dant Posted February 11, 2014 Share #1 Posted February 11, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've read reviews that the MM has a sub par battery. I also read it gets 350 shots. If the MM does get 350 shots that would seem like a decent # to me and nothing to complain about. I've read the M240 gets 500 shots with its battery. Does the dissatisfaction with the MM battery stem from its comparison to the M240‘s battery? What is your experience with the MM battery? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Hi dant, Take a look here MM Battery?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wattsy Posted February 11, 2014 Share #2 Posted February 11, 2014 I think the dissatisfaction comes from those who perhaps use the latest generation of Canon and Nikon DSLRs where 1000+ shots per charge is apparently the norm. IMO the M9 battery is perfectly fine, particularly considering its size. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 11, 2014 Share #3 Posted February 11, 2014 I have a spare battery, but its been spare for nearly five years since getting an M9, and the MM is no different. I can't think I ever needed to use the spare (even in very cold weather) and 350 exposures I'd take as the minimum for a battery in good condition and fully charged. A spare is a convenience, it can be ready to swap at the end of the day without charging the one you used, but knowing what I know now, instead of then, I could in theory have saved myself £80. But a spare is still a good idea 'just in case'. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_S Posted February 11, 2014 Share #4 Posted February 11, 2014 I have a spare battery, but its been spare for nearly five years since getting an M9, and the MM is no different. I can't think I ever needed to use the spare (even in very cold weather) and 350 exposures I'd take as the minimum for a battery in good condition and fully charged. A spare is a convenience, it can be ready to swap at the end of the day without charging the one you used, but knowing what I know now, instead of then, I could in theory have saved myself £80. But a spare is still a good idea 'just in case'. Steve The same here, my spare battery is still in its box unused, bought just in case. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted February 11, 2014 Share #5 Posted February 11, 2014 350-500 shots per battery is about right. It is small and light; just get a spare. It is the same battery as the M8/M9, most complaints originate from users that try to use seven year old batteries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dant Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share #6 Posted February 11, 2014 I'd be in agrreement with you all. Sounds like the MM battery is fine for its size weight ratio. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted February 11, 2014 Share #7 Posted February 11, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hey, let's start the "cheap eBay Chinese battery" debate all over again!! You can hear such passionate arguments such as: 1) Your Leica will explode! 2) If you spent $7000 on a camera how dare you put in a $12 battery! 3) "I sleep better at night with a genuine Leica battery in my camera" 4) You will void your warranty! 5) That awful battery was made by slave labor in Communist work camps!! Can't wait to hear all the stern warnings again!! (I have been using both "genuine" and "fake" batteries in my M9 for years. No problems. The only inconvenience is sometimes the battery strength indication in the menu is inaccurate with the fakes, but this has no effect on the camera operation.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografr Posted February 11, 2014 Share #8 Posted February 11, 2014 I bought six Hong Kong "fakes" and four of them wouldn't charge. The other two held a charge marginally but only gave me about 50 exposures. I finally just threw them out. Sticking with the Leica batteries from now on. Hey, let's start the "cheap eBay Chinese battery" debate all over again!! You can hear such passionate arguments such as: 1) Your Leica will explode! 2) If you spent $7000 on a camera how dare you put in a $12 battery! 3) "I sleep better at night with a genuine Leica battery in my camera" 4) You will void your warranty! 5) That awful battery was made by slave labor in Communist work camps!! Can't wait to hear all the stern warnings again!! (I have been using both "genuine" and "fake" batteries in my M9 for years. No problems. The only inconvenience is sometimes the battery strength indication in the menu is inaccurate with the fakes, but this has no effect on the camera operation.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted February 11, 2014 Share #9 Posted February 11, 2014 I will add "won't charge, waste of money, threw them out" to my list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted February 11, 2014 Share #10 Posted February 11, 2014 Just use what you want. I found the non-Leica ones pretty useless over the years that I carried them as last-resort spares. Nowadays my 2006-2007 Leica batteries still work sufficiently, whilst the Chinese ones have long stopped taking or holding a charge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoskeptic Posted February 11, 2014 Share #11 Posted February 11, 2014 I have five (I know, it's a long story) genuine Leica batteries. I keep rotating them. Not sure what will die first - camera body or batteries, but for sure one or the other will be obsolete at some point - just the nature of digital. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted February 11, 2014 Share #12 Posted February 11, 2014 Yeah, but you could have bought a dozen Chinese batteries for the price of one Leica battery. Anyway, the "Genuine" batteries are made in China too, probably on the same assembly line. Anyway, all of my ancient "fake" batteries still work fine. Just use what you want. I found the non-Leica ones pretty useless over the years that I carried them as last-resort spares. Nowadays my 2006-2007 Leica batteries still work sufficiently, whilst the Chinese ones have long stopped taking or holding a charge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted February 11, 2014 Share #13 Posted February 11, 2014 Afaik the last few years they are made in the Ukraine. There are a whole lot of things I could have bought for the price of a Leica battery - but they would have been something else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted February 11, 2014 Share #14 Posted February 11, 2014 Didn't know they were made in the Ukraine now. All of mine are marked "China". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Albertson Posted February 11, 2014 Share #15 Posted February 11, 2014 I have five (I know, it's a long story) genuine Leica batteries. I keep rotating them. Not sure what will die first - camera body or batteries, but for sure one or the other will be obsolete at some point - just the nature of digital. Me, too, and they're numbered so I can keep them in some semblance of a rotation. For a two-week trip out of the country, they're less of a hassle than bringing yet another charger along, and I have yet to be caught short on camera juice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoism Posted February 12, 2014 Share #16 Posted February 12, 2014 As I said before, whether others have positive or negative experience with non-Leica batteries, YMMV. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 12, 2014 Share #17 Posted February 12, 2014 My first 'spare' was a non-Leica battery, and after working out how to make it work (which in essence just meant ignoring your battery indicator and overriding any low battery warnings, trusting in the fact that it was fully charged despite what the camera said) it worked as well as, or better, than a genuine battery. It certainly maintained a longer level of charge. If Leica had done some basic planning the six month long battery drought of 2009-2010 wouldn't have happened. And along with lots of other people in the same boat I wouldn't have needed to endure the comments of 'why would you spend $8000 on a camera and put a $5 battery in it?'. I guess they never realised they were in a privileged position, but I also guess they never realised they were putting a $5 battery in their camera, there were just another couple of wires inside, and the rest of the $100 was 'mark up'. If any company has the balls to charge that much for a battery it must be good. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpwenh Posted February 14, 2014 Share #18 Posted February 14, 2014 I purchased two non-Leica batteries from eBay ($30 for 2 batteries and charger), so far they work fine in a Leica M9 (three months). Actully, I found out that one can't fully charge those batteries if they are not completely discharged or used up. To be precise, if the voltage reading is higher than 3.52V (or near), you might not be able to get those batteries fully charged. I use a 100R resister to cross "+" and "-" terminal to discharging the batteries after M9 says "Battery Low". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted February 14, 2014 Share #19 Posted February 14, 2014 I run two gen batteries, I swap when one is out of charge put the other on charge overnight and start again. I did the cheap battery copy thing with my M8, started well but ultimately you get what you pay for. They went in the bin a long time ago, my gen M8 spare is now my M9 spare and doing fine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamiji Posted February 16, 2014 Share #20 Posted February 16, 2014 I guess I am the victim of my own pessimism. First, I only have purchased Leica batteries. When I first bought my M8 I bought a few extra batteries for a trip to India. When I bought my first M9, I bought an extra battery, and every major trip I took for a while I bought a battery. I have always expected batteries to fail, but they didn't. Now I have 7 good batteries. I have never had a battery fail. They all work well in my Monochrom. Even though the M8 and two M9s have moved on. These old batteries live on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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