Snapper UK Posted December 4, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 4, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have had my M9 for a little over a month now and have taken it on assignment to India, Mexico and Sri Lanka. While on the whole I am happy with the images I get I am having so many problems with SD and SDHC cards that it is hard to consider the camera useful as a professional tool. Basically half the cards I put in SD as well as SDHC return a "Attention No SD Card" warning. I can not format the cards or write to them. Of course I am using reputable brands and am having particular problem with Lexar Professional 8GB SDHC 133x cards. I have tried 3 brand new cards and some initially work then produce the error while one I tried this morning, straight out of the packet, produced the error immediately. I have also had the problem with Sandisk 2GB Extreme II and III cards. Some times this error occurs when the card is put in. Some times it happens after a few frames, which inevitably leads to lost pictures. Leica in Milton Keynes did not seem to be aware of any issues. I will be taking the camera back to my dealer either today or on Monday. Has anyone else had issues? This is my second M9, my first had to go back immediately because it has a faulty capacitor that meant it would not store the date or time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 4, 2009 Posted December 4, 2009 Hi Snapper UK, Take a look here M9 problem with SD Cards. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Nicoleica Posted December 4, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 4, 2009 You might have dirty contacts in the camera? Have you tried cleaning them with one of those little 'SD cleaning cards?' Though this does sound a bit unlikely on a brand new camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 4, 2009 Share #3 Posted December 4, 2009 Were the cards used in another camera before? Did you format them in the M9.? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delander † Posted December 4, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 4, 2009 I have had problems like this. I have not tried Lexar but it seems the M9 is quite picky with regard to SD/SDHC cards. The general consensus at the moment is that Sandisk 4-8-16 Gb Ultra IIs work the best. I am using 2Gb Sandisk Ultra IIs which I used with the M8, they dont hold many images but they do work. This is an issue which needs to be sorted and quickly, I dont wish to spend money on new cards just to find that they dont work consistently. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper UK Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share #5 Posted December 4, 2009 Most of the cards are brand new cards. can't format them as the format option is greyed out when the camera doesn't think a card is inserted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overgaard Posted December 4, 2009 Share #6 Posted December 4, 2009 One thing could be contact problems. Also, the M9 does not prevent inserting the SD card wrong which could potentially damage the contacts - or at least bend them. I would get Leica to look at it as soon as possible. But else Sandisk 16GB and 8GB is what I use and that works fine. I get the message occasionally "no SD card" and then if I take out the card and insert it again, it's fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 4, 2009 Share #7 Posted December 4, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've got four Sandisk Ultra II 16 Gb which have not given me any problems. It seems wisest to stick to those, as thee have been reports of problematic behaviour of other makes. I'm sure it will be sorted in firmware. Not to sound apologetic, but card makers are said to go outside the official standard as well from time to time. It is up to the camera makers to make their cameras as tolerant as possible I suppose. Come to think of it, I had problems with Lexar cards in a number of other cameras in the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanhulsenbeek Posted December 4, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 4, 2009 Most of the cards are brand new cards. can't format them as the format option is greyed out when the camera doesn't think a card is inserted. Try format FAT32 in a computer first. After that, and when the M9 takes them, format again in the M9, otherwise you loose your numbering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper UK Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted December 4, 2009 Try format FAT32 in a computer first. After that, and when the M9 takes them, format again in the M9, otherwise you loose your numbering. I have tried this.... was a bit of a pain as I am a mac user but managed to do it using an older machine not running Snow Leopard. Did not work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted December 4, 2009 Share #10 Posted December 4, 2009 Had the same problem with the same card Lexar 8Gb 133x . Had problems with a few other cards when I reused them (after they had been formated in my DMR or the wifes D90)..these cleared when I reformated the cards with the file utility and then reformated them in the M9. This was a problem with the M8.2 as well and started to occur after one of the firmware upgrades. The less expensive sandisk ultra 16gb seem to be the sweet spot for the M9 and its current firmware. This is what Leica recommends . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Fines Posted December 4, 2009 Share #11 Posted December 4, 2009 Hello, Contacts sound like a possibility. Checking to see if the cards format in another camera will help isolate things. The Leica M9 is the world's slowest camera to format an SD card. The way they are doing it is clearly not "normal". Possibly this is causing some of the problems. Twice now I've missed good shots because I was staring at a "Formatting SD card" message for 3-4 minutes instead of shooting. As an aside I've got a stack of Transcend Class 6 SDHC 16gb cards that have all worked very well. They are inexpensive - I haven't checked the speed, however, as I'm using this camera primarily for landscapes where frame rate isn't as much of an issue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 4, 2009 Share #12 Posted December 4, 2009 I format them at home, before I need them acutely... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm Posted December 4, 2009 Share #13 Posted December 4, 2009 I don't know whether or not this accurate (just passing it along), but a Leica rep. told me recently that the SD physical size standard was slightly changed about a year ago. The newer ones are supposed to be slightly smaller, and the previous ones (which may seem to fit in the M9's SD slot) don't fully seat. If this is true, then even some recently sold cards in factory packaging may have been manufactured before the size change. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted December 4, 2009 Share #14 Posted December 4, 2009 I am using the following without any issues: Sandisk Extreme III 8G Transcend Class 6 8G Transcend Class 6 4G It sounds to me like an issue with your camera, unless you have extremely bad luck with the cards. One way to tell is to put the card into another camera (not necessarily M9) and see if you can read it or format it (don't we all have some other camera, even a P&S?). If you can read and format in the other camera, you likely have a camera problem. If not it is a card problem. My son recently had a Transcend 2G go South -- it was invisible on cameras and computers both. If you were able to format the card on a computer, that is to me another piece of evidence that you have a camera problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blatent liar Posted December 5, 2009 Share #15 Posted December 5, 2009 I have been using the San Disk Ultra II 8Gb, and have ten of them. While I have had zero issue with these specifically... many other cards which operate fine in many other cameras, in my car, in my computer, my Canon, my Panasonic, my M8, and M8.2 etc... and yet these are simply are not recognized in my picky M9. It is an issue, which did not present itself until this body, and it needs to be mitigated by Leica. But my San Disk Ultra II - 8, and 16's work flawlessly in the M9. (could read a bit faster, but write fine) -Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsaxe Posted December 5, 2009 Share #16 Posted December 5, 2009 I had the same problem. I purchased a Delkin 16GB card for my M9 and it kept giving me cryptic messages about not being able to read the card. Every time I removed the card and re-inserted it it took about 10 minutes to read the data or recognize the card. I then switched it with a Sandisk 8GB card from my Olympus EP-1, reformated it and it worked fine. I then put in a brnd new Sandisk 16GB Ultra III and it also works fine. I guess Leicas like Sandisk cards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgio Posted December 5, 2009 Share #17 Posted December 5, 2009 really I find this unbelievable. I know one can't say a bad word about worlds best brand here, but a camera in this price category should not give SO much trouble with SD cards. Is anyone using 32 cards with the M9? Leica should look into this. Also the fact that the card can be inserted the wrong way, is quite insane and not necessary. Geo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper UK Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share #18 Posted December 5, 2009 So I received 4 SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC cards this morning and they all work perfectly straight out of the box. Really does look like the M9 prefers SanDisk. Not one of the three Lexar Pro 8GB SDHC I have bought works at all now. Although I am pretty sure that at least one did work at least once. I think that it is pretty shoddy that any pro camera should be so picky about what it wants to write to. I hope that this issue will be dealt with in the next (hopefully soon) firmware update. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanhulsenbeek Posted December 5, 2009 Share #19 Posted December 5, 2009 So I received 4 SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC cards this morning and they all work perfectly straight out of the box. Really does look like the M9 prefers SanDisk. Not one of the three Lexar Pro 8GB SDHC I have bought works at all now. Although I am pretty sure that at least one did work at least once.I think that it is pretty shoddy that any pro camera should be so picky about what it wants to write to. I hope that this issue will be dealt with in the next (hopefully soon) firmware update. Sympathizing with you, and also I waited till you found the origin of your troubles, but I can tell you now that my very reputable Leica dealer in Amsterdam refuses to sell any Lexar cards. It's Sandisk only, and I was told in terms not to be misunderstood to stay with Sandisk.From the first M8 in his shop till today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted December 5, 2009 Share #20 Posted December 5, 2009 Im using a couple of new sandisk extreme III's 8GB and they work fine. I also use 2GB Lexar pro's and they are fine but slower. I had some issues with my old Sandisk card but I am guessing it was a card because the new ones are problem free. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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