M8 RF Camera Frustration

[jaapv]

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Have a look at Mark Norton's "anatomy "thread. The culprit of the lost sync contact is lack of space.

If you wait for the the buffer to clear you are using the camera incorrectly. When the buffer is full, as soon as one image is written, the next one can be taken.

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[eldelbo]

If you wait for the the buffer to clear you are using the camera incorrectly. When the buffer is full, as soon as one image is written, the next one can be taken.

 

In what sense does this suggest incorrect use?

 

I've returned my M8 recently for a similar issue (well mainly to get the focussing adjusted, but having this looked at too). I'd been experiencing problems when recording several images in a short period that the red 'writing' light on the back is flashing constantly; this would then often make it impossible to record further images for a prolonged period. In some instances either the DNG or JPG would not record properly.

 

Not meaning to take this thread way off topic, but am interested in knowing if there's a simple workaround for this problem that I've perhaps missed, as suggested by your post.

[jaapv]

Yes - you can take images whilst the red light is flashing - as soon as the first of the twelve images in the buffer is cleared i.e. about 1.5 sec. No need to wait for the LED to stop flashing. You can even set the camera to continuous and keep the shutter depressed. The camera will take 12 images in rapid successsion and then one image per 1.5 seconds ad infinitum. If it does not work like this (which your posts suggest) there is something wrong with either the camera or the SD card.

[tedwin74]

I so rarely bother to contribute to forums. The response to my earlier post reminds me why!

 

Anyway, to clarify. Occasionally the red 'card write' light continues flashing until I pop the battery, often when this happens some of the last burst of images fail to get recorded. Also, occasionally instead of a preview on the LCD I get the file name. These images have never been recorded. It only happens when I am pushing the buffer. Therefore, it makes sense, for me, when using my camera, to let the buffer clear completely before commencing as a hard working <insert whatever it is buffer / processor / electronic computer thing> in my camera is not all that reliable with some memory cards.

 

jaapv, Feel free to jump in with any further criticism of my working practice. But maybe, on the other hand.....

[jaapv]

That is anomalous behaviour of the camera, which has, indeed, been described here before. I can assure you that most M8 behave - and have been behaving- as I described. It never happened on two bodies in three years intensive use to me, for instance. I cannot recall when I had to pull the battery. So yes - you have adapted your workflow to a broken camera. Or do you switch SD cards between different cameras? That has been known to provoke this thing.

[MikeMyers]

As I see it, Leica cameras are like people - there are always limitations, sometimes because of what is supposed to be possible, and sometimes because a particular camera (person) has its own limitations.

 

The Leica has its own personality, and I guess we forgive it for the things that it may not do so well, because of the other things that it does better than anything else available.

 

Still, some Leica cameras (and everything else) have "bugs", meaning they need to get fixed so they work the way they're supposed to work.