Guest #12 Posted November 17, 2011 Share #1 Posted November 17, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) 1. Last two times in the middle of shooting I got a lot of dark frames and no flash from the SF-24D when I expected it. It seems to be recycling; the ready light is on. The flash is not asleep. I replaced the fresh flash batteries with more fresh batteries. I replaced the fresh camera battery with another fresh battery. I replaced the SD card. I cleaned the contacts on camera and flash. But still I had problems. I think the flash has about 5000 pops on it, so I have used it before. Any ideas? 2. What fast SD cards can I use with the M8? I don't care about the size; 2-4 GB is enough. I can no longer find the SD card recommendations on the Leica site. 3. How safe is continuous shooting mode on an original M8 about four years old? I have never used it. The first couple of years I read quite a lot about M8s going down from seeming problems in continuous mode. Was this ever sorted out? thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Hi Guest #12, Take a look here M8 Potluck. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lct Posted November 17, 2011 Share #2 Posted November 17, 2011 "Compatible SD Memory Cards for the LEICA M8": http://tinyurl.com/bok3m79 It is an old list though. I would avoid Sandisk personally. My Transcend 30x (2GB) and class 10 (8GB) work flawlessly with my M8.2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest #12 Posted November 17, 2011 Share #3 Posted November 17, 2011 Thanks very much for the list and info; I'll give a Transcend card a try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezc203 Posted November 17, 2011 Share #4 Posted November 17, 2011 1. Funny you should mention this, I have this problem as well. Always just chalked it up to the flash having to recharge. Guess I really should look into it more.... 2. I use the SanDisk Extreme Class 10 30MB/s 4GB cards - never experienced any SD card problems. EVER. Which I believe is very fortunate/lucky? Or maybe it's because I re-format the SD card every time I put a fresh one in. ... Maybe that's not the reason why, but still, not a bad habit. 3. I haven't shot a lot in C-mode, but of the times I did. It was not a great experience. Either the camera would lag as it struggled to save the images, or it would jam completely. I really don't think shooting continuously with the M8 is a viable option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeTexas Posted November 17, 2011 Share #5 Posted November 17, 2011 Whether in C mode or just clicking off several shots in S mode, if I go more than four shots in rapid succession, my M8 freezes. Sometimes it recovers after a couple minutes of the red light flashing, sometimes I just have to turn it off. As for memory cards, I haven't had any type not work. I'm currently using a Patriot LX Series 32 GB Class 10. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest #12 Posted December 17, 2011 Share #6 Posted December 17, 2011 1.Last two times in the middle of shooting I got a lot of dark frames and no flash from the SF-24D when I expected it. It seems to be recycling; the ready light is on. The flash is not asleep. I replaced the fresh flash batteries with more fresh batteries. I replaced the fresh camera battery with another fresh battery. I replaced the SD card. I cleaned the contacts on camera and flash. But still I had problems. I think the flash has about 5000 pops on it, so I have used it before. Any ideas? I still have this problem during fast-paced shoots, and I can't seem to reproduce it at home later. But I did find this. With the flash on Manual (and the camera), if you press the shutter button to the second detent in between shots, the flash will only fire every other shot. Even if you have waited for the green ready light on the flash, or waited 10 seconds between shots. Not sure what is going on. I assume this is normal, but I don't have a second M8 or second SF24 to check. I do actually ride the shutter button between shots for a smoother shot, but I usually have the flash on "A," not "M". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Gunst Lund Posted December 17, 2011 Share #7 Posted December 17, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Bad connection between flash and hot shoe... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted December 17, 2011 Share #8 Posted December 17, 2011 I like Erik's thoughts on this problem. Might want to have a close look at how clean your hotshoe and the flash shoe 'really' is. Maybe a bit of clear buildup has occurred and/or grime of some type and it's intermittently mucking with the camera-to-flash communications. R. in Mi. Bad connection between flash and hot shoe... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest #12 Posted December 18, 2011 Share #9 Posted December 18, 2011 Thank you W. Michigan and Erik. I did try that from the beginning--cleaning all the contacts with lighter fluid. Maybe there is something better to clean them with, I don't know. I did try at home a Sync Safe or other adapter in between camera and flash, so I was only dealing with one contact. The flash worked without incident. Tonight I had a shoot with new batteries, 80 shots in 15 min., with camera on "A," Auto Slow Sync = 1/250, and flash on "A." (To try and take user error out of the equation.) There should have been plenty of time between shots and at no point did the shutter button lock. But the flash didn't fire about 10% of the time. So anyway I don't want to buy another SF24 to diagnose the problem, so I'm not sure what to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 18, 2011 Share #10 Posted December 18, 2011 Llighter fuel will leave a greasy deposit and may well be the cause of the problem. Try putting a bit of contact spray or medicinal alcohol on a q-tip and clean again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest #12 Posted December 18, 2011 Share #11 Posted December 18, 2011 Llighter fuel will leave a greasy deposit and may well be the cause of the problem. Try putting a bit of contact spray or medicinal alcohol on a q-tip and clean again. I had the problem before cleaning the contacts, so that's not it, but I will re-clean them ... thanks for the info. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 18, 2011 Share #12 Posted December 18, 2011 Yes. Anyway, there has been a GNC problem reported with the latest firmware, so try the flash on A as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest #12 Posted December 20, 2011 Share #13 Posted December 20, 2011 Yes. Anyway, there has been a GNC problem reported with the latest firmware, so try the flash on A as well. Thanks Jaap for the suggestions. I always use the flash on Auto (the pre-flash is too long for me). I wonder how a flash tube acts when it is old... I do have over 5000 flashes on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Gunst Lund Posted December 20, 2011 Share #14 Posted December 20, 2011 The flash tubes just dies, not slowly... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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