"Check Battery Age"

[Leonil]

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So this just happened to me today - my Leica Came February 2013. Glad to see its only a time stamp. I was in the middle of an ANZAC day Ceremony and I needed three shots to nail, and when I turned it on in the morning I thought I was done for the day and immediately reached for my Olympus PEN. My Leica was still able to shoot for the day but I was very very careful with it. Im really relieved that its not a serious issue with my battery.

 

Any news of the proposed Firmware yet? This thread was long but I got the gist that it was March, now April release? Please point out if I miss read anything.

 

My battery seems fine - I use it regulaly but not everyday and even a few times accidentally left it on in my bag but it always discharges a few percent whilst on sleep mode and the charge lasts for so long, I can get hundreds of shots in before a new charge, sometimes going for months between charges if I dont use my camera for a while. I have the most current Firmware at the time of writing (2.0.2.5) I am guessing this isnt the promised update for the battery.

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[Exodies]

A clear example of why this bug matters.

[AndrewDD]

A clear example of why this bug doesn't matter.

 

The message says "Check Battery Age". It doesn't say "Your camera is about to die". I simply can't believe the hysteria surrounding this.

[jto555]

A clear example of why this bug doesn't matter.

 

The message says "Check Battery Age". It doesn't say "Your camera is about to die". I simply can't believe the hysteria surrounding this.

Well, if you get a battery warning light on your car you wont drive hundreds of miles just in case if fails. It is the same with the camera when you first get the warning message. Any warning message on your camera should stop you in your tracks. As you can see from the 16 pages about this, while it may not be an issue for you but for others.

[Philinflash]

Disuse is fatal to lithium ion batteries. There is no better way to kill a battery than to leave it discharged for a year on a store shelf.

The second best way to kill batteries is to leave them discharged in your camera bag.  

 

One does not want to be too "long" in camera batteries; better to have just the right number of batteries and reasonably good discipline in rotational use.  I find it essential to label each battery so as to not lose track of usage and charging.

[Rand]

A clear example of why this bug doesn't matter.

 

The message says "Check Battery Age". It doesn't say "Your camera is about to die". I simply can't believe the hysteria surrounding this.

 

Yes I am sure someone who purchases a pre-owned M240 that they paid thousands for won't be perturbed when they get this message on their new camera. I can't sell my M until this is fixed!

[jdlaing]

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Hogwash.

[Manoleica]

Hogwash.

+1 -- 

[jaapv]

Yes I am sure someone who purchases a pre-owned M240 that they paid thousands for won't be perturbed when they get this message on their new camera. I can't sell my M until this is fixed!

You mean to say that sales of used M240 cameras has come to a complete standstill? All of them do it. Why would you not be able to sell it if there is no alternative? Worst case scenario: buy one new battery...

Why would you want to sell a  perfectly good camera anyway?

[Leonil]

To be clear, I forgot I left my Olympus camera in my pack as my Leica is my main camera and the Pen is a holiday camera. My Canon was away for repair so I prepared my Leica the night before, everything was fine. But the Camera lit up on the ANZAC day march and even though it wasn't such a big deal, I didn't know it was at the time.

 

Needless to say, it was enough to force me to turn my camera off and for 2 minutes I thought I had to use my phone to get the shots I needed for my work at school (I am a school teacher and we needed shots for the website and ANZAC day is a big deal for us here in Australia.

 

If I had left my Olympus PEN at home or if it died (its old and slowly dying) I would still be afraid of using my Leica - being ignorant of a message that takes me to a 16 page forum discussion where the answer was not apparent until page 5 was not an option to search up during a once only event as this year was our turn to address the public. So yea, the message was a big bloody deal and I was not a confident non-pro during a shoot that I cared about.

 

So while I'm not upset with Leica, I wanted to ensure the context behind my situation is not exactly in the "Leica Experience" people told me about when I was saving for 7 years for an M. I hope this information will help shed some light on how this bug was enough to make me miss a few shots and to be clear, I CHOSE to miss the shots because I hesitated, turned off the camera, sat on my shock for a few seconds and then realised the Olympus was in the other bag pocket, and one of the shots I needed/wanted are not in my portfolio and had to make a lot of apologies to the students who did the march.

[jaapv]

I'm sorry, but I cannot imagine myself  stopping taking photographs because of some message on the back, during an important shoot, as long as  the camera is still working - especially as it is just a request, not an error warning.

 

Come to think about it, I would probably not even have seen it,  my eye is normally stuck to the viewfinder in those circumstances with the camera permanently  switched on.

[Guest]

Yes I am sure someone who purchases a pre-owned M240 that they paid thousands for won't be perturbed when they get this message on their new camera. I can't sell my M until this is fixed!

 

 

Sorry but this is nonsense.........

 

I've two batteries giving the message and I just ignore it with no discernible difference in battery/shooting life.

However it is just one more thing on the list for Leica to fix with a firmware patch.

[AndrewDD]

Well, if you get a battery warning light on your car you wont drive hundreds of miles just in case if fails. It is the same with the camera when you first get the warning message. Any warning message on your camera should stop you in your tracks. As you can see from the 16 pages about this, while it may not be an issue for you but for others.

 

Ridiculous comparison. I'm unlikely to die or end up stuck in the middle of nowhere if my camera stops working. Certainly a message saying "check battery age" on my camera would not stop me in my tracks - it doesn't exactly sound like life-or-death, does it?

 

I have one of the very first M240s, so I got this message before this thread started. I kept an eye out the first time I used the camera, and it clearly worked perfectly still. I made a note to contact Leica about it, but before I got around to it his thread appeared, and it was obviously not a problem.

 

While I would hope that a fix would go into the next firmware release, it really isn't urgent. There is an easy workaround - you ignore the message - which is 100% effective - the camera still works. In my world (software engineering) that puts it well down the list of priorities.

[RonM]

Yes I am sure someone who purchases a pre-owned M240 that they paid thousands for won't be perturbed when they get this message on their new camera. I can't sell my M until this is fixed!

Sure you can.  Either knock $150.00 off your price, or buy a new battery before you sell it; "problem" solved.

[pop]

Sure you can.  Either knock $150.00 off your price, or buy a new battery before you sell it; "problem" solved.

Or - if you still have the receipt - check your battery age.

[Exodies]

There is an easy workaround - join this forum, read this tread and discover that a totally meaningless message in red saying "check battery age" (why? how? and then do what?) is simply a firmware bug which will be fixed long after the cows come home. Because after all, whatever Leica tells us should be taken with a pinch of salt.

[ghoonk]

sigh. This 'cosmetic' problem just cost me $360 bucks. Got the warning, went out and bought two batteries last week, then discovered this thread and realised i just wasted my money.

 

I'm sure there's something unethical about Leica's failure to notify customers of this known bug (I'm registered on Leica's system with my email address, and receive their email updates). I'm guessing they aren't officially acknowledging this problem due to the risk of being held liable for returns.... *sigh*

 

 

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.

[jto555]

Ridiculous comparison. I'm unlikely to die or end up stuck in the middle of nowhere if my camera stops working. Certainly a message saying "check battery age" on my camera would not stop me in my tracks - it doesn't exactly sound like life-or-death, does it?

 

I have one of the very first M240s, so I got this message before this thread started. I kept an eye out the first time I used the camera, and it clearly worked perfectly still. I made a note to contact Leica about it, but before I got around to it his thread appeared, and it was obviously not a problem.

 

While I would hope that a fix would go into the next firmware release, it really isn't urgent. There is an easy workaround - you ignore the message - which is 100% effective - the camera still works. In my world (software engineering) that puts it well down the list of priorities.

 

Thank you for your answer but I think you have missed my point. Without knowing that this is just a simple firmware fix for a non issue, would I use the camera for an important job. The answer is no. I would be foolhardy to take a chance that the battery could fail during the shoot. The same way that you would not take a trip in a car if the battery check light was on. We know know that Leica battery won't fail, but the first time you get the message you might not know. And yes you should have a spare, but I know have two batteries that show the message and a third battery was replaced by Leica during a repair.

 

As for the "Ridiculous comparison". A harsh comment I think, but I am sure it was not ment as such. However for me I use the cameras for work. So if my camera stops working for say a battery issue, I might not be able to complate the shoot. Now I could face litigation, so in my case it is just as important as been stuck in the middle of nowwhere. So you may be "unlikely to die or end up stuck in the middle of nowhere if my camera stops working", it could end up just as bad for me.

 

OK, we now know that this message will not lead to a camera failure so maybe the Mods could place a Pinned post at the start of the M240 forum to say as much? It migh also stop this thread growingto over 16 pages! 

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[jaapv]

Sorry, this makes no sense at all. "Check Battery Age" cannot by any stretch of imagination be interpreted as "the camera is about to fail". It can only mean that the battery  may be losing some of its charge due to age. (whether that is actually true remains to be seen) So it can only be interpreted as a friendly advice to slip an extra battery into one's pocket. There is absolutely no reason to panic. 

Quote from a girlfriend of mine in my long-past student days whenever I was behaving silly: "When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout"

[Leonil]

I'm sorry, but I cannot imagine myself  stopping taking photographs because of some message on the back, during an important shoot, as long as  the camera is still working - especially as it is just a request, not an error warning.

 

Come to think about it, I would probably not even have seen it,  my eye is normally stuck to the viewfinder in those circumstances with the camera permanently  switched on.

 

Well, as a paid professional, I use the most appropriate camera for the job. The ceremony is static so lots of time to focus and the school asked for lots of bokeh in their images. Thats why I took the leica, But I always take my Canon as a back up.

 

I was lucky to have my PEN and I pride myself of always having back ups. This was just a situation my backup was in for repair at a bad time.

 

Any error message on any camera, any freeze or lag makes me regularly switch cameras without hesitation as it is always faster to switch than to go on line, figure out what the error means, read 15 pages of a forum thread and go ok, I can keep shooting. Those error messages I get during work can be saved for later, the shoot cannot. Why would I keep shooting with an unknown camera error I dont have time to search up and read about during a march and speech? How rude would it be to have a photographer stop to look at his phone for 5 minutes during a ceremony?

 

Sure, I could have kept shooting... and figured it all out later and phew, its all good... But I never saw this error before. Why would a professional take a chance when I found out I had a backup in my bag?