M9 battery shortage... and alternatives?

[MarkN]

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Park Cameras (located in Sussex and London) say they will have them in stock on 4 March 2020: https://www.parkcameras.com/p/L092934F/digital-camera-batteries/leica/leica-battery-for-m8m9m-em-monochrom?awaid=6241&utm_source=redbrain&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=css&gclid=CjwKCAiA1fnxBRBBEiwAVUouUgIL8KQDCA_udB-Jv7G24bmnWm_8GMQ44QCJLB14VTiphjC8jSp65RoCbP4QAvD_BwE#prettyPhoto

Edited February 8, 2020 by MarkN

[MarkN]

They are now in stock at Leica Mayfair and Park Cameras.

[GiorgioNuvolari]

The Leica store in Vienna has them, too, so I believe we can safely assume the batteries are back 🙂

[Stein K S]

Hi

My two new batteries just arrived via the Leica Store. In the usual small silver Leica boxes. However, just noticed Made in China on the box and a lot of russian looking letters on the battery 😉 Otherwise identical to my old M9 batteries (incl the space between the C E letters which I read about once...).

My newest M10 battery says Made in EU. And no russian letters.

No big deal what so ever. But anyway an observation. Could explain the later scarcity.

[Einst_Stein]

On 2/1/2020 at 5:53 PM, darylgo said:

My Leica M9 generic battery experience removed any thoughts of ever using a non oem battery in my Leica cameras.  The battery was flaky and it did some damage to my charger.  

It is puzzling to me why generics don't exist for the M240, M10, S and SL.  Is it low volume or issues that create a liability for the manufacturer or seller?  

 

I am using off-brand batteries on M240, SL, CL, T. Yes, including T. 

I haven't used any off-brand charger for Leica though. Initially due to the concerns on the voltage, as it seemed off-brand charger can charge faster.  Now maybe OK, but I don't have the need for another charger yet.

I also had a bad experience with USB adapter to charge through T. I left my battery charger in a hotel while I traveled to UK, so I bought a USB adapter to charge the battery through the Leica T during the night. The Leica T didn't wake up in the morning. I am lucky the T was still within warrantee. Leica at N.J replaced the whole board or free. I suspect the cheap USB adapter has a non-standard output voltage. 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Einst_Stein

[84bravo]

On 2/18/2020 at 3:37 PM, Einst_Stein said:

I am using off-brand batteries on M240, SL, CL, T. Yes, including T. 

I haven't used any off-brand charger for Leica though. Initially due to the concerns on the voltage, as it seemed off-brand charger can charge faster.  Now maybe OK, but I don't have the need for another charger yet.

I also had a bad experience with USB adapter to charge through T. I left my battery charger in a hotel while I traveled to UK, so I bought a USB adapter to charge the battery through the Leica T during the night. The Leica T didn't wake up in the morning. I am lucky the T was still within warrantee. Leica at N.J replaced the whole board or free. I suspect the cheap USB adapter has a non-standard output voltage. 

Where did you find aftermarket batteries for the M240? I've only seen Leica branded batteries.

[Neko]

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 In Madrid at Fotocasion OEM batteries in stock.

[drec]

Here in Canada, I found these people to rebuild my battery cells.  It cost around $20cdn each and they are good as new.  They rebuilt my OEM and generic batteries and had a very fast turnaround time:

http://www.chansbattery.ca/
I would recommend them in the interest of the environment and your wallet.  

[setuporg]

A search for "Leica M9 battery" or 14464 on Amazon brings a bunch in the US, which are all around $20.  Has anyone had an experience using those?