Help Me Solve The Shutdown Problem

[fotografr]

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What's also curious here is that it sounds like a camera that had failed for you was functioning once it was back for repair, is that correct? If that's right then I would swap out everything that DIDN'T ship back to the factory (everything but the camera?) because one of those components is your point of failure and if you can't isolate which component it is without frying your camera then you have no choice but to clear them all out.

 

- David

 

David--Nothing worked at Solms, either. They said they had to completely replace the guts of the camera. Each time I sent it back, they said to ship the whole kit. When it has come back, the original battery charger and battery have come with it. I do have an extra battery, and putting it in has had no effect.

[fotografr]

Brent, sorry if I ome back to you just now, but I had to work and had to leave the computer before opening your jpgs. The first jpg doesn't show ani exif data. It may be you saved for the web in PS. But the second one has a "Camera Serial Number" field with a null value (void).

Strange as it may be. Mine shows up correctly, as most others whose exifs I have seen.

 

No problem, Ed. I just got back from a late night shoot. Tomorrow I hope to hear from Stefan Daniel in Solms. Perhaps he'll provide some insight.

[Riley]

For what it's worth I just experienced a CCD failure on a Panasonic DMC-LC1 which I have owned for a couple of years and travelled around the world with.

 

The failure happened immediately after inserting a new SD Card (1gb Kingston, purchased from Amazon).

 

The card came with a little self powered USB reader, unfortunately I don't remember if I mounted the card via the reader before putting it into the camera or not, but I am almost 100% sure there is a direct correlation between the CCD failure and the new card.

 

 

- David

 

David if I could direct your attention to this thread

 

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/12835-d2-sensors.html

 

and additionally

 

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/11431-d2-lc1-failures.html

 

cheers

[bingaloid]

Brent: Do you think at this point that it's possible to have them replace the charger and all the cords? It would seem that something is shorting out the electronics and if that's the only constant in the equation. . .it's at least worth a try.

 

Riley: Thanks for the links, I had no idea that Panasonic was using Sony CCD's - the night the camera failed I was running out the door to take some pictures during a freakishly heavy fog in otherwise not so humid Los Angeles. I'm amazed that this type of fast environmental change could trigger a CCD failure, but maybe that was it after all.

 

- David

[wlaidlaw]

Brent: Do you think at this point that it's possible to have them replace the charger and all the cords? It would seem that something is shorting out the electronics and if that's the only constant in the equation. . .it's at least worth a try.

 

Riley: Thanks for the links, I had no idea that Panasonic was using Sony CCD's - the night the camera failed I was running out the door to take some pictures during a freakishly heavy fog in otherwise not so humid Los Angeles. I'm amazed that this type of fast environmental change could trigger a CCD failure, but maybe that was it after all.

 

- David

The CCD in my D2 started to fail during a trip to a hot and humid India but this was before all the "hoohaa" of failing CCD's surfaced and it took a couple of trips to Leica before the camera was replaced. I had bought a Sony R1 in the meantime, which image-wise if not ergonomically or tactilely was considerably in advance of the D2, so I sold my D2 after it was replaced.

 

I would not be surprised if in a few months one or more of the chips in the M8 is found to have a similar fragility/vulnerability causing the majority of the unexplained death problems. If this is the case, then the chip manufacturer should contribute to poor old Leica's warranty costs, which currently must be running at horrendous levels.

 

Wilson

[Riley]

Riley: Thanks for the links, I had no idea that Panasonic was using Sony CCD's

 

and you think you were surprised,

thing about Panasonic is, they have not posted a response, and they seem to be seeking a contribution to the repair, this despite the fact that I have no doubt there is a deal with Sony. Leica doesn't do business that way in the same given scenario..

 

I would not be surprised if in a few months one or more of the chips in the M8 is found to have a similar fragility/vulnerability causing the majority of the unexplained death problems. If this is the case, then the chip manufacturer should contribute to poor old Leica's warranty costs, which currently must be running at horrendous levels.

 

i think that is most unlikely

[fotografr]

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Brent: Do you think at this point that it's possible to have them replace the charger and all the cords? It would seem that something is shorting out the electronics and if that's the only constant in the equation. . .it's at least worth a try.

 

- David

 

What I'm going to do this time is insist that the entire kit be replaced--not repaired. Whether the problem is in the charger, battery or somewhere in the camera, it's not being addressed by whatever they have done in the past two episodes.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I agree, just get a new one. There are just to many variables going on. i would also get a new reader and different cards also. Eliminate all the past stuff completely

[larry]

Maybe I'm missing something, but nowhere did I see anything that indicated that Sony supplied Panasonic with CCDs. Several other companies were on the list, but not Panasonic.

 

Larry

[robertwright]

At this point it might also be a good idea to just get a refund from your european dealer (not so great for the dealer who from what you said has been pretty stand-up about this, but hey-) and since the M8 is no longer in short supply over here get one locally, this might at least save the roundtrip time.

 

otoh, the fact that you have been able to get three is it?- repairs/replacements in this short amount of time does speak to some kind of efficiency with the euro dealer who must have a brother working in Solms it seems, most people stateside who are waiting on repairs are waiting a lot longer.

 

The good news is that after my early demise camera, the replacement has been 100% ever since, and I use it daily for work and personal work. It is in my bag all day everyday, and if I am out on the street in NY it is in my hand and I am shooting. No hiccups, so my trust is growning every day. Going on 2000 frames.

 

I have the sandisk usb2.0 combo SD-CF reader, and the transcend 2GB 150X cards fwiw.

 

if static were the problem, I believe I would be a poster-boy for it, bc I have been wearing these thinsulate fingerless wool gloves all winter and a synthetic down jacket while shooting outside in freezing temps.

[Riley]

Maybe I'm missing something, but nowhere did I see anything that indicated that Sony supplied Panasonic with CCDs. Several other companies were on the list, but not Panasonic.

 

Larry

 

by your own volition, ... yup you missed it

it was the only use of a 2/3" sensor by Panasonic

hence it looks like they bought them in

 

i bet they dont do that again in a hurry

[sdai]

if static were the problem, I believe I would be a poster-boy for it, bc I have been wearing these thinsulate fingerless wool gloves all winter and a synthetic down jacket while shooting outside in freezing temps.

 

I don't believe its static related either. I've been wearing a North Face thermal insulated jacket in -20 to -30 Celcius temps and I could actually see sparkles when I touch my car door handles without gloves. Nothing happened ... FWIW, I'm also using the Transcend 150x 4gig cards and a Lacie multi-slots card reader.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Have have a feeling it is cards. Reason i say this you would think if it was batteries and voltage leica would have figured this out by now. Mine went in in December let's remember. Also when mine went down when I was actually shooting i was using a 2gb transcend card at the time but i was sharing those cards with my DMR. Since than i dedicated my cards to camera specific and have had no issues.Than bought the 4gb cards and they have been fine since and i have been tryring things to actually make the camera go down. Like camera on remove plate and cards put new cards in and switch batteries with the camera on all the stuff you maybe should not do. Yes I am sick , i actually have been checking the reliability of the M8 under conditions that normal folks would not do. But i need to know if these will hold up in the field for me. Honestly i think since cards are so cheap now if one of them gives you a hiccup just take it out and place in your cell phone and get a new one. I'm taking no chances with cards if it is suspect it's gone. My lifeblood is on those cards

[Riley]

so what would happen if

the guy that never had his M8 fail

swapped cards with the guy that had continual trouble ?

[Cindy Flood]

It might be a good idea to send your cards to Leica with everything else. Maybe it would help them get to the bottom of this. I don't think you should use them in your new M8.

[fotografr]

Have have a feeling it is cards. Reason i say this you would think if it was batteries and voltage leica would have figured this out by now. Mine went in in December let's remember. Also when mine went down when I was actually shooting i was using a 2gb transcend card at the time but i was sharing those cards with my DMR. Since than i dedicated my cards to camera specific and have had no issues.Than bought the 4gb cards and they have been fine since and i have been tryring things to actually make the camera go down. Like camera on remove plate and cards put new cards in and switch batteries with the camera on all the stuff you maybe should not do. Yes I am sick , i actually have been checking the reliability of the M8 under conditions that normal folks would not do. But i need to know if these will hold up in the field for me. Honestly i think since cards are so cheap now if one of them gives you a hiccup just take it out and place in your cell phone and get a new one. I'm taking no chances with cards if it is suspect it's gone. My lifeblood is on those cards

 

I'd be inclined to agree about the cards, except that both the Kingston and the SanDisk work flawlessly in my little Panasonic LX1. Does that make any sense, that they might screw up one camera but work fine in another? I just don't know.

[robertwright]

when my first M8 went down it was with the same transcend 2bg cards I am using now...I have not done anything different with the two cameras I have had, it was just the first one went down in 24 hours, getting hot, locking up.

 

I have been using the second one since, and while I have not tried to provoke any troubles, I have made mistakes like taking the bottom plate off with the camera on, also deleting images from the sd card on the computer and not in camera, something I try never to do, but I don't have another camera to swap cards with that uses SD so I can't comment on that situation. But handling-wise the camera is banging around with me all day in my bag, so I don't believe it is fragile necessarily, although the "feel" of the buttons on the back is definitely not firm, they feel dinky to me, like the circuit board is right beneath the button sort of exposed to the elements.

[fotografr]

At this point it might also be a good idea to just get a refund from your european dealer (not so great for the dealer who from what you said has been pretty stand-up about this, but hey-) and since the M8 is no longer in short supply over here get one locally, this might at least save the roundtrip time.

 

otoh, the fact that you have been able to get three is it?- repairs/replacements in this short amount of time does speak to some kind of efficiency with the euro dealer who must have a brother working in Solms it seems, most people stateside who are waiting on repairs are waiting a lot longer.

 

QUOTE]

 

I've just arranged with my dealer to send it back. I'll then start from scratch with my USA dealer.

 

The reason my repairs didn't take as long as they might otherwise have is that I've been sending the cameras back directly to my contact person in Solms via FedEx overnight (at my own expense), and having them send it back to me the same way.

[fotografr]

so what would happen if

the guy that never had his M8 fail

swapped cards with the guy that had continual trouble ?

 

Are you volunteering?

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[Riley]

no worries Brent

donate your spare M8's to this worthy cause

and I will get on it right away

 

seriously, it takes action to solve problems

eliminate the possibilities one at a time

the remainder is the cause

 

cheers