Camara fault: What is your diagnosis?

[Hookeye]

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Hello friends,

 

I have been having trouble with my good ol' M8 lately. It appears when I have just switched on the camera to begin shooting, Sometimes (not always) the first pictures I shoot are overexposed and blurred. The only way to fix it is to set a fast shutter speed (1/1000) and fire off another frame and then return to the correct shutter speed. Then the camera will work again.

 

I have tried the following remedies without any help: Charging the battery, switching the battery. Changing the SD card. Reformatting the SDcard (they are SanDisk cards 2 Gb), None of these things work. What is even more frustrating is that the error happens every now and then, but not every time I switch the camera on. I have the latest firmware.

 

Example 1: Ice hockey match. EXIFsays 1/250

 

First picture:

 

[ATTACH]196244[/ATTACH]

 

Second picture after doing the shutter speed change trick:

 

[ATTACH]196245[/ATTACH]

 

I guess I will need to send the camera to Solms. Nevertheless, I would be very grateful if any of you could explain what might be wrong. The more precisely I can explain my problem, themore likely is it that they will be able to identify it, even though it does not appear all the time.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

"HP"

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[Hookeye]

Here is another example: Both are at 1/30 sec.

 

Before:

 

[ATTACH]196248[/ATTACH]

 

After:

 

[ATTACH]196249[/ATTACH]

 

Any suggestions?

[Hookeye]

One final example,

 

notice how the blur always goes from the top of the frame and down. The light leaving streaks as if I moved the camera upwards during a long exposure. Very strange indeed:

 

[ATTACH]196250[/ATTACH]

[Shootist]

That is usually caused by not letting the meter come to full life before you push the shutter release all the way.

Try turning the camera on, wait for a second after the batter meter and shot counter display come to life then press the shutter release slowly.

 

The M8 is not the fastest camera so you must work within it's limitations.

[Hookeye]

Thank you for an excellent suggestion, but will that happen also at a number of frames - one after the other? My camera problem will continue for every frame until I do the trick with the shutter dial. And I've had the M8 for almost 3 years. I never had this problem before!

 

And surely, since the EXIFshutter speed data is identical for both the blurred and non-blurrred images: How can it be caused by the meter being asleep?

[Shootist]

Thank you for an excellent suggestion, but will that happen also at a number of frames - one after the other? My camera problem will continue for every frame until I do the trick with the shutter dial. And I've had the M8 for almost 3 years. I never had this problem before!

 

And surely, since the EXIFshutter speed data is identical for both the blurred and non-blurrred images: How can it be caused by the meter being asleep?

 

Then you need to send the camera in for service.

Also sounds like the shutter is sticking open. Definitely need to go for service.

[ho_co]

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Hook, Ed's right: It's off to repair. My guess is that you've still got an earlier circuit board (or other component) than is current, and some component is failing.

 

Send along a file or two for quick diagnosis.

[marknorton]

I don't think this is just some over-exposure issue. Look at the colour and the streaking. I think it's down to some obscure electronic failure, though why it's fixed by firing the shutter at a higher speed, I have no idea.

 

Off to Solms, I think.

[Hookeye]

Okay,

 

many thanks to Shootist, Howard and Mark for taking a look and offering advice. I guess that if the three of you cannot figure it out, the chances are slim that anybody else can .

 

I will bring it to the dealer tomorrow. And, yes, including some files is an excellent idea. I will send the camera in with both the SD card and battery in place. Will post a report as soon as I get the camera, diagnosis and invoice back from Leica.

 

Meanwhile; Happy Shooting to you All.

 

HP

[Shootist]

Okay,

 

many thanks to Shootist, Howard and Mark for taking a look and offering advice. I guess that if the three of you cannot figure it out, the chances are slim that anybody else can .

 

I will bring it to the dealer tomorrow. And, yes, including some files is an excellent idea. I will send the camera in with both the SD card and battery in place. Will post a report as soon as I get the camera, diagnosis and invoice back from Leica.

 

Meanwhile; Happy Shooting to you All.

 

HP

 

Do not send it with a card and battery. Leica has all that and chance are you will not get them back. Send a CD with the files and some prints of the bad files.

[cbretteville]

Shootist's advice is sound. Burn the files on a CD and keep your card and battery. Not sure where you live, but if you're in the Oslo area take it directly to Interfoto at Høvik. A dealer will have to send it to them anyway, doing it your self will save some time. Interfoto ships to Leica CS every Friday.

Hope things work out for you.

Carl

[pgk]

I'd suggest that you've got an intermittent, 'sticky', second shutter curtain. This would explain the over exposure and the exif data. It would also potentially explain why switching to a higher shutter speed 'fixes' the problem temporarily as the second curtain is triggering before the first has travelled its full distance - a similar thing happens on film cameras when the second curtain sticks at slower shutter speeds and still operates ok at higher ones. Most likely to be a mechanical problem IMHO because the second curtain is triggering by the look of it, but then looks like its slowing down or sticking, so its probably not the (electronic) release by the look of it. I'd simply take just the camera in with some files on disk.

 

When I was studying, many years ago, I shot some high speed 16mm film (on a Fastax) of a Pentax screw thread body with this problem. The slowing of the second curtain was quite obvious in the sequence and was due to a weakened spring I seem to remember.

[Hookeye]

That is absolutely brillant Paul. I think you may be spot on. I was able to take the lens off once in order to see was happening and it seemed to me the second curtain was indeed lagging behind. I.e. the exposure time was much longer than what the shutter dial and EXIF indicated. My hat off to you.

 

Thanks to Carl too. I normally deal with Fotovideo in Oslo, but going straight to Bresson / Interfoto would be no problem as I am within cycling distance from Høvik.

 

The real challenge is the 'intermittent' bit. I bet you 100 kroners (Norw. currency) that Leica will not be able to reproduce the fault when they try. Hopefully they (like Paul) will be able to diagnose the problem from the images and prescribe the correct therapy.

 

I will follow the advice many of you have given and include a CD rather than the SD card.

 

HP