brianv Posted August 15, 2012 Share #61 Posted August 15, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) It would be fun to pull out an M9 in 2032 and use it. We'll see how many survive. 10 years is long for a digital camera, I will be replacing a working D1x used for technical documentation in the lab with a D800e. I keep the DCS200 running because it is the first IR camera made by Kodak, made at my request. The main failure point has been connectors, cleaning and reseating twice over 20 years is the only problem that I've had. I also called Kodak in Jan 2010 to ask about Monochrome M9. I had to wait longer for that one. But they did remember me calling about the DCS200. They were happy to know it was still operational. So what's the point of all this? Digital Cameras are complex pieces of technology, and the first units are going to have teething problems. "REV Levels" are part of the digital life-cycle. Components and production techniques are "tweeked" to correct problems. Infant mortality problems, including sensor problems and component failure- part of life. How the company resolves these issues is the real issue. So far, Leica has done a good job supporting the M8 and M9. the M8 is coming to end-of-life, and there is thread in the M8 forum concerning Leica not replacing/repairing the LCD. One customer was offered an M9 for $3900 instead. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/206627-m8-lcd-display.html This is possibly one response to the M9 being unrepairable in the future, a new camera offered at a discount. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 Hi brianv, Take a look here M9 sensor life. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
bocaburger Posted August 16, 2012 Share #62 Posted August 16, 2012 This is possibly one response to the M9 being unrepairable in the future, a new camera offered at a discount. Possibly another response is to sell the M9 while it's still working, and leave buying digital Leicas to sultans, pop stars, and Chinese industrialists...people who can look at a $7K paperweight and laugh. The really scary thing is not even that the M8 appears significantly unrepairable after only 6 years, but whether the M9 uses any obsoleted electronics carried-over from the M8, and if so how much spares do they have stockpiled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 16, 2012 Share #63 Posted August 16, 2012 Better to say a 700 $ per year paperweight. I guess most of us can swing that without living in a Bedouin tent or producing 10 cent plastic toys, especially set off against the price of other hobbies. Boat anybody? Golf? Classic car? HiFi? For pros, well the camera will be well and truly written off to zero... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted August 16, 2012 Share #64 Posted August 16, 2012 Better to say a 700 $ per year paperweight. I guess most of us can swing that without living in a Bedouin tent or producing 10 cent plastic toys, especially set off against the price of other hobbies. Boat anybody? Golf? Classic car? HiFi?For pros, well the camera will be well and truly written off to zero... Jaap, I think the issue is (and I think this particularly applies many of the enthusiasts who buy Leicas) that we get comfortable and like to use things that we have had for a long time. I know this applies to me. I love coming back to my M4, which I have had since 1967. I enjoy my IIF which has been in the family since 1953 and I have used since about 1959. I really like using my Mont Blanc Meisterstuck fountain pen, which I bought with my first decent bonus in 1973. I still use a Yard-o-lead silver propelling pencil I have had since I was at school and it belonged to my great uncle before that, etc, etc. I read the M8 LCD thread this morning and to be blunt, I was horrified. If I had known that my M8 or M9 were if they broke, going to be unrepairable after only 6 years (far less for folks who bought an M8 in its last days), even though I am a died in the wool Leica enthusiast for well over 50 years, I would never have bought. As I am retired, these purchases were very significant for me. If a life of 6 years is considered adequate for an M10, I will not be in the queue for one. The Ricoh or Fuji may have to be my follow ons, if either my M8 or M9 become paperweights. At their price I would consider 6 years to be a reasonable life. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted August 16, 2012 Share #65 Posted August 16, 2012 The sentiment I can understand and share. All my M cameras are engraved with my name on them, thus non-sellable. But it will not have me invoking oil-sheiks, Chinese industrialists or popstars, as that is a bit of rhetoric that has nothing to do with the issue. In my case I will just cross my fingers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted August 16, 2012 Share #66 Posted August 16, 2012 The sentiment I can understand and share. All my M cameras are engraved with my name on them, thus non-sellable. But it will not have me invoking oil-sheiks, Chinese industrialists or popstars, as that is a bit of rhetoric that has nothing to do with the issue. In my case I will just cross my fingers My first thought was to say physicians, lawyers and dentists. But I chose to be hyperbolic...apropos to Leica's hyperbole regarding the long-term sustainability of their cameras. IIRC you've mentioned you have your M9 insured. So I presume you have a less-than-cavalier attitude toward the possibility of having to replace it at your own expense if it became unrepairable due to fire, theft or accidental damage. And so that leads me to suspect you will not be all that circumspect if in a year or so from now something goes wrong with your M9--or that Monochrom you're eagerly awaiting--and you find out it can't be repaired because of one little part that happens to have carried over from the M8 and is now unobtainable. Something tells me you aren't the type to take that lying down. Or am I wrong? And if it happens and you can't get satisfaction*, tell me honestly would you still continue to buy Leica products? *short of seeing that your defunct camera took an "accidental" tumble into a canal and claiming it on your insurance Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 16, 2012 Share #67 Posted August 16, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Better to say a 700 $ per year paperweight.[...] That's just a bad night's poker win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted August 16, 2012 Share #68 Posted August 16, 2012 That's just a bad night's poker win. ....or a good night's poker loss. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted August 17, 2012 Share #69 Posted August 17, 2012 We're all speaking in principle here, hence the volume level of our outrage over the prospect of a $7000 camera becoming a paperweight in 3 years due to the manufacturer's lack of foresight into stockpiling adequate spares. But in reality, I just wanted to mention that in terms of overall perspective and priorities, I'm a lot more disconcerted over my own unrepairable parts than a friggin' camera! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianv Posted August 17, 2012 Share #70 Posted August 17, 2012 Too funny. If only we could send ourselves in for a full CLA. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 17, 2012 Share #71 Posted August 17, 2012 Too funny. If only we could send ourselves in for a full CLA. Got a call from the hospital. They say my donor card has exceeded the Use By date. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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