Unhappy with 1.102, how can i go back to 1.9

[Skippy Sanchez]

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I've gotta say, I'm not pleased with the shutter noise that accompanies the 1.102 firmware update. I thought i would get used to it, but after shooting over 20 gigs of images in Honduras last week, it's just not acceptable. Every frame sounds like I'm shooting at 1/15 second. I can't stand it any more.

 

I want to go back to 1.9 but don't' see that it's available on the Leica website. If anyone has an idea how or where to find 1.9, I would be forever grateful.

 

thanks-

-Skippy

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[barjohn]

I have 1.091 and 1.092 and would email either to you if you PM me with your email address.

[Shootist]

I'd say get use to it becasue it is not going to change.

Actually I didn't notice any real change in the total shutter noise from 1.09-1.092-1.102. Other have but I haven't. The newer firmwares are only going to improve things on the camera, like WB and IR correction.

 

Once I mounted the camera on a tripod and backed it up against a wall with the timer set and stood 4-5 feet away from it and listened to the actual shutter sound I just forgot about it when taking a shot. It really isn't that loud when standing in front of the camera. Try that with a DSLR. You can be 10-20 feet way and still hear the mirror slap

If you think it's loud when you're looking through the viefinder try it with your ear pressed up against the body. I did that when listening for some type of high pitched whine that others hear from there M8's. I couldn't hear one from the one I had and nearly couldn't hear anything after actuating the shutter with my ear up against the camera body.

[andym911]

skippy,

i agree with you, the shutter is real loud.If I need to be quiet I use the 5D!

Now my problem is solved for a while as my M8 died yesterday and is in a box on the way to Solms..to be honest while I love the camera I will be glad to see the back of it for a while.It is hard work.

 

andy

[Stevez4]

It is abundantly clerar that shutter noise is not a priority issue for the powers that be on this forum who have Leica's attention. They are not photojournalists, and some of their posts indicate a resentment toward photojournalists. So don't hold your breath waiting for a fix.

There have been a few suggestions to specifically alleviate the noise. And if you know of a technician willing to take the job on I would be happy to send them one of my M-8s as a trial. Hope that reverting from one update to a previous helps. Please confirm the results.

Steve Ziffer

[pklein]

"I feel your pain." The other night I shot a classical music concert. No way I was going to take the M8. I used my M6 and Tri-X.

 

The M8 shutter click is louder than a film M, but in my mind the real problem is not the click, it's the whine of the shutter recocking.

 

It might be possible to create a "stealth mode" in firmware, something akin to the old Hexar AF. My idea of how to implement it is that the shutter trips when you press the shutter button, but does not wind on. Then when you want to recock the shutter, you press another button, or maybe half press the shutter release again. That way you can cock the shutter when you've got the camera under your coat, or when the noise level around you is high enough to mask it. If there was some way to run the motor at lower speed, so the cocking would take longer but at a lower pitch and with less volume to the the whine, that would be nice, too.

 

As much as I love my M8, the shutter noise is a problem for some activities that film Leicas always did best, such as courtroom, concert, theatre, and candid reportage. I'm not sure why Leica decided on the shutter they did. While the M8 is quieter than most DSLRs, my Olympus E-1 DSLR is quieter than the M8. So a quieter camera is possible. Perhaps shutter noise was a lower priority than meeting the CEO's deadline on shipping the camera. And better a moderately noisy M8 than no Leica company at all, forever.

 

--Peter

[billh]

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"I feel your pain." The other night I shot a classical music concert. No way I was going to take the M8. I used my M6 and Tri-X.....

 

--Peter

 

I’ve used the M8 for this twice (with the older software), and while I had to choose my moments, the noise level was acceptable. I once had to photograph the last concert of an older pianist. I was in a roped off place in the balcony, yet every time the shutter fired it sounded like I was percussion accompaniment. I really hated it (as did many in the audience). I have a 1D3 or order. One of the things I am most curious about is how loud it is in the “silent” mode.