -> Some files doesen´t get saved!

[stjernerhem]

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For about 5-6 weeks ago i bought the new Leica M9 with a Summicron 35asph 6-bit coded. So far so good, it´s pretty good camera overall. But i got this huge problem that has occured twice for me as up to day.

 

For 2 weeks ago i was out shooting some pics with some friends and was testing an old Tele-Elmarit 90mm i bought used for pretty silly amount of money. I´ve only had it for a few days and at this day i was shooting wide open to check the sharpness. While shooting the first of this images (i´ve shoot like 50-100pics with it earlier) i noticed that when i zoomed in to control the sharpness the playback went slow as hell. Almost slower then the old M8 i had before M9. When i later on checked the playback the pictures weren´t there. 3 images were complete gone from the playback menu. And this were the three pictures with slow zooming.

 

When i came home i opened the files on the memory card and noticed that there were three files without preview in the finder and these diden´t work in photoshop. The image size was 0kb. They were corrupted in some way.

 

And today i was out shooting of a couple of frames at my daughter and her grandmother in the sun. I also shot these with the 90mm. I diden´t zoom in cause i knewed the sharpness was correct, i only checked out the histogram to check the exposure. While i saw these pictures in the screen i thought they were really good. The best of the pictures i took this day. There were 4-6 of them perhaps. When i shot the last frame i noticed the viewfinder showed 3 ( - - - ) instead of the darts and spot. This occures as far as i know when its saving card to the SD card. But they dident go away. I was unable to shoot further, i couldent check the meny, not they playback or either the set menu. Turned the camera off but it dident help, had to remove the battery and then it worked after that. But all these good pictures were gone.

 

When i now check the filenumbering there looks like this files never existed. The file numbering sequence is correct.

 

I´ve emailed Leica is this matter but they dont really have any good answer. Just for me to send it down to them im Solms. But they have never heard of this problem before. Give me a break, i´ve read atleast 2 threads about this. I can´t rely on the camera anymore, and also... I cant sent it away until 2 weeks from now cause im traveling for a dedicated phototrip to Amsterdam for a few days with a friend next weekend. But it really sucks, i cant rely on it and have to have the camera for this trip. I´ve taken about 1300 images with it and it has only occured twice in a total of 7-9 pictures with this problem. And never during use of my Summicron. But that shouldent have anything to do with it as far as i can think.

 

 

Yes. I use Sandisk Extreme SDHC 8gb cards. And i always format them after backup in the computer. I´ve also tried to get this problem when i want. For exampel i have shot at 'C' mode several times until the data has transfered to the card, ive zoomed in just as the picture shows in the screen. Ive done this for atleast 150pictures now and never have this error showed.

 

I think this is totally unacceptable for this expensive camera.......

I will send it down after my phototrip and if i have the error once again i will force them to refound all my money and by a Nikon with pro lenses as i had before!

 

 

I guess there is more people out there who has experince of the same problem?

[Knorp]

Hi there,

I'm very sorry for your misfortune and I can imagine that you're feeling upset about it.

My M9 got its quirks too, although perhaps not as bad as yours. In my case the pictures are saved, but once in a while I get this 'black frame'.

Well as long as it happens not too often you'll get over it, but it's a shame really and in your case not acceptable.

 

Just to make sure: you did try another SD-card ?

And you do format the SD-card in your camera, right ?

 

For now enjoy your trip to Amsterdam

 

All the best.

[andybarton]

Have you tried a different SD card?

[250swb]

You should be formatting your card in the camera, not in the computer. But that may not be the problem.

 

Steve

[wparsonsgisnet]

In line with the messages in the previous 2 posts, I have NOT had any data problems with my M9.

 

I read the FAQ and ONLY use Sandisk Ultra II cards with it, and I always format them in the camera.

 

Also, make sure your batteries are full.

 

This is an anomoly, not what you should expect from this camera.

[jaapv]

Like the posts before 5000 shots without this problem. Sandisk and format in camera

[Guest WPalank]

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And i always format them after backup in the computer.

 

I think this is totally unacceptable for this expensive camera.......

 

From the official Leica Manual for the M9 entitled "Leica M9 Instructions". The manual is available as a PDF on the website if you have lost yours.

Page 157 (English)

 

Notes:

- If the memory card has been formatted in another device, such as a computer, you should reformat it in the Leica M9.

 

It seems you have not been following the proper procedure.

 

PS See Korsay, the manual is nice to have as a PDF on my iPad.

[meino]

I had once a similar problem. It happened to me when I moved the images from the card to the computer using an USB reader and I forgot to format the card afterwards in the M9.

When I started using the M9 again I had some problems with lost images. I was able to recover these lost images from the card using a recovery program.

So I always reformat the card in the M9 after the images are copied to the computer. As long as I follow that regime It work flawless. The cards I'm using are Sandisk UltraII 16Gb and Sandisk Extreme 8Gb

 

regards

Meino de Graaf

[jaapv]

From the official Leica Manual for the M9 entitled "Leica M9 Instructions". The manual is available as a PDF on the website if you have lost yours.

Page 157 (English)

 

Notes:

- If the memory card has been formatted in another device, such as a computer, you should reformat it in the Leica M9.

 

It seems you have not been following the proper procedure.

 

PS See Korsay, the manual is nice to have as a PDF on my iPad.

Well, it seems the forum has identified the cause of the problem Maybe you should add it to the FAQ, William.

[dseelig]

I do not know why my but I too have lost images in my m9. I believe I have formated in camera and it happened one other time.

[jaapv]

It can happen if the battery is nearly run down and the camera shuts down before the file can be fully written (not the case with the OP though)

[Guest WPalank]

Well, it seems the forum has identified the cause of the problem Maybe you should add it to the FAQ, William.

 

Done.

[dseelig]

The battery was above 50 percent and in happened in the middle of a bunch images shot in a 5 minute period.

[jaapv]

Well, let us know if you have a repeat, I would not like to lose images (although many of my images are better off not saved..)

[zeitz]

Are you zooming and checking the histogram while the writing and the automatic display are still occuring? I always wait until all this is over, then press the play button to bring the image back up. It sounds to me like you are interupting the write process and corrupting the FAT.

[vanhulsenbeek]

As almost always in this kind of threads, the OP's silence after his first mail is deafening.

They enlist on the Forum, write their rant, and that's it.

One wonders if all the good advice - and surely most pertinent it is in this case - is read at all

 

And this:

I will send it down after my phototrip and if i have the error once again i will force them to refound all my money and by a Nikon with pro lenses as i had before!

Will we ever know what happened?

[AlainLandry]

From the official Leica Manual for the M9 entitled "Leica M9 Instructions". The manual is available as a PDF on the website if you have lost yours.

Page 157 (English)

 

Notes:

- If the memory card has been formatted in another device, such as a computer, you should reformat it in the Leica M9.

 

It seems you have not been following the proper procedure.

 

PS See Korsay, the manual is nice to have as a PDF on my iPad.

the manual is nice to have as a PDF on my iPad.

__________________

Cheers,

William

Leica Ambassador

William Palank Photo

 

 

Thanks for the info!!! I just download it on my Itouch and later on the iPad.

 

Alain

[AlanG]

... And i always format them after backup in the computer.

 

This is ambiguous. Perhaps he formatted in the camera. His English is quite good but doesn't seem to be his first language.

[stjernerhem]

This is ambiguous. Perhaps he formatted in the camera. His English is quite good but doesn't seem to be his first language.

 

 

That´s right!

 

I meant i always format the card in the M9 after doing i backup in the computer.

 

And first time it occured i zoomed while the camera was writing to the memorycard but not yesterday. I diden´t zoom at all. Even if it occurs while zooming in to fast i think its rather crap when the files turnes out corrupted cause of this!

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[zeitz]

Neither the M8 nor the M9 had the computer horsepower to multi-thread, that is doing more than one command at a time. If the write process is interupted, the File Allocation Table will become corrupted and files will be lost. When the FAT is corrupted, I would reformat in a PC computer (not a Mac) and then reformat in the camera. If the problem occurs again, throw away the card.

 

In the end the M9 may not be the right camera for you. The big DSLRs have a lot more processing power. That's one of the reasons they are so big. Maybe some day the S2 Maestro processor will fit in the M9. Leica is not there yet for the M series.