georg Posted September 15, 2009 Share #41 Posted September 15, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Is any of you using DNG+JPG or any other "exotic" functions? My M8 is from the very first batch (but got new electronics because of a hot pixel after about one year) and I use it since nearly 3 years now. I only use DNG and occassionally JPGs for Ebay (1MP) and a golden (I think it's class 6) Panasonic 2GB card - I NEVER* had a single "freeze" - I wouldn't accept it, either - my PC/MAC crashes often enough :-( Either it's really some kind of static phenomenon (in this case it can by everything, starting from your clothes) or it is the SD-card!? Sorry, I don't believe in luck after 3 years anymore. *In fact, I used it once with a Toshiba card, the camera worked fine all day, then it freezed 2 times in a row - I never used this card again!? But that was with the very first firmware, even the banding wasn't solved yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 15, 2009 Posted September 15, 2009 Hi georg, Take a look here My M9 is eating SD cards [MERGED}. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
oronet commander Posted September 15, 2009 Share #42 Posted September 15, 2009 Just count me in the camp of those who can lock up their M8s in single mode with just three or four quick shots. Ten days ago I was shooting cyclists during the Vuelta a España and lost some of them after being obliged to remove the battery. No continuous mode, just a few quick shots within 3-4 seconds. This problem being in the M9 seems unacceptable to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted September 15, 2009 Share #43 Posted September 15, 2009 I would return such a body to Solms. My two M8 bodies have never locked up shooting in nearly three years. Only once, during a format, had I have to remove the battery for a lockup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 15, 2009 Share #44 Posted September 15, 2009 I think that Sean said that he was using the pre-production firmware when these lock ups happened. I hope so. Wilson Firmware 1.002 Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted September 15, 2009 Share #45 Posted September 15, 2009 If this is a genuine issue, why should Leica fix it if people are willing to shell out $7000.00 for the M9 "as is"? Because the Leica quality , high reliability brand image will suffer and that is a road to ruin. As an example I had a Triumph TR6 sports car years ago and at the time they had a three year wait list so the company felt that they could ship me a car with 23 faults on it that were eventually fixed by my dealer. Two years later backlog had disappeared and soon after Triumph also disappeared becuase people knew what they were buying. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted September 15, 2009 Share #46 Posted September 15, 2009 I think he was referring to another post and another forum where Sean was said to have a agenda that favored Leica, a shill for the company. To the OP's comment. The M9 has not been reworked from the ground up. It does share many of the same parts and flaws as the M8 did and still does. In the video of the assembly on the M9 when a tech was going to clean the sensor, @ 14m 40s +/-, when she first tried to enter Sensor Cleaning Mode the camera froze making her take out the battery and reinsert it. This same thing has happen to every M8 and M8.2 ever made at one time or another. Ed, my M8 has NEVER froze. (Knock on wood ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndjambrose Posted September 15, 2009 Share #47 Posted September 15, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've never seen this behavior in normal use of the camera but for the RAW buffer testing, I was continually hammering the camera (continuous mode with repeated bursts to get timings) and I did run into this problem.... The thing is - those are exactly the sort of demands that qualify as normal use in my book. I expect to be able to take as many shots as I like in immediate succession, subject to buffer emptying. For the most part I work in single frames, but there are always critical occasions when I need as many continuous shots as I can get. For example, at a recent wedding there was a spontaneous celebration where the couple were picked up and cheered - I exposed best part of a whole film in rapid fire with a Leicavit. Any camera that locks up and fails to fire is not good news. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ulrikft Posted September 15, 2009 Share #48 Posted September 15, 2009 I tried a M9 for quite some time today, took some similarly framed test shots versus a d700 and had some fun. As usual, the M-rangefinder is excellent to focus, it snaps into focus easily and the rangefinder patch is bright and lovely. My main problem though, was the processing speed of this little machine... It is clear that zooming in on the lcd-screen to check focus is way, way, way too slow for someone used to the insta-zoom on the d700. I don't see how this is possible in 2009... But it is, I guess, a minor gripe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted September 15, 2009 Share #49 Posted September 15, 2009 The thing is - those are exactly the sort of demands that qualify as normal use in my book. I expect to be able to take as many shots as I like in immediate succession, subject to buffer emptying. For the most part I work in single frames, but there are always critical occasions when I need as many continuous shots as I can get. For example, at a recent wedding there was a spontaneous celebration where the couple were picked up and cheered - I exposed best part of a whole film in rapid fire with a Leicavit. Any camera that locks up and fails to fire is not good news. Well, that's why I describe things and leave it to the photographer to see how that might apply to him or her. I expect Leica will sort this out but it isn't sorted yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnastovall Posted September 15, 2009 Share #50 Posted September 15, 2009 <snipped> What if you were a war photographer, in a dangerous situation trying shoot and all of a sudden your camera freezes up? Silly. <snipped? He would just go to his back up. The phojos in Vietnam usually carried three cameras. Horst Faas in the field Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndjambrose Posted September 15, 2009 Share #51 Posted September 15, 2009 Well, that's why I describe things and leave it to the photographer to see how that might apply to him or her... Understood. And it's exactly those insights that are so helpful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpattison Posted September 15, 2009 Share #52 Posted September 15, 2009 .... If C mode had been available to HCB, I am sure he would have been using it like crazy to catch that moment.Wilson Wilson, HCB used his brain like crazy before taking the shot! He would have hated C mode; it would make things too easy. Anyway what if the perfect moment was between shots 2 and 3 in C mode? John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
35mmSummicron Posted September 15, 2009 Share #53 Posted September 15, 2009 Of course a war photographer would have backup cameras, but that is beside the point. It is not a matter of "IF" the M8, M8.2 (and now M9?) will freeze from rapid shooting, its a matter of "WHEN". I can reproduce this issue about 4 times over the course of a full 9-5 day studio shoot. .a He would just go to his back up. The phojos in Vietnam usually carried three cameras. Horst Faas in the field Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronazle Posted September 15, 2009 Share #54 Posted September 15, 2009 Sorry, Arthur, to disagree with you entirely: --Using the Continuous mode works well to prevent camera movement at slow shutter speeds. At 1/30 & below, I always shoot 2-3 frames.... Kirk This is truly a very useful function. In available light situations a three shot burst almost always results in one of the shots being much sharper than the others when using slower shutter speeds. ron Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted September 15, 2009 Share #55 Posted September 15, 2009 Can't comment on the M9, however I used to have this problem with the M8. (I presume I still would, had I not ceased using C mode). Specific conditions that brought it on were: Camera set to C mode Battery near exhaustion (but often still showing 2 bars) Several shots fired in quick succession (NOT holding down the button - seperate single shots) Camera set to DNG+jpeg Cold weather (could just be a factor in rapid battery exhaustion) I rarely use C mode anymore because of this fault. It was useful because it seemed possible to shoot more rapid single shots in C mode than in S mode. I assumed the camera was optimizing somehow for rapid shooting when in C mode. I almost never use C mode in the 'normal' motor drive sense - because I almost never have a subject where the right moment to shoot coincides with a random 1/2 second C shot. For my style of shooting a continuous rate of 2/s is pretty near useless (if I got 8-10 frames a second that might change). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnastovall Posted September 15, 2009 Share #56 Posted September 15, 2009 Of course a war photographer would have backup cameras, but that is beside the point. It is not a matter of "IF" the M8, M8.2 (and now M9?) will freeze from rapid shooting, its a matter of "WHEN". I can reproduce this issue about 4 times over the course of a full 9-5 day studio shoot. .a If it's beside the point then why did you bring it up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
35mmSummicron Posted September 15, 2009 Share #57 Posted September 15, 2009 ....because the point of this thread is determine whether or not the new M9 shares this M8/M8.2 flaw, and if Leica is going to solve it. I brought up the example, because there are many Leica users who don't just shoot a few casual shots, there are some who shoot fast and expect their Leica digital M's to be reliable (including in dangerous situations) like most other cameras on the market. If it's beside the point then why did you bring it up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusperkins Posted September 15, 2009 Share #58 Posted September 15, 2009 A camera locking up on a commercial shoot is annoying, but in most instances can be reshot the moment the camera is reset. However, locking up on a documentary assignment just makes me furious, and was one of the reasons I stopped using the M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott J Posted September 15, 2009 Share #59 Posted September 15, 2009 He would just go to his back up. The phojos in Vietnam usually carried three cameras. Horst Faas in the field Right. But if you are bringing Leicas as back ups, then they are going to have the exact same problem and will also fail. Was a time when Leicas were the fall back, guaranteed to work when everything else potentially failed. Now you have to bring everything else because the Leica will fail. Kind of unacceptable... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusperkins Posted September 15, 2009 Share #60 Posted September 15, 2009 Despite my warming to the M9 - I have one on order - this is definitely a deal breaker for me. If this lock-up business, and slow write speeds to industry standard high speed cards is more than a rumour, it will put off a lot of professional photographers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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