J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Share #1 Posted November 20, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I know this has probably been posted (many times) before and this is more me venting as Leica still haven't got their act together on this one. So here I am with a ridiculously expensive camera and I get streaks across my photos when I dial up the ISO. And we stand here and accept that you should only use lower quality SHDC cards in the M9 and that is somehow OK and we must accept this. It's embarrassing when I have to explain to my wife why my photos were ruined and its not unreasonable for her to be angry about it as I spent quite a bit of our money on it. And then I hear myself telling her it's OK, I can sort this out if I buy a set of cheaper quality memory cards and apparently the problem will go away. But you already have cards you use in your much older Canon, why don't they work in the new Leica, are they too big or something? Err.. its complicated, actually I don't think Leica know. For some reason the in-camera processing appears to be unable to cache, process and write the data to my top of the line SanDisk Extreme Pro SHDC (apparently I guess its too fast) when I dial up this ISO. Oh, I have the 'wrong' SHDC card, I need to get the cheaper slower one because the Leica engineers haven't figured out how to make a standards based piece of hardware work in the camera when its should simply work - imagine that happening on a HDD drive in your PC!!! What can I say, Leica should be ashamed. This is totally unacceptable. I can only guess there must be a magic combination of image size, power and in-camera processing which is exacerbated by the high ISO images that require more processing that creates a situation where I get streaks across my pictures as the camera can't keep up or no picture at all =:-O. How the Extreme Pro comes in as a 'bad' card I am uncertain but being about twice a fast as the inferior cards this factor may play into this. So we get a firmware update and are told to use SanDisk cards but not of course the really good ones at the top end that professionals use. Hey Leica, for all the thousands of pounds for this camera, if you can't get the firmware to work why don't you simply throw in a couple of decent cards that are 100% guaranteed to work and brand them as Leica. Nice idea, Leica branded cards - these might just take off if you can't fix the firmware. What kills me is SHDC cards will improve over time and this problem will simply get worse!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 Hi J-T, Take a look here M9 sensor streaking at high ISO . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Reds Posted November 20, 2011 Share #2 Posted November 20, 2011 I don't think what you're complaining about has anything to do with your cards. I use those and they're fine for me. I did have a regular line that would show up at high ISO on my M9 - took it in to the Leica Store and they replaced it. I guess there was a sensor fault on the first one. Simples. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 20, 2011 Share #3 Posted November 20, 2011 Sensor streaking at high ISO is caused by severe underexposure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalpowershot Posted November 20, 2011 Share #4 Posted November 20, 2011 ?!? My M9 has no problems with "cheap" SDHC cards as well as with the most expensive you can buy: Panasonic Gold Pro! High ISO: for sure underexposed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwbell Posted November 20, 2011 Share #5 Posted November 20, 2011 J-T I'm far from a fan-boy and have gone up against quite a few aspects of blind Leica defence in this very forum. However, there really is no documented link between your card and the streaking you describe. It's not fantastic at high ISO in general, especially if there is high contrast of low exposure at the higher ISO's. The firmware hasn't got anything to do with anything here either I'm afraid chap. To be fair, we can't do anything about the grief you get from your wife or your financial decisions together. My wife loves the shots from my M9, and from my canon G9, as long as they're of our daughter! Take a breath. Sleep on it and approach it with a bit more objectivity tomorrow. Posting a sample will help the good people here identify if you do have a sensor problem, for example. Kind regard, DWBell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted November 20, 2011 Share #6 Posted November 20, 2011 [...]Hey Leica [...] why don't you simply throw in a couple of decent cards that are 100% guaranteed to work and brand them as Leica. Nice idea, Leica branded cards - these might just take off [...] That's a good idea. As you have been told, the card has nothing to do with the streaking at high ISO. For some peace-of-mind, don't use top ISO when shooting something that prompts you to complain to your wife: it just causes more noise, the visceral kind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted November 20, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Here is the information from Leica on the latest firmware if you haven't read it: 1. Bug fixes: Leica Camera has become aware of customers experiencing compatibility issues related to select types of new memory cards when used in the Leica M9. This Firmware 1.174 fixes a bug that led to the faulty behaviour. Generally Leica recommends to use SD / SDHC Cards from San Disk. Until further notice, the following SD-Cards are still not recommended to use, because some misbehaviour occurred in the test phasis. - San Disk Extreme Pro SDHC I UHS-1 (all card sizes) - San Disk Extreme HD Video SDHC I (all card sizes) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted November 20, 2011 Here is one thread on the SHDC problem - there are a few out there: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/132193-m9-some-files-doesenat-get-saved.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted November 20, 2011 Sample of streaking - straight out of camera and ACR'd (not a keeper) - should have posted this earlier: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/166743-m9-sensor-streaking-at-high-iso/?do=findComment&comment=1849095'>More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 20, 2011 Share #10 Posted November 20, 2011 That is not supposed to happen and i would advise you to send the file to Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalpowershot Posted November 20, 2011 Share #11 Posted November 20, 2011 Bad sensor? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #12 Posted November 20, 2011 I'm not altogether convinced there is a sensor problem right now - I think this may be a combination of things causing this and with high ISO the camera does a good deal of processing when writing to the card hence my hunch and my displeasure as Leica have pretty much admitted that they can't fix a problem that hasn't been precisely described. I've had the blank DNGs and I've had this as well so was putting the two together now I have updated my firmware. I'm just reviewing a few threads on this to see what other people's experiences have been before I try a few experiments and draw some more conclusions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalpowershot Posted November 20, 2011 Share #13 Posted November 20, 2011 Send the above picture to Leica CS... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #14 Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks, I might just do that - is there an email address I should use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalpowershot Posted November 20, 2011 Share #15 Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks, I might just do that - is there an email address I should use? Customer.service<at>leica-camera.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #16 Posted November 20, 2011 Here was the thread I was thinking about - looks like the same problem to me: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/193430-sd-card-tests-without-m9.html As I mentioned a Leica branded card might solve the problem until the firmware gets fixed except of course you have to buy yet more SDHC cards. My thoughts are this problem is bought on my multiple factors and this is why not everyone is seeing it. This may also include the battery and its charge capacity - in my case I had no choice but to buy generic batteries after my Leica dealer told me they had been waiting months for Leica to ship just one battery and at 80 pounds a pop! My 1Ds MK2 batteries were not cheap either but they were a little more substantial shall we say. This problem occurred today when the battery was at a low charge and on an SDHC card Leica have admitted they have a 'problem' with. Combined with low lighting requiring additional in-camera processing as the red light blinks a lot more under these conditions to smooth out the additional noise I think we are looking at more than a single factor here. BTW my card has to be genuine only as it came with a genuine certificate for downloading and activating the SanDisk recovery software and was complete with all correct packaging. It also has a nice stiff locking switch that doesn't switch to locked when you least expect it! Here is another thread and yes I have also experienced the same locking up issues - pressing on a shutter release that does absolutely nothing. This says dying battery to me in a camera that is in denial that it's battery is actually dying. If you are 'lucky' enough to trip the shutter the camera struggles with processing and writing the data - I suspect the SanDisk card exacerbates the problem resulting in a semi-processed or zero byte DNG file. This is just a hunch. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/205469-leica-m9p-glitch.html This happened on the previous firmware as well and it was happening consistently today much to my annoyance. You either end up having to reset the camera and get a zero byte file or if you are able to leave it for a while you get the streaks. I have also seen posts where this happens on the 15MB/s Ultra as well. I would say this is a pretty serious problem for those of us who are affected. I may have to try an older, cheaper card or even an unbranded one. I think I'll also keep an eye on which battery I have in the camera. All good information for Leica and maybe they will start shipping batteries again if they haven't already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Roberts Posted November 20, 2011 Share #17 Posted November 20, 2011 FWIW, I don't believe that's a card issue. That looks like a sensor or readout board issue. Send it to Leica. I'm betting they ask for the camera next... Oh--and just go get some Panasonic SD HC gold cards. You won't be disappointed in their copy to computer speed and they don't lock up in the M9. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-T Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share #18 Posted November 20, 2011 I'll look out for those cards once I have a response from Leica and my problem sorted out. Interestingly I get all the lock up issues and 0 byte DNG files plus this and it's completely consistent with this thread: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/193430-sd-card-tests-without-m9.html Today the camera also locked up and created a 0 byte file. I've only seen the 0 byte files up until recently when I now get the streaking as well and my firmware is now the latest version. As 0 byte files were considered to be normal using the 'wrong' cards I didn't think there could possibly be a problem with the camera. Well if I do have to send the camera back I may also send my 35/1.4 FLE which has a rather annoying rattle which apparently is perfectly normal but quite irritating as none of my other lenses do this. Sigh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted November 21, 2011 Share #19 Posted November 21, 2011 ... I may also send my 35/1.4 FLE which has a rather annoying rattle which apparently is perfectly normal but quite irritating as none of my other lenses do this. Sigh. If you're talking about the much-discussed diaphragm rattle, Leica won't do anything about it because, as you say, it's perfectly normal. None of your other lenses do this because they don't have the same design as the current 35 Summilux. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brill64 Posted November 21, 2011 Share #20 Posted November 21, 2011 Sensor streaking at high ISO is caused by severe underexposure. or a bright light source just outside the frame? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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