jaapv Posted March 16, 2016 Share #241 Posted March 16, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) 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... It would have been more productive to carry a few more batteries. A second camera won't do you much good if all batteries are flat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 16, 2016 Posted March 16, 2016 Hi jaapv, Take a look here "Check Battery Age". I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Manoleica Posted March 16, 2016 Share #242 Posted March 16, 2016 It would have been more productive to carry a few more batteries. A second camera won't do you much good if all batteries are flat. I wonder why nobody has produced an actual Battery Tester for individual type camera batteries? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodies Posted March 17, 2016 Share #243 Posted March 17, 2016 Oh come on! We still don't know anything about the state of your battery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyriacos Posted March 17, 2016 Share #244 Posted March 17, 2016 I just got an email back from Leica support. New firmware should be out end of March. According to them it should fix this 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted March 17, 2016 Share #245 Posted March 17, 2016 I just got an email back from Leica support. New firmware should be out end of March. According to them it should fix this Yes, but as usual Leica has told us the month but not the year. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUF Admin Posted March 17, 2016 Share #246 Posted March 17, 2016 Hi, I've hidden some off topic posts about our moderation system. We are open to criticism, but not as off topic discussion derailing interesting threads. If you have complaints about moderators feel free to contact me. As owner and well meaning dictator I'm the last resort in this forum. I'm very happy to have the moderator team (I won't tell why as this might be seen as emotional black mailing). But this doesn't mean that we are not changing decisions or our overall guide lines if we receive eligible criticism. Andreas 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jto555 Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share #247 Posted March 17, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) It would have been more productive to carry a few more batteries. A second camera won't do you much good if all batteries are flat. Hi Jaapv, I think you missed the part of my post where I said that I swapped out the batteries and the camera still did not work. It was at that point when I thought that with the camera not working with 2 sets of full charged batteries then the camera was broken. I never mentioned that the shoot I was on had me on a stage with University graduations happening. There was no way I could stop the proceedings to flaf about with my camera swapping batteries in and out! So two cameras on me and an old 20D on the stage beside me as a back up to the back up. So yes, a correct 'YOUR BATTERY IS ABOUT TO DIE!!!' warning would be good. The Leica seems to have that warning, but it seems to have nothing to do with the battery condition. So I now do not know if the battery is about to expire or if the warning should be ignored. By the way I had 7 batteries on that shoot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMB Posted March 17, 2016 Share #248 Posted March 17, 2016 OK. Understood. But, if the thing is so futile why more than 200 posts for this harmless text? And, how many M owners (not readers of this Leica Forum) had already bought new batteries because of that advise? Think of it. Francisco Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted March 17, 2016 Share #249 Posted March 17, 2016 And, how many M owners (not readers of this Leica Forum) had already bought new batteries because of that advise? shhh ! ... don't reveal the best marketing tricks ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 17, 2016 Share #250 Posted March 17, 2016 The new firmware will change the string to : "Good Morning ! .I would love to have some juice! " 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith (M) Posted March 19, 2016 Share #251 Posted March 19, 2016 The (erroneous) red message has just appeared on my Nov 13 M240. Put spare battery (bought at same time) in and message appears for that also. Both coded 1313VB. My M240 does not exactly get a lot of usage as it has to compete against M7, MP, Rollei, Texas Leica etc etc so I would have been very surprised and disappointed to have any failure - but having ploughed through this thread I will just ignore the red message and await the (mythical?) firmware update! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante Posted March 19, 2016 Share #252 Posted March 19, 2016 Counterfeit. No. Legit Leica batteries (and come on, who counterfeits such a low volume product?) actually have these in three different places. - Oldest batteries have it on the silver label. - Early 2015 batteries (like the one that came with my M246 - 0415) have a label near the contacts. - Mid-2015 (like 2815) batteries have the date stamp in the plastic. It's tiny. So the units most likely to return errors (at least right now) are the ones with the date on the silver label. Dante Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 24, 2016 Share #253 Posted March 24, 2016 I hope Leica are a bit swifter to get the FW update up out than they have been on fixing the GPS problem on the MF grip, where they have known about the problem for over two years now, admitted it needs fixing and we are still waiting. Also the SL's flash coupling needs fixing urgently (ever heard of a "professional camera" where flash doesn't work). Leica have know about this problem for over 4 months now and again, still waiting. You do wonder if the FW department is one elderly man and his donkey. Just turned on my M240 after been using the SL or film cameras for some months and the "Check battery age" was waiting to greet me. Wilson Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted March 24, 2016 Share #254 Posted March 24, 2016 (edited) And while they are at it, just change one simple line of code to make auto-iso work with not-coded lenses (i.e. use the highest FL from active frameline-pair). Edited March 24, 2016 by CheshireCat Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Ricoh Posted March 24, 2016 Share #255 Posted March 24, 2016 The more code changes they make, the greater the potential for a further release being required to fix the unexpected consequences. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 24, 2016 Share #256 Posted March 24, 2016 This is reminiscent of the HP printer ink saga we had. We used to use HP Business Inkjet 1200D's in both UK and France. When it worked, these were excellent printers; fast, good quality, economical and had the very useful feature for business, of an envelope printing slot. The downside is that when the very large ink cartridges reached HP's deemed expiry date, you could not just push a button which said: "Yes, yes, I know, now get on with it." You had to disconnect the power from the printer, change the computer date back by a year or more, power up the printer, print a test page and only then reset the computer date. This was fine in the UK but in France, where we get frequent extreme thunderstorms and I have three layer deep anti-surge protection on the electricity supply after past problems, the power cuts quite often. Every time this happens, you have to go through the date resetting charade. About two years ago, I was having to print hundreds of pages, while I was moving my non-UK pension fund from the stunning incompetent UK bank in the Isle of Man to a small bank in Switzerland. After resetting the date six times in one day, I eventually gave the HP a "flying lesson" in frustration, went down to my nearest computer shop and bought a later model, which has a cartridge reset button. Wilson Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted March 24, 2016 Share #257 Posted March 24, 2016 The more code changes they make, the greater the potential for a further release being required to fix the unexpected consequences. We are just asking for simple fixes. If the firmware guys are afraid of adding new bugs while they fix old bugs (and they are taking plenty of time), then someone at Leica should be searching for a new job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted March 24, 2016 Share #258 Posted March 24, 2016 We are just asking for simple fixes. If the firmware guys are afraid of adding new bugs while they fix old bugs (and they are taking plenty of time), then someone at Leica should be searching for a new job. I suspect you don't know anything about writing and fixing software. It is an elementary fact that fixing software introduces at least as many new bugs in proportion of the amount of code written as writing software from scratch. Also, I observe, that your expression about software bugs and inadequacies varies a lot, depending on the source of the software. Poor software by Apple, Adobe, Sony and so on is just commented as being in error. Any shortcoming of any software published by Leica is commented with scorn and venom, no matter how trivial or fundamental the error, and the scorn extends to the people working there as well. This is called bashing. You have done so for long enough. Please stop now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Ricoh Posted March 24, 2016 Share #259 Posted March 24, 2016 Building on what 'Pop' said, I have seen at first hand the after effects of a 'simple' software change going wrong after an edit. One of the possible (and likely) causes is that the person modifying the code misinterprets the thoughts of the original code writer, due to bad documentation and commenting, or bad structure. Shouldn't happen, you would have thought, with well structured programming languages, but sadly it does. There's probably a power law relating programme size to the number of bugs, Another point is that the subsequent software testing may not be as rigorous as that performed on the original code, based on the notion it was only a simple fix/change. In reality this battery message thing is rather innocuous and it's probably best left alone, just live with it; I will for some time until all the B (Beta) testers out there have given it a damn good test. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted March 24, 2016 Share #260 Posted March 24, 2016 (edited) I suspect you don't know anything about writing and fixing software. It is an elementary fact that fixing software introduces at least as many new bugs in proportion of the amount of code written as writing software from scratch. You are wrong, but don't worry, this is a common misconception. First: fixing a bug usually does not mean writing a lot of new code. In this case, it is most probably a matter of removing code. Second: even if a lot of code is rewritten from scratch due to architectural issues (which is not the case here), the programmer is using the experience obtained analyzing the previous "failed" architecture. And third: testing and validation will be performed with particular focus on the code changes. In other words: if you know what was wrong the first time, you have a high chance to get it right the second time. But feel free to enlighten me with your experience in software engineering Also, I observe, that your expression about software bugs and inadequacies varies a lot, depending on the source of the software. Poor software by Apple, Adobe, Sony and so on is just commented as being in error. Any shortcoming of any software published by Leica is commented with scorn and venom, no matter how trivial or fundamental the error, and the scorn extends to the people working there as well. This is an unfair accusation. I believe you read my expression differently depending on the source of the software, because you are very passionate about Leica. I think this is normal human behavior. As a matter of fact, I have said a few times in this forum that Sony's [camera] firmware is crap for different reasons. And you didn't react so vigorously. I may also talk a lot about crap Adobe makes, or crap Apple makes, but - you see - this is the Leica forum. Finally, firmware technical quality apart, I think I am not the only one who thinks Leica's attitude toward fixing issues is quite disappointing, also "thanks" to the dismissive attitude of many in this forum. Edited March 24, 2016 by CheshireCat Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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