Is it safe yet to buy a 2nd M8, ie has sudden death all but disappered from the scene

[colorflow]

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I have been considering getting a second M8 as backup for planned trips coming up starting in May. But don't want to double the problems of my first M8 which is returning from Solms. Would hate to take a DSLR and its lenses. Could take my M6, but don't really want to get film locally or through airports. Seems there hasn't been any new reported case of sudden death for a while, or is this just wishful thinking? ...

 

Alan

[Guest guy_mancuso]

It's been a little quiet and let's keep our fingers crossed. Really the bottom line answer to back up any camera is to back it up with a identical one of course. I have not heard anything specific from Leica on this yet but things are going just fine on my 2 M8's as of late but I am not going to stop worrying about it until we hear something from Leica. Having two bodies though sure does help though.

[glenerrolrd]

I am going to roll the dice on a 2nd M8 next week ....have always been surprised that more shooters don t have identical 2nd bodies. First do you have anything riding on your ability to shoot... a commercial assignment or a priceless trip . Second ...I believe you have to be familiar with your equipment and be able to trust it....to avoid the new camera on vacation to Africa issue . Third ..what if your current M8 dies right before the trip ..this is not a fair situation ...but maybe a real risk. Convinced myself

[woodyspedden]

I am going to roll the dice on a 2nd M8 next week ....have always been surprised that more shooters don t have identical 2nd bodies. First do you have anything riding on your ability to shoot... a commercial assignment or a priceless trip . Second ...I believe you have to be familiar with your equipment and be able to trust it....to avoid the new camera on vacation to Africa issue . Third ..what if your current M8 dies right before the trip ..this is not a fair situation ...but maybe a real risk. Convinced myself

 

Just got my second M8. I am off to Europe (Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Krakow and then the 10 day Leica/Porsche photo Germany trip) and there is no way I am doing this with one M8 body in its current condition. No knock against Leica here just acknowledgement that they still fail in weird and unexplainable ways. Personally I have had no failures of any kind since I bought my first M8 in November 8th. But with a $40,000 trip on the line I would never go without a backup. In fact just to be sure I will probably take one of my M6 TTL's and 15 rolls of film for an even more secure backup. I am sure I will never have the resources to go back to these wonderful and special places so I am going to get the images I want regardless. What do you want to bet that with all this redundancy, one M8 will get all the jobs done. I love my M8's and like Guy, will probably get to the point where the R9/DMR will not be an option and all that wonderful R Glass including two of the 35-70 Elmarits will be for sale. But for sure, not until the R10 comes out and we see what is possible into the future.

 

Just MHO

 

Woody Spedden

[glenerrolrd]

Woody No DMR? I have done maybe 5-6 of these trips (film era) . First couple were 2 motorized R4 ...24,35,50.90,180 and 2X ....lost 12lbs on that trip....last few where 2 M6 s ..but what I missed was the 180. I had two afternoons in Prague last summer ..street opportunities are amazing. Needed a light tripod for the night sceens . Sounds like you will have a tough job sorting out your equipment. I wonder how much stuff I get Carolyn to carry??

[footnoteblog]

Been traveling with one M8.

 

Not a single problem; but I'm not getting paid for this trip.

[jrc]

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I'd have one big question before I bought a second M8:

 

1. Where's the sudden-death problem coming from? I have three batteries and an original battery charger. When my camera gets back from Solms, if it ever does, should I throw the batteries away? Is it possible to order a different charger? I fear that if I use the old stuff when my camera gets back, it'll just kill it again. I really need to know the answer to this question.

 

If it's a camera problem, and not a battery/charger problem, then it might be worth taking a chance that you'd get a good one.

 

JC

[colorflow]

I'd have one big question before I bought a second M8:

 

1. Where's the sudden-death problem coming from? I have three batteries and an original battery charger. When my camera gets back from Solms, if it ever does, should I throw the batteries away? Is it possible to order a different charger? I fear that if I use the old stuff when my camera gets back, it'll just kill it again. I really need to know the answer to this question.

 

If it's a camera problem, and not a battery/charger problem, then it might be worth taking a chance that you'd get a good one.

 

JC

 

I am actually happier now that it appears the sudden death syndrom actually recovers (at least for my M8) after a prolonged power off with the battery out. This says to me there isn't any bad hardware design or component. I am hypothesizing that a faulty battery or charger caused a firmware bug to hang. A cold reset after the internal battery is drained recovers normal operation. Seems that we have not had any recent SDS posting. Maybe 1.09 fixed the problem (perhaps inadvertently)?

 

I'll wait a couple more weeks and go for second M8 if no newSDS posting...

 

Alan

[xrogers]

The M8 will likely be fine. For the price of one M8 battery you can get a brick of film. I'd bring a film M as backup, and bring my own film. Heck, that's what I did on a nine day trip to the UK that ended last week. I didn't shoot one frame of film, though...about 1200 shots with the M8, not one hiccup or hitch.

 

But if I could stomach the cost, I'd bring two M8s.

 

And if my living depended on it, I'd definitely bring two M8s (or two 1Ds, D2x, 5D, etc...).

 

--clyde

[eronald]

The M8 will likely be fine. For the price of one M8 battery you can get a brick of film. I'd bring a film M as backup, and bring my own film. Heck, that's what I did on a nine day trip to the UK that ended last week. I didn't shoot one frame of film, though...about 1200 shots with the M8, not one hiccup or hitch.

 

But if I could stomach the cost, I'd bring two M8s.

 

And if my living depended on it, I'd definitely bring two M8s (or two 1Ds, D2x, 5D, etc...).

 

--clyde

 

Maybe we can step outside the reality distorsion field for a moment ? How about a Rebel XT with the kit lens + 50.1/8 as a throwaway backup, or a 5D ? That's what the Canon shooters use as backup. And how many of you have a Nikon wide and 50 that could still be mounted on a D40 ?

 

Edmund

[Guest tummydoc]

If I was a professional photographer (guaging by the many pros I've conversed with over time) I would want my backup body to be identical, so that I wouldn't have to stop and think about differences in control layout in the heat of action. Since I'm not a pro photographer, at present my trip backup is one of my film Leicas and 10 rolls of film. I exchanged two faulty M8 bodies before lucking on to my current one which has been working well for 3 weeks but my fingers are still crossed and I won't buy a second M8 until Leica has at least identified what has been making them die.

[robbegibson]

The M8 will likely be fine. For the price of one M8 battery you can get a brick of film. ...snip

--clyde

 

Yes, and for the cost of another battery, you could process that film.

 

If you put a winder on an M7, it makes a backup that's operationally pretty seamless, except if you're one who changes the ISO setting all the time and staring at the ISO setting is a poor substitute for chimping!

[robbegibson]

Maybe we can step outside the reality distorsion field for a moment ? How about a Rebel XT with the kit lens + 50.1/8 as a throwaway backup, or a 5D ? That's what the Canon shooters use as backup. And how many of you have a Nikon wide and 50 that could still be mounted on a D40 ?

 

Edmund

 

Well, I'm from the 'backups should be identical' school, but following your logic, a Digilux 2 might be an acceptable backup for an M8.

As someone who also shoots Nikon, the D40 is not a good backup as it has no internal focusing motor -lenses like the trio (28,50,85 f1.4) all won't AF.

[tashley]

I got a second M8 before my recent trip to Barcelona cos I got spooked by all the reports. Both behave impeccably, but if I were a more rational and less emotional being I'd have got an MP as the beckup.

 

In future, I'm going to get one of those little Sigma RD1 thingies as third string backup. Small and should be great IQ, and at the focal length I most like to use.

 

Tim

[robbegibson]

I got a second M8 before my recent trip to Barcelona cos I got spooked by all the reports. Both behave impeccably, but if I were a more rational and less emotional being I'd have got an MP as the beckup. ...snip

Tim

 

I really like the MP. The only operational problem (IMHO) is that the shutter dial goes (from low to high) in the opposite direction as the M7 and M8. The M6TTL matches the M7 and M8, the M6 is like the MP. Who knows why??

 

Robbe

[wattsy]

Maybe we can step outside the reality distorsion field for a moment ? How about a Rebel XT with the kit lens + 50.1/8 as a throwaway backup, or a 5D ?

 

That was my thinking on a trip last month travelling across the US. I toyed with the idea of taking a second M8 or one of my M7 bodies. In the end I decided that I didn't want the extra weight (my basic kit was M8, two lenses and a MacBook) so went with just the solitary M8 body. If the M8 had gone tits-up I'd have gone to the nearest camera shop and bought a low end Canon or Nikon and 28mm prime. In the event, the M8 was fine.

[jrc]

That was my thinking on a trip last month travelling across the US. I toyed with the idea of taking a second M8 or one of my M7 bodies. In the end I decided that I didn't want the extra weight (my basic kit was M8, two lenses and a MacBook) so went with just the solitary M8 body. If the M8 had gone tits-up I'd have gone to the nearest camera shop and bought a low end Canon or Nikon and 28mm prime. In the event, the M8 was fine.

 

Which is what I did -- when I sent my M8 off to Solms for the second time, I bought a Pentax K10 with three pancake primes, and it's really a nice little rig, and not hugely bigger than the M8. But it's not an M8; and the lenses are good, but they're not Leicas. Maybe it's all psychological, but I think I could look at a Pentax shot and a Leica shot and tell one from another. I can't do that direct comparison, of course, until the M8 gets back from Solms.

 

JC

[colorflow]

I really like the MP. The only operational problem (IMHO) is that the shutter dial goes (from low to high) in the opposite direction as the M7 and M8. The M6TTL matches the M7 and M8, the M6 is like the MP. Who knows why??

 

Robbe

Starting from the M6TTL Leica changed the direction of the speed dial so the dial just needs to be turned in the direction of the exposure arrows in the viewfinder. Did not realize the MP went back to the 'old' direction.

 

Alan

[Skippy Sanchez]

......but if I were a more rational and less emotional being I'd have got an MP as the beckup[sic].

 

Tim

 

It's not because of paranoia, but I've got two M8s AND an MP that will all be joining me in Honduras next month, which, coincidentally, is the beginning of the rainy season.

 

Having two identical bodies for daily assignments is handier than one, and the MP gives me opprotunities to appreciate the superwides that can't be done on the M8. Plus I like shooting film.

 

While in Honduras I plan take one M8 & and the MP with me while out shooting for a story (about a missionaries) while the second M8 sits in a secured Pelican case with dissecant packs. I'll swap cameras every other day. The issue is not the rain, but the humidity.

 

BTW, my M8s have been performing flawlessly.

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Hallo,

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[fotografr]

I'd have one big question before I bought a second M8:

 

1. Where's the sudden-death problem coming from? I have three batteries and an original battery charger. When my camera gets back from Solms, if it ever does, should I throw the batteries away? Is it possible to order a different charger? I fear that if I use the old stuff when my camera gets back, it'll just kill it again. I really need to know the answer to this question.

 

If it's a camera problem, and not a battery/charger problem, then it might be worth taking a chance that you'd get a good one.

 

JC

 

I've gone through three sudden death problems. The first two times, the camera went back to Solms and had the insides replaced and the same top plate put back on. The kit was then returned to me with the same battery and charger. This makes me suspiscious of the batteries. This time, they are replacing the entire kit so I'll start out with new batteries and a different charger. I'm not suggesting this is the answer to your concern, but it may offer a clue.

 

As far as buying a second M8 as backup, I will certainly do that because I shoot professionally. But I won't do it until I am convinced this problem has been positively identified and eliminated. Until then, my M8 will just be used for personal work--not assignments.