gwelland Posted March 28, 2010 Share #1 Posted March 28, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I just picked up a great deal on a used M8 that came as part of a trade and as such came with just the body, power adapter and a well used manual. However, I'm interested in finding out some idea of the vintage of the camera so that I know what to watch out for. The serial number is 31971xx, and it still has firmware 1.102 which I know dates back to March 2007 at the earliest, although obviously it might have originally shipped with 1.092 I guess. Although I had both an M8 and an M8.2 before my M9 and now this M8, I can't recall if Leica shipped out cameras with the updated firmware versions or whether that was left to the customer. Any ideas on age for this serial/firmware range? Anything obvious to watch out for? Mad shutter is a possibility at some point but I assume it's younger than the sudden death versions of some of the very first cameras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 28, 2010 Posted March 28, 2010 Hi gwelland, Take a look here M8 Serial Numbers & Firmware Versions. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest Chris M Posted March 28, 2010 Share #2 Posted March 28, 2010 Did you ask the person you traded it for, what the cameras history was? are they the original owner and has the camera ever been back to Leica for (ANY) reason? questions like those should give you an indication of when that camera was made. Also, I think those serial #'s you've provided are manufacturing time frame around the end of the first batches made?? not total sure though? Call Leica they'll be able to tell you. Why did you sell your first 2 M8's? just wondering, and now buying another one back? you must have realized that its absolutely Fantastic Hope this was helpful chris m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted March 28, 2010 Author Share #3 Posted March 28, 2010 Camera came in as trade against an M9 at my local dealer who flipped it quickly to me so I got a great deal on it but no contact with the seller. The 310xxxx's were the first batches so I'm pretty sure it isn't of that vintage although if anyone else has a camera a similar s/n range to mine I'd be interested to hear when they got their camera. I've heard of 3197xxx s/n cameras being bought as late as 2009 but I'm pretty certain this is a 2007 production model. Firmware 1.102 suggests ... well lots of things really. Why did I sell my M8/M8.2's? I bought my M9 which I'm VERY happy with. The opportunity for the M8 came along out of the blue as a great chance to pick up a backup camera. Unfortunately you can't read into this any more than that I'm afraid ... (but yes, the M8 has been an excellent camera for me since day one too.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted March 29, 2010 Share #4 Posted March 29, 2010 Mine is a 3107xxx from March 2007. 16000+ shots and no problems with it at all. Mine shipped with 1.09 and 1.092 was released the day I got mine (6.3.07) v1.102 was released a couple of weeks later. I'd upgrade to 2.004 if nothing else to get a much improved auto WB and support for SDHC cards. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted March 29, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted March 29, 2010 Thanks Carl, I found some other references to 3197xxx serial numbers around August/September 2007 too which gives me some idea of the camera's age. A firmware update from 1.102 is definitely in order! I ran into the non-SDHC when I tested it myself in store! The discrete mode is another nice to have with 2.004 firmware too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted March 29, 2010 Share #6 Posted March 29, 2010 You really can't tell the age of the camera by the serial number. My replacement chrome M8 is 3108xxx and I got it in May of 2007 straight from Leica NJ. I bought a black M8 from B&H a week before the chrome replacement was delivered to me in May of 2007 and that had a serial # of 3195xxx. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted March 29, 2010 Author Share #7 Posted March 29, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) You would assume that the cameras at least begun life in an orderly serial number manner, even if their release to the world at large was somewhat more random. It's somewhat academic but does anyone know the versions of firmware that actually shipped installed on the camera as opposed to just being available as a downloadable update? I'd be surprised if there wasn't someone out there collating this kind of stuff - there normally is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted March 29, 2010 Share #8 Posted March 29, 2010 As it has been explained to me on this forum Leica bins a series of serial #'s. Say 1000 at a time. Then when a camera goes into production a tech takes one of the hot shoes out of the bin and puts it on the camera he is working on. The number on the hot shoe could be the first in that series of 1000 or the last or anywhere in the middle. It could take 1 month or longer to use those 1000 binned hot shoes up. There is also no correlation from FW version to ship date. There has been reports of cameras with FW versions that never made it to the general public. And then there are M8's still sitting on dealers shelves that may have 1.x FW on them even if it shipped from the factory after a newer FW came out to the general public. Leica certainly isn't going to unbox a crate of cameras just to update the FW. Look at this way, your camera was made some time in the last 3 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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