doctorb Posted March 23, 2007 Share #1 Posted March 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) My second gen M8 has been acting up aftyer a month of ownership. Shutter will not fire, exposure counter LCD is dead, playback works, but does not turn off when camera is turned off. I've done the battery reset, which did not fix the problem. I'm very disapointed of course as the images are very special from this camera, but I don't think it's ready for prime time yet. Any suggestions before I send off the camera? Thanks for your help. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Hi doctorb, Take a look here another M8 bites the dust!. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
colorflow Posted March 23, 2007 Share #2 Posted March 23, 2007 Sorry to hear that Mark. I know how you feel. My early 1st gen (serial number <400) had similar problem after two months and is at Solms now. I was hoping the later ones would not have this problem since I have been entertaining the thought of a 2nd body. But apparently not so. Would you mind sharing the thousandth digit of your serial number? Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorb Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted March 23, 2007 Alan: Thanks for your reply. Serial number is 3102874. I just pulled it out of my bag, and it's very warm to the touch (the whole camera). Did that happen to you? Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trs Posted March 23, 2007 Share #4 Posted March 23, 2007 The very warm case happened to me. But, it was already dead as far as any functionality goes except its hotness. Battery reset did not work. I took it out completely and recharged the battery over night again and it was fine next morning. Before it had happened, it was freshly charged battery. Unlike your, I was not able to do anything with the camera. All it could do was get very warm. It's mystery to me since it has not happened since then. My is first generation and I experience that in late november. I wonder what happens if you let the camera sit without battery overnight and place the fully charged battery after that. -tanka Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted March 23, 2007 Share #5 Posted March 23, 2007 GULP! Just informed yesterday my chrome M8 has shipped. I will check serial number when it arrives. Is this new batch also considered second generation? There is some consolation in that almost everyone who has had problems is so physched out by the images they are (unwillingly?) resigned to wait for repairs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJL Posted March 23, 2007 Share #6 Posted March 23, 2007 GULP! Just informed yesterday my chrome M8 has shipped. I will check serial number when it arrives. Is this new batch also considered second generation? There is some consolation in that almost everyone who has had problems is so physched out by the images they are (unwillingly?) resigned to wait for repairs. John, Congrats on your soon to arrive chromie! With respect to willing or unwilling resignation on repairs....there really are only a couple of choices. If the camera is brand new, return it to the dealer. If the camera is past the dealer return policy of 7-30 days, or whatever, it will have to go back to Leica for repair/replacement. If the problem is "fixed" by just resetting the battery or leaving it out overnight, feel fortunate.....not that you had the problem, as that is not cool, but that it was one of the easier "fixes". The randomness of this sort of failure problem is exasperating. My gut tells me that it is most likely a combination of battery and the power switch, but I have no direct way to prove or disprove that. I have a first gen camera, and it acted up like this on my one time. I know the battery was not fully charged, and I probably stressed it by trying some continuous shooting. Also, my power switch was always a bit too loose for my liking, and I know it got bumped to other positions or in-between positions on several occasions. One time I did place the camera in my bag and it started to get warm. I immediately pulled the battery, not sure what was going on, but pretty sure it was not supposed to be doing that I sent mine back to Solms for the "recall/repair" two months ago, and hopefully, it is returning today. I specifically asked Leica to check and adjust the power switch to make it a bit less loose and easily moved. Bottom line is that there are some gremlins that have not been nailed down yet with respect to the power circuitry or batteries that are faulty to start. No way of telling what is causing what to happen, but Leica does need to look into this more seriously. The really bad part is the thought of having to do yet another recall to fix this. With the slow turnaround on repairs now, this will kill a lot of enthusiasm for sure. Not trying to paint a bleak picture. Just underscoring that the incidents seem to be quite random, but more common than we might think. If it is a battery charge level issue, that should be easily fixed with firmware. If it is power switch/circuitry related, that will most likely need a trip back to Solms. It would be nice if Leica could give us some perspective on this, as they surely are gettiing a lot more coming back for that repair than is expected or wanted. Just my thoughts on this. And yes, the images that come from the M8 are worth the hassles. LJ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertwright Posted March 23, 2007 Share #7 Posted March 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) my first m8 died in a similar way, the camera got very warm. Unfortunately nothing I did restored the camera to normal operation. this was after one day. I exchanged it and the replacement has been fine. The one that died was 31018xx and the replacement is 31047xx. I hope it recovers for you. I don't be believe there is anything you can "do" per se to help it recover, short of leaving it off for a day or so. I think it either does or doesn't pretty much independently of what users do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blovitch Posted March 23, 2007 Share #8 Posted March 23, 2007 My number latest M8 (the third one I have owned) is on its way back to Solms now.... Awaiting number 4..... Am I just really unlucky or is there a real problem for Leica here.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidigital Posted March 23, 2007 Share #9 Posted March 23, 2007 Mine did the warm up also, but was ok after I popped out the battery and substituted it for another. As I have several spares, I haven't used the questionable battery again. When this happened to me, I left the switch on "s" or "c" instead of "off" with the auto-sleep (something I have done with most of my cameras.) Since then I have made the mental note to turn the camera to "off" after each use and have not had any issues. Have others who have had failures noticed if their cameras were in sleep mode vs. off at the time of their Leica suicides? Maybe M8s are dying in their sleep (mode)? Kurt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorflow Posted March 23, 2007 Share #10 Posted March 23, 2007 Alan: Thanks for your reply. Serial number is 3102874. I just pulled it out of my bag, and it's very warm to the touch (the whole camera). Did that happen to you? Mark Mine did not get warm, just lost top (shutter, battery indicator) or bottom (buttons, LCD) function. Did recover a couple of times after powered off a few hours (did not leave battery out). Finally did not recover after overnight and sent to Leica. This happened after bought spare battery, but not sure if it was in the camera when problem started. Unfortunately doesn't look like Leica has nailed down the fault yet. Has this happened to any 'late' serial number (say >4000) M8s? Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted March 23, 2007 Share #11 Posted March 23, 2007 might be worthwhile to backtrack who had sleep mode engaged Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorb Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share #12 Posted March 23, 2007 thanks for all of your replies. it's (almost) comforting that all of you have similar problems (not really). i agree about the comment about the M8 dieing in sleep mode. it never seems to fail while shooting, only when i take it out of the bag and try to start shooting. curious? my dealer is taking it back and sending me a new one, all within a week (not bad)!. better than a trip to solms? mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted March 23, 2007 Share #13 Posted March 23, 2007 Mine failed while i was shooting. That's not it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack MacDonough Posted March 24, 2007 Share #14 Posted March 24, 2007 Mine failed in sleep mode. I don't leave the camera switch on, but when I pulled it out of a case, I saw the switch had been moved on and the camera was asleep....forever as it turned out. Camera has been back for repair for 6 weeks and counting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorflow Posted March 24, 2007 Share #15 Posted March 24, 2007 Mine failed in sleep mode. I don't leave the camera switch on, but when I pulled it out of a case, I saw the switch had been moved on and the camera was asleep....forever as it turned out. Camera has been back for repair for 6 weeks and counting. Did Leica tell you what was done for the repair? Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimmel Posted March 24, 2007 Share #16 Posted March 24, 2007 My second gen M8 has been acting up aftyer a month of ownership. Shutter will not fire, exposure counter LCD is dead, playback works, but does not turn off when camera is turned off. I've done the battery reset, which did not fix the problem. I'm very disapointed of course as the images are very special from this camera, but I don't think it's ready for prime time yet. Any suggestions before I send off the camera? Thanks for your help. Mark I'm very sorry to hear that! I don't have any suggestions other than those already proposed but I do have a question: what firmware were you using? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted March 24, 2007 Share #17 Posted March 24, 2007 What is the company that manufactures the electronic parts of this camera? Sinar? Leica should be very, very angry against them. These problems, terrible problems, have harmed Leica's brand seriously. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagist Posted March 26, 2007 Share #18 Posted March 26, 2007 M8 #3106094 approx 670 exposures to date - absolutely no problems until - Yesterday, I had the M8 out for a stroll (hadn't used it in almost a week - been with the DMR). I took the camera out of the bag, flipped the switch as I raised it to my eye, focused, pressed the shutter release, no click, just the message: "shutter err." Turned it off and on again. Same message. No click. Opened the bottom. Popped the battery (fully charged) out and in again. Still nothing. Opened the bottom again. Popped the SD card out and in again. Still nothing (except the Shutter Err message. Walked back to the car and got the M6TTL .58 and returned to captured the photograph I was after on film - NOTE: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS MUST BACK UP THEIR CAMERAS WITH OTHER CAMERAS WITH THE SAME DISCIPLINE THAT THEY BACK UP THEIR IMAGE FILES. Sat on a bench. Opened the M8 again. Popped both the battery and the SD card out - then in again. Closed it up. The shutter worked. Put the camera back in the bag. Didn't do any more photography. Just now as I type this - I try the camera again - "Shutter 'Err" again on the viewfinder display and "Attention Shutter Fault" on the LCD screen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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