brainiac37 Posted December 28, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 28, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) The worst thing that could happen with my camera happened tonight. We had a multi-generation family Christmas/New Year's banquet and I was tasked with taking pictures for the night. My Leica M9 worked for a while (about 30 shots, with some on/off switch toggling in between), and then complained that my ExtremeIII SD card was locked. I switched to an Ultra2, and that worked for a few more shots, with intermittent "SD locked" messages here and there. Then, just when my 3-year-old nephew agreed to being photographed -- after avoiding the camera for days -- the M9 steadfastly complained that all three of my SD cards were locked. No amount of coaxing made it work again (removing the cards, removing the battery, powering off and on). I had to put away the camera for the rest of the night. When I got home, the camera started working again. This camera has already been to Leica USA's repair facility for the last 2 weeks and supposed all tested and working after some repair. (Firmware is still at 1.002.) Having a $7000 camera turn into a useless piece of metal at a whim and intermittently is really unacceptable. When this happens, my 35mm cron, 50mm lux, and 90 mm cron also all turn into useless chunks of (optically beautiful) glass. As photographers, I'm sure that you understand -- what is the point of having a camera that does not take photographs? What would you do with such a camera? Sorry, I wanted to vent... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 28, 2009 Posted December 28, 2009 Hi brainiac37, Take a look here M9 became useless tonight. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted December 28, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 28, 2009 Extremely annoying - I take it you had no backup available? It sounds like quite a banal problem, just the electrical connector in the SD slot, but that is not much help when the thing goes on strike in your hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest malland Posted December 28, 2009 Share #3 Posted December 28, 2009 My wretched M9 complained occasionally that there was no SD card present, but turning off the camera and then on again solved the problem each time. What I wonder is whether this is a firmware or hardware issue. If it is the latter, then there could be a lot of M9 that would have to go back for service. I agree with the OP that one should not have this type of problem on a $7,000 problem. particularly as this is something that has to functions, and does function, in every digital camera extant. —Mitch/Bangkok Barrier Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted December 28, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 28, 2009 I don't know if this'll be of any help, but three or four days ago my Ricoh GX200 suddenly claimed that its SDHC card was locked. I could neither take a picture nor format the card in the camera, and switching it on and off didn't help either. Eventually, I removed the card, formatted it in my PC, then put it back into the Ricoh which could now format it. Maybe that'll work in your case case as well. If you're having this with different cards, it might be another problem, though. But maybe it's a small consolation that you don't need to spend US$ 7,000 on a camera to see this issue... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
@bumac Posted December 28, 2009 Share #5 Posted December 28, 2009 Blow out the dust from the SD-slot. That was it when I had once these problem on my M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainiac37 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted December 28, 2009 I didn't have a backup camera, jaapv. On the one hand, if I have to carry a dSLR as a backup to the M9, that negates the small and light advantage of the rangefinder. No one should have to carry a backup to make up for what is essentially a defective camera (whether design, firmware, or just the "unluck" of my draw). On the other hand, whether I "should" or "should not" have to carry a backup doesn't change the fact that I missed a lot of shots. For that reason, I started thinking maybe I should get a M8.2 or a GF1. But I'm a little concerned about Leica digital quality, given the complaints and the intermittent issues that I read about in the M8 forums. Perhaps the GF1 would be a good complement to the M9 (a different set of features, plus AF may come in handy when I'm not using M glass with it.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainiac37 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #7 Posted December 28, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Blow out the dust from the SD-slot. That was it when I had once these problem on my M8. Thanks rw, but I am thinking that it's not dust. This problem flared up without removing the bottom cover. Reinserting the card does sometimes make a difference. I will try that next time though. I'm guessing that it's a mechanical design or build issue (with the card slot) that causes intermittent electrical contact failure. Or just very intolerant firmware that doesn't know how to handle error conditions well (yet). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoody Posted December 28, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 28, 2009 I've received the locked card message a few times, so your'e not alone, but removing and inserting the card always solved the problem in my case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleskin Posted December 28, 2009 Share #9 Posted December 28, 2009 I hate to say this but Leica will be a much better camera maker when and if Zeiss or any other camera manufacturer jumps in and makes a cheaper M mount digital. I keep reading about these Sh@##y little problems when these very expensive cameras come out and I really think competition would be a healthy thing here. They would be forced to be the best for the price, and they may even be forced to make a cheaper model kind of like a Digital Leica CL (Why do I need a camera that is designed to last 40 years when technology makes them yesterdays news in 2 years max? If I were Leica, I would have done what Ricoh has just done with a modular design. Make the camera shell and rangefinder top permanent, and have the Sensor/shutter/LCD removable in one peice so another with updated electronics could be plugged in. That being said, what was done, was done, so we really need to see something with a Zeiss etc,, name on it for $3,000 or so to whip the market in shape! One thing. As electronics become smaller, and smaller, and more advanced, some day there may come a kit that would convert any mechanical M into a digital. That would really shake things up! Kind of like the idea of that film canister with a sensor on it, but on steroids! (why not have one that transmits each exposure to a drive you would have in your pocket!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 28, 2009 Share #10 Posted December 28, 2009 Actually my backup to the M9 is an M8. It lives in my car Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleskin Posted December 28, 2009 Share #11 Posted December 28, 2009 I forgot, I regard my lenses as the long term investment, and I want them to be built to last longer than I will live (My Noctilux f1.0 continues to amaze me in build quality and image quality). The camera not as much so. I really do not care if the M9 is built strong enough so you can stand on it. All I care about is the photos I make and how these fantastic Leica lenses bend and shape light to paint their magic on film or sensors!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 28, 2009 Share #12 Posted December 28, 2009 I hate to say this but Leica will be a much better camera maker when and if Zeiss or any other camera manufacturer jumps in and makes a cheaper M mount digital. I keep reading about these Sh@##y little problems when these very expensive cameras come out and I really think competition would be a healthy thing here. They would be forced to be the best for the price, and they may even be forced to make a cheaper model kind of like a Digital Leica CL (Why do I need a camera that is designed to last 40 years when technology makes them yesterdays news in 2 years max? If I were Leica, I would have done what Ricoh has just done with a modular design. Make the camera shell and rangefinder top permanent, and have the Sensor/shutter/LCD removable in one peice so another with updated electronics could be plugged in. That being said, what was done, was done, so we really need to see something with a Zeiss etc,, name on it for $3,000 or so to whip the market in shape! The only problem with this is that Zeiss bowed out of the DRF competition because they found they could not compete with Leica...on price!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainiac37 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted December 28, 2009 Actually my backup to the M9 is an M8. It lives in my car Hey jaapv, I have read up on the differences between M8 and M8.2. Just curious -- in your actual use, is there's anything that particularly bugs you about the M8? (I guess that's what's the M9 is for... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 28, 2009 Share #14 Posted December 28, 2009 Not really - the M9 is a bit better, that is all. And I upgraded this M8, but in retrospect it was not that needed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravastar Posted December 28, 2009 Share #15 Posted December 28, 2009 I had a similar SD card locked error when my M9 was brand new and I tried to format new 16GB Transcend Class 6 cards in the camera. All four of the cards were reported as locked. Putting them in a card reader and looking at the "disk properties" on the PC everything seemed to be OK. In my case the solution was to format the cards in the PC first and then in the M9. Since then all has been well and I've been able to format the cards in the camera many times without the problem returning. Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanBa Posted December 29, 2009 Share #16 Posted December 29, 2009 Same thing for me last week-end with my brand new M9 Seems that there is a bug with the folder manager starting with a 9999900 file number meaning that after 99 pictures the counter is locked and send back a SD full message unless the SD is infact not full at all ! There are two ways of managing this : one is creating a new folder (and the counter will start with a 1000000 number), the other one is to reformat your SD and after reformating select the "restart the counter from zero" option. Option one is better (you will not loose your pictures) but you should never reopen your old folder before transferring them to your Mac! The second one is safer but your will loose all your picture. Hope it helps! Jb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elansprint72 Posted December 29, 2009 Share #17 Posted December 29, 2009 Buy a Nikon. I did. :cool: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainiac37 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share #18 Posted December 29, 2009 Same thing for me last week-end with my brand new M9 Seems that there is a bug with the folder manager starting with a 9999900 file number meaning that after 99 pictures the counter is locked and send back a SD full message unless the SD is infact not full at all ! There are two ways of managing this : one is creating a new folder (and the counter will start with a 1000000 number), the other one is to reformat your SD and after reformating select the "restart the counter from zero" option. Option one is better (you will not loose your pictures) but you should never reopen your old folder before transferring them to your Mac! The second one is safer but your will loose all your picture. Hope it helps! Jb Interesting tip. I thought this might be it, but I don't have the same problem. I reformatted the ExtremeIII 4GB card (first on the PC, and then in the Leica) and reset my folder. After taking some 20 shots and then turning off the camera in between, it just tells me "SD locked" over and over. It's not just a file naming problem. It's not a SD formatting problem. It's also not a dust/mechanical issue. Ugh. How can this thing be so flaky?! It's almost like the error occurs when the camera is "warmed up"... Of course, Leica USA is also on holiday break. They are not responding at all...I suppose this is when I need to be patient... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfredo Posted December 29, 2009 Share #19 Posted December 29, 2009 I've had the same problem with my M8. I sent it off to Leica and they cleaned the SD card contacts and sent it back. The problem persisted. More than one person on the M8 forum suggested that I shoot with a fully charged battery. For some magical reason, if my battery is fully charged, I don't experience these problems any more. Go figure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMyers Posted December 29, 2009 Share #20 Posted December 29, 2009 I'm curious - has anyone experiencing this problem, tried to insert one of the old 1 or 2 gig cards in the camera, to see if they work? I remember reading how Leica made some changes to allow the newer, bigger and faster cards to work. Could it be that the "old" cards will still work, even when the newer ones don't? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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