Bentham Posted January 4, 2015 Share #1 Posted January 4, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Today in Toronto was not so cold for wintertime in Canada (a mere -3 celcius) so I decided to take my M 240 outdoors. After about 30 mins the camera went from being fully functional to: - PLAY, INFO, MENU and SET buttons do nothing when pushed - take a picture and no flashing LED to let you know it has been recorded despite the apparent opening and closing of the shutter This is not the first time I had experienced that behaviour so I put the camera away in my bag and went about my business. After coming home I took the battery out of the body and about 20-30 mins later put it back in. At this point image review etc. continued to function as one would expect. Battery life had decreased by 5%. Is this normal behaviour? Electronics being what they are my supposition is yes, it's totally normal for the camera. Perhaps I'm just expecting more from the M? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Hi Bentham, Take a look here M240 in winter weather. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
horosu Posted January 4, 2015 Share #2 Posted January 4, 2015 No, this is not normal. I've just shot last week for an hour or so at -15 degrees Celsius and everything worked perfectly fine. You should have the camera checked Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 4, 2015 Share #3 Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Official operating temperature is 0-40 centigrade. Pretty much universal values. However that are temperatures inside the camera. If the ambient temperature is just minus three the camera should operate normally for a long time. Maybe not as long as a DSLR as it is compact and completely out of metal, but still... I would advise to try another battery first. Edited January 4, 2015 by jaapv Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmahto Posted January 5, 2015 Share #4 Posted January 5, 2015 I have a half neoprene case for the cam and full neoprene case when I am just walking around. Will that help in sub zero temp? Btw, I have shot M9 in 26F and I was ok. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbers Posted January 5, 2015 Share #5 Posted January 5, 2015 NOT normal! M240 works fine in cold conditions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentham Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted January 5, 2015 I don't understand how the battery appears to hardly lose any power yet the camera is essentially not functional. FWIW, I have had the camera since September and the battery has only seen ~4 full cycles (it lasts forever!). Over the next few days the temperature here will drop to -15-20c so I'll head outside again and see what happens ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted January 5, 2015 Share #7 Posted January 5, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Official operating temperature is 0-40 centigrade. Are you certain that's not -40F ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted January 5, 2015 Share #8 Posted January 5, 2015 I don't understand how the battery appears to hardly lose any power yet the camera is essentially not functional. FWIW, I have had the camera since September and the battery has only seen ~4 full cycles (it lasts forever!). Over the next few days the temperature here will drop to -15-20c so I'll head outside again and see what happens ... Just to cover one thing at a time, fully charge the battery and put it outside in the cold for an hour, then put it in the camera . If it fails the same way, then you can probably presume the battery is at fault. Is it a Leica battery or aftermarket? . 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torgian Posted January 5, 2015 Share #9 Posted January 5, 2015 Doesn't sound normal to me. I've taken my M out in cold environments all the time here in Japan. Just recently, I went to Nagano for a ski trip. Visited onsens with snow monkeys, in the negative centigrade. The only thing I noticed was my hands got cold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rirakuma Posted January 5, 2015 Share #10 Posted January 5, 2015 It doesn't sound right to me either. I've just crossed thorong la pass and it was -20c at high camp and about -30c with wind chill at the peak. My nalgenr bottle froze in 2h after leaving camp but my m worked with no problems. There were no errors or extra lag, the movie function worked fine as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentham Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted January 5, 2015 Just to cover one thing at a time, fully charge the battery and put it outside in the cold for an hour, then put it in the camera . If it fails the same way, then you can probably presume the battery is at fault. Is it a Leica battery or aftermarket? . That's a good suggestion -- I'll try that. The battery is a Leica battery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisvik Posted January 7, 2015 Share #12 Posted January 7, 2015 Something must be wrong. I've used the Leica M (240) in a lot colder temperatures and never had any problems. In fact, I've never experienced any technical problems with this camera anywhere in any condition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jip Posted January 7, 2015 Share #13 Posted January 7, 2015 I've used the M240 extensively a while ago at -7ºC I noticed the screen got dimmer and it 'ghosted' a bit. But the camera remained functional de battery dropped quickly from 100 to about 70% but when warmed up again got back up to 80%! Here are some wintery shots with the M240 that day. I've kept them small here because this is not the photo forum. They are only a few KB each. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/239446-m240-in-winter-weather/?do=findComment&comment=2743136'>More sharing options...
Gary Clennan Posted January 7, 2015 Share #14 Posted January 7, 2015 I have used mine at -36C with not issues - except for crummy battery life which is expected. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted January 7, 2015 Share #15 Posted January 7, 2015 Not normal imho. minus 8 to 2 Celsius from 10:30 to 14:00. Walked for 12 miles with the camera hanging on my belly the whole time.Only a leather Luigi halfcase. Chrome camera. One battery 40% capacity left in about 200 shots.Began with a fully charged battery which was in the camera for two days already. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m-type-240/358890-very-happy-newyear-cold-m240-greating.html Maybe the camera was moist on the backside when you took it outside and the buttons froze? Or may your condensed breathe froze? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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