Jump to content

M246 captures "blank" images

BjarniM

By BjarniM
in Leica M Monochrom

 Share

Recommended Posts

pop

pop

Posted
Posted

Advertisement (gone after registration)

It's true that there is a logical connection between the selected aperture and the software but there is no way that changing the aperture back and forth will fix anything that is not working in the camera, it must have been a coincidence.

Back when I used to write software it was not all that uncommon that changing a variable caused a misbehaving program to correct its behaviour. It's not impossible. Not having seen the software in question I have, of course, no way of knowing whether this is a plausible cause or not.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 75
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

Pjay
Pjay

Only when I've left the lens cap on 

pechelman
pechelman

had a couple of blank frames myself on the 246.   One was had an obvious "lazy shutter" as I'll call it, that sounded very odd. Almost like it took ~half a second for the shutter to reset or somethi

pechelman
pechelman

good point, Jaap. The card in my camera was ex-fat formatted in my computer and then again formatted in camera. It is only used in this camera. Card is a sandisk extreme 95mb/s 32gb.

Joakim

Joakim

Posted
Posted

That is very true when it comes to software (I still write it :)) and with live view this could be such a weird occasion, I was thinking more when using the rangefinder then only stopping down and opening up the aperture would have made no difference.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Steve Ricoh

Steve Ricoh

Posted
Posted (edited)

There are two related threads concerning 'black frames' and I've replied to both. 

 

I've experienced the dreaded black frame with my 6 month old M240. It started doing it at a rate of about 1 in 50, and the rate increased over time (to 1 in 25). It occurs irrespective of the type of SD card: I've tried several correctly formatted cards, I've more or less ruled out battery charge: it occurred with a freshly charged battery at 90%. 

 

The shutter makes a feeble half hearted attempt at actuation when the black frame occurs and it's immediately obvious to me without needing to 'chimp', but chimp I do and confirmation is provided by way of a 'nice' black frame. EXIF data records the correct shutter and ISO. 

 

Not much more to say other than my M240 is on its way back to Leica Germany, together with an example of a black frame on an SD card I've enclosed with the camera.

Edited by Steve Ricoh
Link to post
Share on other sites
pechelman

pechelman

Posted
Posted

Good luck, Steve. Please report back if you should hear a preliminary diagnosis or anything from Leica.

 

I believe I've read of some other folks returning their camera for repair only to have Leica not know what the problem was and just swap out the entire shutter mechanism.

 

Thankfully, I think I'm only at 1 confirmed blackframe over about ~3500 captures on my 246 and 240.

Link to post
Share on other sites
BBHewee

BBHewee

Posted
Posted

So. I've taken a video as the problem just reappeared. 

 

Turn on the camera. Lens wide open at f2. Daylight outside. Auto speed. ISO 320. No lens cap. Full battery. 

 

liveview is only showing a black screen and a speed of 12s.  

 

Turning the camera on and off a few times seems to solve it but that's not exactly ideal. Gonna keep monitoring it but it's a trip to Wetzlar waiting to happen it seems. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
pechelman

pechelman

Posted
Posted

anything happen if you change the shutter speed dial manually?

if you take a few pictures, are they all blackframes or just one?

have you updated to the newest firmware released yesterday?

does this happen if you turn LV off and only use classic metering?

 

not sure im helping at all, cause this just sounds crazy.  Hope you can figure it out.

Link to post
Share on other sites
BBHewee

BBHewee

Posted
Posted

It started happening after the firmware update. And I'm guessing that's what's causing the fault. 

 

Ive tried all of the above to no avail unfortunately. As I said, the only way to change things is to turn the camera on and off a few times, upwards of 20. 

 

Thanks. If anyone else has any idea, I'll take anything. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Steve Ricoh

Steve Ricoh

Posted
Posted

I doubt it's possible to roll the camera back to the previous version of firmware, unless you saved it on an SD card and decided to keep it for prosperity.

As an alternative, I wonder if Leica could send you a link to the previous version, it could be in their interest to do so. It would be clear indicator if it is firmware related.

Link to post
Share on other sites
pechelman

pechelman

Posted
Posted (edited)

from the video it appears you have your metering set to advanced multi-field.

obviously it's OK to do this when using liveview, but have you tried this with exposure metering to classic / center-weighted only? Do you get black frames when not shooting in LV mode? Any funny shutter sounds if you try to take a picture?

I know others indicated a lack of battery charge dependence, but do you have a spare battery you can try?

 

And this could be a really dumb question or suggestion, but have you tried this without a lens on the camera?

Wondering if when you press the LV button without a lens mounted if you'll see the shutter fully open. From the video it sounds like it's opening, but might be worth a quick look.

 

regarding the firmware, someone in the english firmware thread said they were able to downgrade due to an issue they had with loading their profile after the upgrade causing the camera to not function.

he happened to have had this older firmware saved on his computer i believe

Edited by pechelman
Link to post
Share on other sites
BBHewee

BBHewee

Posted
Posted

To answer your questions.

 

Tried a spare. Fully charged battery.

Tried taking pictures without LV. No dice. Advance metering is on with LV but not when LV is off (camera set to classic). No funny shutter sounds either.

Shutter always closes when you take a lens off when LV is on. Only way to access the sensor is through sensor clean in the menu.

Link to post
Share on other sites
pechelman

pechelman

Posted
Posted

gotcha. and you're welcome. sorry I havent been more helpful.

 

one last idea

have you tried playing with the focus aid and magnification? Wondering if anything might happen if you change between auto and manual and different zoom settings. Maybe that will wake up the sensor or something. Probably not though from what it;s sounding like :(

Link to post
Share on other sites
Steve Ricoh

Steve Ricoh

Posted
Posted

Of course the firmware link maybe a red hearing, it's hard to think you're the only person who has updated, and if it is firmware related you would expect a few more complaints / concerns being aired. The fault could merely be coincidental. Have you tried a factory reset to the settings?

 

Building on what pechelman said, you could consider emailing Leica through the owners' forum. There's an off chance they might be able to send a copy of the previous firmware (via Dropbox or similar). The file will have a checksum attached and I guess the camera first validates the file before performing the update from the SD card.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...