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"Check Battery Age"


jto555

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I just started receiving this "check battery age" message on my M240 that was purchased new on Dec 7 2015 over the weekend.  I was delighted to see a thread in this forum on the battery age subject.  12 pages later, I guess I really have nothing to worry about as it is just a firmware issue.   I guess I'll just continue to be annoyed at the error message until Leica sends out an update.  It's like a rattle or squeak in my car....doesn't impact the functionality of the car....it's just annoying.  Of course I can fix those rattles and squeaks by turning up the radio volume.

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Glad I found this thread.  My M (240) has two batteries bought in spring 2014 that now show this message.  Changing the date gets rid of it as posted, so I just need to wait for the firmware updates.  (Will be needed for the 246 as well as it shows the same message with the offending batteries.)

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Hi,

Just returned from a Mexico trip. When I left I got the message check battery for the first time.

Came back with 650 shots and battery still up and running at 30%. Never charged while I was there.

I don't think will be a firmware update for this issue as it looks to me  like a marketing gimmick to me. Always buy new and fresh.

A Leica deserves fresh new accessories...verstanden?

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We asked Leica about this and received the acknowledgment that this will be fixed with the next firmware update.

 

Andreas

 

Doesn't it feel though just like the M9 continuous shooting problem? A problem in the firmware which was never fixed (to my knowledge) because Leica was too busy focusing on the Next Best Thing to look after existing product. This is becoming a rather bad habit of theirs...

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Doesn't it feel though just like the M9 continuous shooting problem? A problem in the firmware which was never fixed (to my knowledge) ....

Can't say it does. It's probably not much more than half a year since the probem started showing. It does not have any side effects expect that it shows an erroneous error message when you press the info button on the back of your camera. So where's the urgency? As a matter of fact, who cares, once it's known that it's just a meaningless string of characters on a display?

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As a matter of fact, who cares, once it's known that it's just a meaningless string of characters on a display?

 

Some users may not read this forum, and they may not know.

So, what about a firmware update that says "Check Battery Age ... Just Kidding." ?

This should avoid people sending back the batteries for no reason and wasting money.

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Some users may not read this forum, and they may not know.

That's what a forum is for. We try to keep it reasonably clear of trolls, too, so that the information that can be found here is accurate, from time to time.

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Hi,

Just returned from a Mexico trip. When I left I got the message check battery for the first time.

Came back with 650 shots and battery still up and running at 30%. Never charged while I was there.

I don't think will be a firmware update for this issue as it looks to me like a marketing gimmick to me. Always buy new and fresh.

A Leica deserves fresh new accessories...verstanden?

Nobody but a fool would throw out a perfectly good battery just because of a message to check it (notice: not "replace it")
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Can't say it does. It's probably not much more than half a year since the probem started showing. It does not have any side effects expect that it shows an erroneous error message when you press the info button on the back of your camera. So where's the urgency? As a matter of fact, who cares, once it's known that it's just a meaningless string of characters on a display?

 

 

I'm glad that when I developed hardware and software for a living that I didn't take their same lax laissez-faire attitude to fixing any problems. 

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I'm glad that when I developed hardware and software for a living that I didn't take the same lax laissez-faire attitude to fixing any problems. 

What's "laissez faire" about this?

 

You claim that it was a software problem that remained unfixed for a longish time. It is not. Since its occurrence depends on the date encoded in the battery, it started occurring about half a year ago, at a guess.

 

The problem causes some uncertainty in the user, and that's reason enough to fix it, of course. It does not, however, affect any function of the camera and it does in no way affect the results produced by the camera. It's what is commonly referred to as "cosmetical problem". It's  spurious message.

 

Leica has stated that the problem will be fixed with the next software release. I agree that there are more pressing issues and that releasing a new version of the software just on  account of this silly bug is overkill.

 

And, yes, the quality management for the production of software must be able to tell severe bugs from merely annoying ones. Otherwise, you'd squander your resources on irrelevant stuff.

 

Not all software bugs are of the same urgency. Ask Microsoft or Apple who happily manage to re-issue new versions of the same software products with some of the  bugs still intact after several years of "new" and "improved" versions.

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I'm getting tired of waiting months and months for what apparently seems to have an "easy" and "simple" software solution. May be Leica could change its policy and give us quick and tiny firmwares to solve these bugs, meanwhile the complicate issues rest waiting for a more elaborated actions.

I couldn't imagine that these change of doing will carry a big amount of Leica costs.

 

Francisco

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I have just got this message for two M240 batteries. It does not bother me as I have a lot of other cameras I can use, including many that do not require any batteries. If this was an intentional battery 'up-sell' strategy by Leica it has badly backfired. The person who thought it up should be polishing up his/her CV at this stage. Perhaps their new found friends at Huawei can help them with handling such issues. Although, truth be told, very few modern electronic devices provide decent battery life eg Apple devices seem to eat up charge faster than you can charge them! Also when will we see the common charger device becoming widely available? When I go on holidays I usually have to bring at least 4 different chargers with me, causing much suspicion on the part of airport security staff.

 

Rant over, now where did I leave that 'Barnack'?

 

William

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 As a matter of fact, who cares, once it's known that it's just a meaningless string of characters on a display?

 

I do!

 

Supose the engine check light kept coming on on my one year old car. Do I forget about it, drive it or bring it to the dealer to be fixed. Now change that to my Leica. If I am off to a paying shoot, do I trust the batteries are OK even if a couple are showing this message? If the battery is actully getting to the end of its life, how will I know? Other than the battery failing.

 

This has happened to me on a shoot with my Canon. No warning, 4 batteries died. 2 In the camera and 2 spare. They all had been charged the night before, and unknow to me at the time was that one battery in each set was dead and the other was failing. Of course on the shoot I thought it was the camera that had broken! Not a happy day, but that is why you carry two cameras on a shoot...

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It would be more thankful instead of  "Check your battery" something like "your battery is over" (if it ware true).

 

Francisco.

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Why moderators of this forum always treat to "moderate" the  evidence of unforgivable fails not proper of Leica brand?

What unforgivable fail?

 

The error consist in the camera showing a text on the screen. The text appears only when the battery has reached a certain age and only when you press the "info" key. The text on the display does not affect the function of the camera or the photographs in any way whatsoever.

 

There are all signs of a feature not completely implemented. The feature itself would be of dubious value, even if it was properly implemented. The only damage it causes it makes the photographer suspicious of the camera and the battery. That's not in itself a bad thing, but it's not actually useful, either.

 

It's a silly bug, of course,  and it should be fixed at the next convenient moment. 

 

It's not even a bit comparable to other problems of several Leica cameras that have been discussed here and which actually impeded the working of the camera and placed the work of the owners at risk.

 

So, please calm down, everybody. It's a simple software bug. It does not endanger your work. It does not affect the function of the camera. Leica has acknowledged that it's a bug. Leica has promised to fix it with the next release of the software. In the meantime, use your camera as you please.

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Can't say it does. It's probably not much more than half a year since the probem started showing. It does not have any side effects expect that it shows an erroneous error message when you press the info button on the back of your camera. So where's the urgency? As a matter of fact, who cares, once it's known that it's just a meaningless string of characters on a display?

 

Yes, I'm sure if I sell my M240 the new buyer will just assume the meaningless string of characters is of little consequence.

Not!!

 

Leica is too busy with the new "Porter edition" camera, boutiques in India and a lot of other palaver.

Too bad they don't concentrate on reducing repair service turn-around times, fixing things like "check battery age" and other problems with the M240.

 

Love the lenses, hate the camera.

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Yes, I'm sure if I sell my M240 the new buyer will just assume the meaningless string of characters is of little consequence.

Not!!

Well, he'll have a hard time finding one without it... :rolleyes:  And if he has a modicum of intelligence, access the internet and find it is just a minor, meaningless glitch, to be addressed.

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