S a little disappointing

[Constable]

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Spoons

 

A shot in the dark, but try upgrading to the new firmware 2.3.0.0. - you never know!

 

But it really does sound like a hardware issue.

 

Good luck.

 

Ed

[mwilliamsphotography]

Just for clarification:

 

When you say ... "Not being able to write to two cards using one as a backup," ... I assume you are aware that you can shoot Parallel captures to both cards, as opposed to Sequential use of the cards ... and your issue is that the camera doesn't capture RAW files to both cards at the same time. Right?

 

Perhaps it is the slow write speeds of SD cards at the time of design that informed that decision. The Pentax 645D uses 2 SD/SDHC card slots, but has been tagged in some reviews as slow to write from the CCD.

 

BTW, neither the Phase One nor the Hasselblad MF cameras have dual card captures at all.

 

 

I'm confused ... does the camera equally lock up when shooting to cards, AND while tethered?

 

- Marc

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[vintola]

My new S (two weeks old) locked up and I had only CF card inside. And didn't shoot tethered. - vintola -

[melantye]

My new S (two weeks old) locked up and I had only CF card inside. And didn't shoot tethered. - vintola -

Hey Vintola, I also have an S but have not experienced any lock up. Check if your battery is healthy- the S uses same battery as S2 and previously there has been issues with some batteries. You can also try formatting the card outside the camera first, then format again inside camera. I have experienced slow reading on SDXC cards in early S firmware, but my CF card is usually without problem.

Edited October 8, 2013 by melantye

[vintola]

Hey Vintola, I also have an S but have not experienced any lock up. Check if your battery is healthy- the S uses same battery as S2 and previously there has been issues with some batteries. You can also try formatting the card outside the camera first, then format again inside camera. I have experienced slow reading on SDXC cards in early S firmware, but my CF card is usually without problem.

 

Thanks melantye. I have two batteries.

 

I have formatted only in the camera. I must try to format first in the Apple computer and after that in S according to Your advice. This I haven't tried earlier. - vintola -

[melantye]

Thanks melantye. I have two batteries. I have formatted only in the camera. I must try to format first in the Apple computer and after that in S according to Your advice. This I haven't tried earlier. - vintola -

 

This applies to SD and so I'm not sure if formatting CF outside will work, Also be careful with the data format when you do that in Mac. If others know anything on this subject please def post here.

[Dougg]

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For formatting SD series cards, check out SDFormatter from the SD Association:

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Doug

[menos I M6]

I only came accidentally over this (and a similarly depressing) thread regarding the S series cameras here.

 

I hope for the OP that his problems will be resolved painlessly and quickly. One does expect with this camera system not only great quality files and reliable function, but indeed a superior after sales service and handling of issues, whatever the cause in a very caring and satisfying manner.

 

I have since a few months a second hand Leica S2 body, bought a new 70 Summarit and recently a Leica factory refurbished 35 Summarit, additionally I use Contax 645 lenses and Mamiya telephoto lenses on the S2 body.

 

So far, I have regularly an issue, that the camera will not fire the shutter, when depressing the shutter release, while everything else behaves normal.

This issue can only be remedied by dropping the battery and re-inserting the battery.

 

As of a few years of similar experience with digital M cameras, I have (wrongly) assumed such a behaviour is to be expected from all Leica digital cameras and have so far lived with the issue.

 

These threads here show me though, that such malfunctioning should not be accepted at all with a high end camera as the S.

[Alejandro AR]

You are absolutely right, we should not accept this at all. After all we pay a premium and should not accept this "peculiarities"/malfunctions as somewhat "folcloristic features" of high end gadgets. That said, I have myself made quite positive experiences with Leica's user support, incl. borrowing a lense at no charge during a holiday trip in which I had one of my lenses fail (which was fixed for free, of course, as during warranty). Now you could say "why did the first lense fail at all", but on the other hand: can you imagine walking as a German into a Nikon/Canon/whatever store in New York, say that you have a problem with a lense and expect the person in the shop to offer you a replacement at no cost/no questions asked for two days?

 

What I cannot understand though, are the shipping delays they are having. Or better: the time lag between announcement of a product and the actual availability of the product. Still waiting for my R-to-M adapter, ordered right after Photokina (why can Novoflex do this in a fraction of the time they had?) and for the grip with the GPS. If NASA would have launched their products at this speed (and how could argue they are a bit more complex), no American would have made it to the moon by today...

[vintola]

Hey Vintola, I also have an S but have not experienced any lock up. Check if your battery is healthy- the S uses same battery as S2 and previously there has been issues with some batteries. You can also try formatting the card outside the camera first, then format again inside camera. I have experienced slow reading on SDXC cards in early S firmware, but my CF card is usually without problem.

 

Thank You melantye. I formatted the CF-card in my MacBook Pro to FAT and after that I formatted it in the S. Everything has worked without problems since.

 

The strange thing is that before this formatting (in the computer) everything worked also in the first about 500 photos, which I loaded to the computer in several occasions, maybe about a hundred photos a time. Then suddenly the computer said it can't read the card and the camera said there are no card inside. But now it seems that all is ok, thanks again.

 

PS. By the way, the instruction book doesn't mention anything about formatting FAT in the computer.

 

- vintola -

Edited October 14, 2013 by vintola

[melantye]

Thank You melantye. I formatted the CF-card in my MacBook Pro to FAT and after that I formatted it in the S. Everything has worked without problems since. The strange thing is that before this formatting (in the computer) everything worked also in the first about 500 photos' date=' which I loaded to the computer in several occasions, maybe about a hundred photos a time. Then suddenly the computer said it can't read the card and the camera said there are no card inside. But now it seems that all is ok, thanks again. PS. By the way, the instruction book doesn't mention anything about formatting FAT in the computer. - vintola -[/quote']

 

You're welcome! It's a very reliable system in general, hope you'll enjoy it!

[Dougg]

...PS. By the way, the instruction book doesn't mention anything about formatting FAT in the computer.

 

- vintola -

If I'm not mistaken, FAT is normal for Windows machines, so no need to mention it, right?

[vintola]

If I'm not mistaken, FAT is normal for Windows machines, so no need to mention it, right?

 

Yes Dougg. But I use Macintosh computer as most photographers at least here in Finland. In this case fortunately there is a possibility in my computer to format it to the FAT, because it seems that S understands this format.

 

The odd thing was that loading 500 first photos in several different occasions there was no need to format the memory card in the computer, just in the camera. - vintola -

[Dougg]

Yes Dougg. But I use Macintosh computer as most photographers at least here in Finland. In this case fortunately there is a possibility in my computer to format it to the FAT, because it seems that S understands this format.

 

The odd thing was that loading 500 first photos in several different occasions there was no need to format the memory card in the computer, just in the camera. - vintola -

Yes, FAT is also standard for the cameras, so it would be a nice gesture to us Mac users to mention that in the instructions as something unusual to set in Disk Utility.

 

But I follow general advice to avoid formatting SD cards anywhere but in the camera where it will be used. The recent exception is a special program that formats cards in the computer to SD Association's industry standards, and is suggested as a good first formatting for a new card, and periodically thereafter:

 

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

 

Doug

[vintola]

Yes, FAT is also standard for the cameras, so it would be a nice gesture to us Mac users to mention that in the instructions as something unusual to set in Disk Utility.

 

But I follow general advice to avoid formatting SD cards anywhere but in the camera where it will be used. The recent exception is a special program that formats cards in the computer to SD Association's industry standards, and is suggested as a good first formatting for a new card, and periodically thereafter:

 

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

 

Doug

 

Thanks Dougg. I didn't know about this SD standard, but what I was writing earlier was about CF card. - vintola -

[Dougg]

Ah, I see now, vintola, missed that. I've been using SD cards in my S2...

 

Doug

[melantye]

Thanks Dougg. I didn't know about this SD standard' date=' but what I was writing earlier was about CF card. - vintola -[/quote']

 

Btw vintola, I find that when I have CF card inside (I'm using the Lexar 128GB) usually it takes 5-6 seconds for the initial card search to finish. (The red indicator light on the back will keep blinking.) But with SD card only this reduces to 1 sec. No idea why.

Edited October 15, 2013 by melantye

[Dougg]

I will guess that the camera's computer needs to do a check on the integrity of the card, so the larger the card capacity (and probably the slower the card) the more time it takes.

 

Very similar with your desktop or laptop computer; the more memory it has to check upon startup the longer it takes. My aging iMac came with 4Gb of RAM, and when I upped that to 12Gb the startup time increased somewhat.

[spoons]

OK, That's it. Leica have ignored my requests and given my camera a cursory glance and reported back that there is nothing wrong with it. I am telling you that there is. Why would I make it up ?

 

Please DO NOT think that your 1000's of dollars will buy you a service. It doesn't and the whole thing stinks.

 

I am leaving Leica and this forum !

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[menos I M6]

OK, That's it. Leica have ignored my requests and given my camera a cursory glance and reported back that there is nothing wrong with it. I am telling you that there is. Why would I make it up ?

 

Please DO NOT think that your 1000's of dollars will buy you a service. It doesn't and the whole thing stinks.

 

I am leaving Leica and this forum !

 

 

I understand this is now the least, you want to do after your experience, but just do two things:

 

1)

Try to get in touch by telephone with the responsible Leica S person at Leica Solms (just call customer support and ask your way through).

I had an issue with a malfunctioning Leica adapter for Contax 645 lenses, which was not obvious to replicate.

After a few conversations with Lothar Lühring (Leica Solms/ Germany), explaining the issue, Leica bent backwards, to get a replacement adapter to me. My experience was so far with technical issues, that emails are sometimes not responded to (I take it, they are flooded with mails and have not found a way to cope).

Getting a live person at Leica to understand your problem in Solms is often the only way to get on track for fixing a problem.

 

Once you have that person, who understands, that there is a problem with the product, they will move mountains, to make things right.

If communications is through several instances (you - dealer - representative - technician, … ), things inevitably get lost in the chain.

 

2)

As inadequate in this situation, as it might seem now (you, the customer having to proof that your several 10K EUR gear is defective), a very effective way to show the involved people is really a hard proof of the issue.

If you can, take out your mobile phone the next time this lockup happens and record the whole thing on video - record the malfunctioning behaviour (unresponsive locked up camera) and your steps to remedy the problem with proof, that after dropping the battery the issue is temporarily fixed.

Record in the same video also the firmware of the camera, which can be displayed via the menu.

Also write down as detailed, as you can every single step the lead you to the malfunctioning camera and the steps you took to revive the camera.

 

Don't give up on Leica products - often it is combined with frustration when products fail (especially, in regard of the money you paid for them).