eleskin Posted November 13, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 13, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) On Rangefinder Forum, one member posted a concern with the M9 that the batteries do not last as long as with the M8. For the pro in the field, especially in out of the way third world locations, this could be a disaster!!!! What I propose to Leica or any other manufacturer that is willing to make this is to design and produce a battery pack that would be similar in size to the M winder that would be able to power the camera for an entire days shooting. the pack would mount like the M winder on the M6 etc,, and it would connect with the camera with two extension plugs built into the power pack. One for the SD card, the other, for the battery chamber. The SD card slot would then be relocated to the bottom or the side of the pack (NO MORE BASE PLATE REMOVAL FOR SD CARDS!!!!!! AND MORE POWER!!!!). For a camera in this price range ($7,000) there should be an option like this, especially when Nikon and Canon have it for much much cheaper cameras!!! I would have two types of battery holders that mount on the bottom of the pack itself. One that takes a dedicated Leica made battery and the other would use conventional AA batteries. I find the use of AA batteries very attractive in situations where you are running out of power and there is only a drug store or something like that near by. This works well with the old Pentax 645N. We should have the same option here, especially for the $7000USD (sorry Leica, but $7,000 is alot right now in this economy, so you should make the effort to make the M9 more useable in the feild, especially prs who do not want to be bothered by pesky battery issues). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Hi eleskin, Take a look here Power Pack option for M8/M9?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted November 13, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 13, 2009 It might not be that simple - Leica batteries have some electronics incorporated, reason that most third-party batteries are not very successful. But I am sure Leica could design something to offer at a modest outlay of -say- 900 Euro? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted November 13, 2009 Share #3 Posted November 13, 2009 It might not be that simple - Leica batteries have some electronics incorporated, reason that most third-party batteries are not very successful. Do you know this for a fact Jaap or is this more 'Leica knows best' nonsense? Surely all lithium-ion batteries have some electronics incorporated. What's so special about the Leica variety? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 13, 2009 Share #4 Posted November 13, 2009 Nothing - except that most reverse-engineering hasn't worked too well on third party batteries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted November 13, 2009 Share #5 Posted November 13, 2009 If people can make aftermarket batteries that work, then I'm quite sure they could make a battery grip that works. On reflection - I would be more worried about failure of the attachment system than the battery electronics. I really don't think the base of the camera is designed to support a battery grip. I'd be afraid the camera would rip off the base when shooting vertically. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 13, 2009 Share #6 Posted November 13, 2009 Problem being, as I mentioned, that a large number of after-market batteries don't work that well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted November 13, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 13, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Problem being, as I mentioned, that a large number of after-market batteries don't work that well. Yes - but that generally seems to be that they run down a bit quicker if I recall correctly. Unlikely to be a problem with a battery pack which has room for 4 times the volume of battery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 13, 2009 Share #8 Posted November 13, 2009 Yes - but that generally seems to be that they run down a bit quicker if I recall correctly. Unlikely to be a problem with a battery pack which has room for 4 times the volume of battery. No, the problem is they don't communicate properly, causing the camera to think they are empty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted November 13, 2009 Share #9 Posted November 13, 2009 Going back to the original post, how big a problem is this? Buy some more batteries. I agree that the M9 uses juice faster, but they don't run down really fast and the indicator in the Info screen works fine. I plan to acquire a couple more batteries to add to the 4 I have now (I also have a 5th sitting in my (now) backup M8. I have found the Leica l-ion batteries, from the D2 thru the M8 to the M9, to work very well. With a full charge and they go like the bunny in the commercial. One other note, the M9 seems to handle a low battery more gracefully than the M8 does. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted November 13, 2009 Share #10 Posted November 13, 2009 No, the problem is they don't communicate properly, causing the camera to think they are empty. OK, I guess that might make it more difficult - however it should be possible to reverse engineer the output to simply bluff the camera into thinking the battery is always 'full'. You could use a separate charge indicator on the grip to determine when you needed to change the cells. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted November 13, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 13, 2009 I like the idea of being able to run off some random AA batteries, have always found those to be the most available in areas way off the beaten track.. and always picked cameras which used AA, which made many of the "new" eos's non-starters for me when my F4 had AA grips. But I don't really want a bigger M camera,and am happy with my 6 off the shelf Leica batteries and the provided 12v car charger option. that goes a long way. and with one battery in the pocket Im in the range of 800 frames... thats a pretty good day, could always put a couple more in the jacket pocket. Sooo generally speaking Im happy. BUT I would spend money if somebody made a AA adapter. as a base or a external corded option. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 13, 2009 Share #12 Posted November 13, 2009 OK, I guess that might make it more difficult - however it should be possible to reverse engineer the output to simply bluff the camera into thinking the battery is always 'full'. What happens if the battery then fails halfway through a long exposure? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_lir Posted November 13, 2009 Share #13 Posted November 13, 2009 i'd shell out a pretty penny for this. if i could rock out all day long with just the m, no batteries that would be great. what i'd really like to see would be a dual sd card slot. so you can backup your cards, and be safe n secure there would be no error's, a la d3. i said this on rff as well. that's why i bought the d3 as opposed to the d700, can't bear the thought to loose a day's shooting becasue of failure! cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo_Lorentzen Posted November 13, 2009 Share #14 Posted November 13, 2009 Jesse, Agree entirely, I had hoped for a double SD card slot in the M9, that would have made me very happy. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
henning Posted November 14, 2009 Share #15 Posted November 14, 2009 While I might be interested in a battery pack that can take AA size alkalines, the power characteristics of AA's are such that you would need a fairly massive number to realize any real benefit. I'm not sure I'd be happy with the size. A much better solution for me is to use a number of third party batteries. Contrary to assertions in other posts, they usually work quite well. I, and a number of my friends and acquaintances have been using these in our M8's for the last 3 years and have found them an excellent solution. At a price of 1/10 of Leicas' they have in general performed as well or better than the OEM batteries. The concept that Leica or it's supplier knows more about batteries and battery control electronics than others is just silly. Out of 11 batteries I have had and used in my M8's, 2 have failed to this date, both no longer able to hold more than half a charge. One OEM and one third party. That's out of 3 OEM batteries and 8 third party. In the only test I ran early on, the third party battery lasted longer than the OEM battery. In general use there seems to be no difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleskin Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share #16 Posted November 14, 2009 My original m8 battery holds a full charge well. I bought a 3rd party battery from b&h photo and after 1 year it only holds a 1/4 charge. Maybe I should give them another chance. Which 3rd party batteries are best and are their any good eBay vendors out there so I will not have to worry about damage to my m8? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 14, 2009 Share #17 Posted November 14, 2009 My experience with oem batteries is that they have to be fully empty before charging to calibrate them to the camera and within a year two out of four died. All six Leica batteries, most of them over two years old are fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted November 15, 2009 Share #18 Posted November 15, 2009 What happens if the battery then fails halfway through a long exposure? Haha... what happens now when your Leica battery dies halfway through a long exposure... I'd trust a battery charge indicator in the grip before I'd trust the last two bars indicated in my M8 any day Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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