RWJL Posted February 3, 2014 Share #1 Posted February 3, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) This is my first post. I am still a relativety new Leica user having had a M9 for about 18 months. I now have I have a new M240 with still less than 1,000 images. Yesterday I had two different problems both of which were solved by removing the battery The first was whilst shooting a number of shots. The camera froze with a message which I cannot completely recollect but along the lines of there was incompatibility with my card. I was using AUTO ISO, min exp 125s. I removed and replaced the battery and everything was back to normal The second was the camera just froze with no message and a black screen but with the red light showing it was writing something but after a minute or so. No reponse from any of the buttons. I again removed and replaced the battery and everything was back to normal Has anyone else had similar issues and can you shed any light on what may be causing the problem? Many thanks RICHARD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Hi RWJL, Take a look here M240 Problems. Can you help please?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
chris_tribble Posted February 3, 2014 Share #2 Posted February 3, 2014 Richard - freezing was an issue, especially with earlier firmware. 1. check which firmware you have, and if need be update to the latest from Leica: Leica Camera AG - Downloads 2. check the card you're using - if you've not formatted it with the SD formater utility (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/) it's really worth doing. This also has a big impact on camera start up times. Hope this helps. I've had my two M-240s for over a year now and have only experienced lockups of this kind once or twice throughout that period. Best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rirakuma Posted February 3, 2014 Share #3 Posted February 3, 2014 I had quite a few lock ups when I first got my M as well. A few members suggested it may be a battery issue and it should fade away after a few recharges. This seems to be true for my case as I haven't had any lock ups for a while. You should also follow Chris' advice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted February 3, 2014 Share #4 Posted February 3, 2014 I had quite a few lock ups when I first got my M as well. A few members suggested it may be a battery issue and it should fade away after a few recharges. This seems to be true for my case as I haven't had any lock ups for a while. You should also follow Chris' advice have the occasional lock up. Mostly with my old Transcent 16 G card. I know what's coming, so I just take out the battery and start shooting again after replacing it. Happens to me only once a shoot normally. I could buy a new sd card, but you can get used to everything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbl Posted February 3, 2014 Share #5 Posted February 3, 2014 Is the SD Formatter software better than formatting in camera? How often do you do it? -jbl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted February 3, 2014 Share #6 Posted February 3, 2014 Is the SD Formatter software better than formatting in camera? How often do you do it? -jbl Yes it is and you only need to do it once. Then just use the camera to format and delete the photos from the card. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbl Posted February 3, 2014 Share #7 Posted February 3, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Oh, interesting. So it's the initial layout on the card? Sorry for asking again, I'm just surprised to hear it helps! -jbl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc_rufctr Posted February 4, 2014 Share #8 Posted February 4, 2014 Oh, interesting. So it's the initial layout on the card? Sorry for asking again, I'm just surprised to hear it helps! -jbl The format done by the software does a much "deeper" format if that makes sense. It also rewrites the disk ID tables and other stuff. (similar to the old TOC tables in writable CDs) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted February 4, 2014 Share #9 Posted February 4, 2014 Oh, interesting. So it's the initial layout on the card? Sorry for asking again, I'm just surprised to hear it helps! -jbl Yes sir. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest redge Posted February 4, 2014 Share #10 Posted February 4, 2014 I've read posts about the SD Format software but my sense from those discussions is that the performance increase is questionable and that some people think that using this software ranges from useless to a bad idea. The only claim that I've seen is that the software improves the camera's start-up time (which I don't care about). Is it claimed that it improves more than start-up time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted February 4, 2014 Share #11 Posted February 4, 2014 Is it claimed that it improves more than start-up time? I think it's a bit stronger than "claimed" as many individuals have tested many cards and recorded the results before and after. Improvements in start up time, buffer write speed and buffer write size have been recorded, but the results are dependent upon the card being used with varying results. Some, such as the Transcend cards, improve greatly, while others such as the SanDisk Extreme Pro 95mbps cards seem to make less of an improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterP Posted February 4, 2014 Share #12 Posted February 4, 2014 I had a freeze up within the first 50 shots, but several K later none. With regard to the SD cards I only use SanDisk Extreme (always both Compact Flash and SD cards), never a bit of trouble. The wonderful thing about the M240 is that I never need to dedicate cards to the camera, I use the cards interchangeably in my Canon, Panasonic, Fuji and Leica M240 cameras. I never would have dreamed doing that mouth my M8! I use the cards - default format from the manufacturer. It may very well be a battery issue. I see a lot of posts here always alluding to card issues, I have never experienced a card issue in 10 years of digital camera use (and countless hundreds of thousands images shot). I think card issues are a bit of a 'red herring'! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest redge Posted February 4, 2014 Share #13 Posted February 4, 2014 Yes, I've read this stuff. My sense is that unless fine gradations in speed are for some reason important, it is much ado about nothing. And I've also seen suggestions that this software is a bad idea. I'm using SanDisk cards and, for me, they are working just fine as is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenPatterson Posted February 4, 2014 Share #14 Posted February 4, 2014 My sense is that unless fine gradations in speed are for some reason important, it is much ado about nothing.. I think it's much more than "fine gradations" to some. When I first began the thread below (nearly one year ago) I was frustrated that the Transcend cards I had been using with no problems in my M8 and M9 were very slow and sluggish to turn on and wake from sleep with the M240. Formatting with SDFormatter helped, but ultimately the solution was to use the fast SanDisk cards (95mbps). Going from around 5 seconds to just over 1 second was a major difference, and absolutely had an impact in the way I used and enjoyed the camera. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m-type-240/277048-m240-sd-cards-associated-camera-function.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest redge Posted February 4, 2014 Share #15 Posted February 4, 2014 I think it's much more than "fine gradations" to some. When I first began the thread below (nearly one year ago) I was frustrated that the Transcend cards I had been using with no problems in my M8 and M9 were very slow and sluggish to turn on and wake from sleep with the M240. Formatting with SDFormatter helped, but ultimately the solution was to use the fast SanDisk cards (95mbps). Going from around 5 seconds to just over 1 second was a major difference, and absolutely had an impact in the way I used and enjoyed the camera. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m-type-240/277048-m240-sd-cards-associated-camera-function.html Y'know, I realize that there's been a lot of (digital) ink spilt over this, but the reality is that so far the debate, and my failure to use this formatting software, has had zero affect on my photography. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luakbay Posted February 4, 2014 Share #16 Posted February 4, 2014 I had it for four times. 2nd time i sent back to Germany. Found everything fine Later this morning the forth time, and I manage to reformat the SD card and recharge the battery, and now resurrected Still wonder why so fragile! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted February 4, 2014 Share #17 Posted February 4, 2014 The thing is, I never have this issue with a Sandisk Ultra 2 Gb card. Taking just over 70 captures with it, I take it out and replace it. Sometimes I also replace the battery. Maybe with such a small card and recharging of static electricity, the freezing doesn't appear? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJL Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share #18 Posted February 4, 2014 I had a freeze up within the first 50 shots, but several K later none. With regard to the SD cards I only use SanDisk Extreme (always both Compact Flash and SD cards), never a bit of trouble. The wonderful thing about the M240 is that I never need to dedicate cards to the camera, I use the cards interchangeably in my Canon, Panasonic, Fuji and Leica M240 cameras. I never would have dreamed doing that mouth my M8! I use the cards - default format from the manufacturer. It may very well be a battery issue. I see a lot of posts here always alluding to card issues, I have never experienced a card issue in 10 years of digital camera use (and countless hundreds of thousands images shot). I think card issues are a bit of a 'red herring'! Many thanks for your email. I had my 3rd ever card crash two weeks ago. A Lexar 4GB 300x UDMA in a Nikon D3s, my card reader would not read it nor would the camera when it was put back in it. Rescue software worked a treat and the card then went into the bin/trash. Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterP Posted February 4, 2014 Share #19 Posted February 4, 2014 Many thanks for your email. I had my 3rd ever card crash two weeks ago. A Lexar 4GB 300x UDMA in a Nikon D3s, my card reader would not read it nor would the camera when it was put back in it. Rescue software worked a treat and the card then went into the bin/trash. Richard Card readers however are a different story. I recently went through several. It seems the most recent Mac upgrade (can't remember what it is called) caused incompatibility problems, would not recognize the card at all, also while dragging from card and dropping (Canon files) into folder would hang up the entire system (also caused problems with my Drobo raid system). I now have 2 that work to my satisfaction and I let a Canon app transfer files from card to designated folder (actually works faster and better). I have no such problem with Leica files since I use the on computer slot for the SD card, thereby eliminating the card reader entirely - there have been no corruptions or freeze ups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luakbay Posted February 6, 2014 Share #20 Posted February 6, 2014 Card readers however are a different story. I recently went through several. It seems the most recent Mac upgrade (can't remember what it is called) caused incompatibility problems, would not recognize the card at all, also while dragging from card and dropping (Canon files) into folder would hang up the entire system (also caused problems with my Drobo raid system). I now have 2 that work to my satisfaction and I let a Canon app transfer files from card to designated folder (actually works faster and better). I have no such problem with Leica files since I use the on computer slot for the SD card, thereby eliminating the card reader entirely - there have been no corruptions or freeze ups. The Mac somehow has issue with the formatting. I download the formatting software, and it just won't work on the SD card. But when use a Windows version. It works fine immediately. Best is save the file in a portable HD, and reformat the SD card regularly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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