Leica M9 (new) battery problem. Opinions?

[Leica_red]

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Hey everyone! I recently ran into an issue with my M9 and would like your informed opinion. Apologies if this has been asked before. 

A few years ago I bought a used M9, it came with two Leica batteries to which I added one that I kept from my very old M8. None of these batteries gave me more than 40-50 shots on the M9 before giving me a "low battery" message and forced the M9 to turn itself off. A couple of weeks ago I got a new (authentic) battery from a reputed distributor, charged it for a few hours and started shooting. But it only gave me 79 shots when the camera, again, gave me a "low battery" message. By the serial number of the battery I know it was made in 2018, so it's not that the components are old.

Is this a sign that there's an issue with the camera? Is this a known problem on M9s? Should I return a possibly faulty battery? What do you think? The M9 has not ever given me any other problems (it even went through a sensor exchange in 2017), so I'm very puzzled.

 

Thank you for your help.

[pico]

I look forward to responses to your question, in particular - where is the regulation for charging done, in the battery or in the charger? I get tremendous life from my genuine M9 batteries. From the clones I get zilch.

 

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[Leica_red]

Is there a possibility that this is a charger problem instead of a battery one?

[jdlaing]

1 hour ago, Leica_red said:

Is there a possibility that this is a charger problem instead of a battery one?

That is a possibility. The batteries May be only partially charged. With one battery it may be guesswork bit with several the charger becomes the suspect. 

How long do you leave the batteries in the charger?

[Leica_red]

6 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

 How long do you leave the batteries in the charger?

Sometimes all night, sometimes I take them off as soon as the two lights are green. But the new one I left it all night.

Edited October 29, 2018 by Leica_red

[jdlaing]

One thing you might try is to use one of the batteries until it is totally discharged, that is until the camera won’t work anymore, and charge it from that condition to see if it lasts longer.

[Leica_red]

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2 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

One thing you might try is to use one of the batteries until it is totally discharged, that is until the camera won’t work anymore, and charge it from that condition to see if it lasts longer.

That's what I do every time. I always use batteries until I am given the "low battery" message and the camera turns itself off. I only charge them then.

[jdlaing]

I would suspect the charger isn’t giving a full charge. If you have no access to another charger a Nitecore charger for M9 batteries is available for a lot less than a Leica charger. 

https://www.nitecorestore.com/Nitecore-ULM9-Travel-Charger-p/chg-nite-ulm9.htm

[Leica_red]

4 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

I would suspect the charger isn’t giving a full charge. If you have no access to another charger a Nitecore charger for M9 batteries is available for a lot less than a Leica charger. 

 https://www.nitecorestore.com/Nitecore-ULM9-Travel-Charger-p/chg-nite-ulm9.htm

Ohhhh, that looks interesting. Thank you for the recommendation. I hope this solves the problem

[jdlaing]

Just now, Leica_red said:

Ohhhh, that looks interesting. Thank you for the recommendation. I hope this solves the problem

It’s a less expensive alternative than a new Leica charger or battery. 

Good luck with them. I hope it works for you as sending the camera off for repair is a last resort.

[silverchrome]

11 hours ago, Leica_red said:

Hey everyone! I recently ran into an issue with my M9 and would like your informed opinion. Apologies if this has been asked before. 

A few years ago I bought a used M9, it came with two Leica batteries to which I added one that I kept from my very old M8. None of these batteries gave me more than 40-50 shots on the M9 before giving me a "low battery" message and forced the M9 to turn itself off. A couple of weeks ago I got a new (authentic) battery from a reputed distributor, charged it for a few hours and started shooting. But it only gave me 79 shots when the camera, again, gave me a "low battery" message. By the serial number of the battery I know it was made in 2018, so it's not that the components are old.

Is this a sign that there's an issue with the camera? Is this a known problem on M9s? Should I return a possibly faulty battery? What do you think? The M9 has not ever given me any other problems (it even went through a sensor exchange in 2017), so I'm very puzzled.

 

Thank you for your help.

How do you establish the manufacture date of the battery?

I need to buy a couple of new batteries for my M9 and M9, but I'm reluctant to do so at the moment because there is no telling how old a battery is or how long it has been sitting on a dealer's shelf.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

If M8 battery was working on M8 and started to give few shots on M9 it is not batteries.

I have 10+ years old batteries and they gives hundreds.

If new battery gives same low number it only adds charger as point of failure in addition to camera.

[Leica_red]

7 hours ago, silverchrome said:

How do you establish the manufacture date of the battery?

On the battery, just below where the connections are, there's a code: the first two numbers are the week number and the later two the year number.

[rscheffler]

I realize this is a month or so late, but read this and a couple thoughts/questions came to mind for the OP: how long does it take you to shoot 40-50 shots on the old batteries to get them to the point where the camera shuts down? I'm wondering if perhaps you've disabled the camera's sleep function? I used to disable the M9's sleep to avoid the inevitable few seconds and missed shots/opportunities while it woke itself up, but it meant that during a given outing, the battery might only last several hours. With steady shooting I'd get ~350 frames before it would reach around 25% charge. If sleep isn't disabled, have you set it to a very long wake period? During a longer outing this could end up being effectively similar to disabling sleep.

If there is a problem with the charger saying the battery is fully charged, but it's not, you would think the camera's battery level display would tell you the battery's actual charge.