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M8 Built-in Back-up Battery


zeitz

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The M8 has a back-up battery on the main card inside the camera that holds the date / time and settings when the main battery is removed.  Does the back-up battery ever have to be changed?  As a reference my Nikon D2x has a CR1616 battery that serves this function, the camera tells the user if it needs to be changed, and the CR1616 is easy to get at for the change.  I'm just curious about the situation with my 12 year old M8.  I'd hate to have to send the camera to Leica just to have this battery changed.

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I think I've attached an image from the April 2007 Mark Norton posting which shows the disassembly of an M8.  The battery is in the upper left corner.  I'd sure like some explanation as to why this battery never needs replacing.

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I unfortunately left for a small vacation in Liege, Belgium this spring with only my M8.2 (my M9-P was still at Leica in Germany for a sensor swap, and didn’t return in time…), and discovered that my backup battery was flat. I concluded with this after long time search on the Internet.

I always use my M8.2 with both RAW and Large Jpeg selected, and theme set to Black & White… I like to see a B&W preview on the display… I feel more like taking B&W pictures that way… ;-P

Unfortunately, all the settings, including time & date had reset it selves several times prior to my trip, but I forgot to check this during my trip… so all settings, without my knowledge, was reset to factory default, and all my pictures from the trip was taken in “S” (Large Jpeg) mode…

I was furious, sad, devastated, etc returning home, and started to search…

The M8.2 does indeed have an internal rechargeable backup battery, storing time, date, your settings etc…

…and it can go flat if the camera isn’t used for a long time, i.e. if the normal battery is removed.

In my case, I left my dear M8.2 without battery and the necessary care and attention for a long period because I used my batteries in my M9-P, and in my experience, that is the source of the trouble…

The solution that worked for me, is the following:

1) (Important!) Set “Auto Power Off” to Off, leave the camera ON without the normal battery, and let the backup battery completely drain out for 14 days.

2) After that, insert a good, healthy, fully loaded normal battery in the camera, leave the “Auto Power Off” to Off..! leave the camera ON, and let the camera drain itself empty… then the backup battery will have fully recharged itself, and the camera memory will no longer be demented…

It worked beautifully for me… reminder to all of us… the M8(.2)’s are begging for some use and fresh air from time to time… ;-P

Best regards, Rune

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Rune, thanks for the very useful information.  It is interesting that the owners manual says to remove the main battery when the camera is being stored.  I have never removed the battery for storage.

 

Ask Leica?  JD, we are in the US.  We have nothing that even approaches customer service from Leica in New Jersey.  I'd rather reset all the presets and time whenever I turn the camera on than send the camera to Leica New Jersey because they are likely to un-fix a working camera.

 

I'm still curious as to why you said "no" to my question.  And now I'm even more curious as to what battery Leica used.

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