M9 Monochrom Vertical Line at High ISO

[BrianS]

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On 11/9/2020 at 2:22 PM, jonnyboy said:

Ok my Monochrom just got back today from Germany. Really excited to get it back to discover there is a new problem now...
The vertical line seems disappeared but now when I click Play to view an image the camera quite often get stuck and i need to remove the battery to be able to use it again. Really annoying...has anyone experienced this sort of things? I really dont want to add another 'quirk' to this camera (mine has already way too many!) but what a pain now to send it back to Germany!!!!

I've had that happen twice in 10 years with the M8. Once with the M9, it was cold outside. Never with the M Monochrom.

 

Sounds like the firmware is possibly corrupt? Incompatible versions loaded?

I would call Leica, it should be covered. I would normally advise reloading firmware- but coming directly from Leica with this problem is strange. They should fix it.

[jonnyboy]

I ended up sending the camera to Germany, after 2 months it returned with another flaw (this time, when I zoomed in the images the camera freeze).
It's still in Germany as we speak... ah...I feel like the Mono is slowly giving up..

[BrianS]

I hope it works out- with the M Monochrom, I find the "weak link" to be the firmware, specifically- timing problems. You can take a picture, 9/10 times the shutter cocks normally. Then every so often- it waits to cock after the buffer has flushed. I've been writing embedded code for 40 years. It is frustrating to be able to reproduce a problem, know it is "just typing to fix it", and it just does not get fixed years after the camera is released. Probably why I was determined to fix the bad column with my own software. Tomorrow will be spent using an O-Scope to isolate a timing issue with new software. Just like in Tron "Bring in the Logic Probe".

Edited November 20, 2020 by BrianS

[jonnyboy]

Oh yes I've experienced that late recocking too!
 

I had news from Wetzlar today and they found out that the board of the camera needed replacement. Wow. This is the problem it had since they re-mapped the sensor:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sa0xNFv-7CgOrAznCE_aTERT_YtWo5Vc/view?usp=sharing

Luckly, they acknowledged that's something that happened after the remapping and therefore is free of charge.

[BrianS]

1 hour ago, jonnyboy said:

Oh yes I've experienced that late recocking too!
 

I had news from Wetzlar today and they found out that the board of the camera needed replacement. Wow. This is the problem it had since they re-mapped the sensor:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sa0xNFv-7CgOrAznCE_aTERT_YtWo5Vc/view?usp=sharing

Luckly, they acknowledged that's something that happened after the remapping and therefore is free of charge.

That is an expensive board that they are replacing free of charge- which in my mind, taking responsibility for a possible mistake made during the repair and fixing it free of charge to the customer. I hope this is the end of the problems. The original M Monochrom is the last of a breed.

[jonnyboy]

I know! I;m very thankful they covering this - I read other customers experiences with replacing boards...mad expensive!

The M9 Mono is indeed one of a kind, but as times goes by it starts worrying me a lot and as I'm testing the M246 (out of a loan right now) I'm wondering if it's the right time to sell the M9 Mono and get the M246. Right now you can get an M246 for a few extra hundreds...

[BrianS]

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If I need to replace the M Monochrom- I would go for the M10M. The M246 uses 12-bit pixels, the M Monochrom uses 14-bit pixels, as does the M10M.

 

If you try the M246, take it through the same type of post-processing you do with the M Monochrom. My Nikon D1 was 12-bits. The M8- I use Raw mode for 14-bits. M9, I always shoot uncompressed. The M246- for whatever reason, they threw out 2 bits of every pixel.

Edited November 20, 2020 by BrianS

[jonnyboy]

On 11/20/2020 at 10:39 PM, BrianS said:

If I need to replace the M Monochrom- I would go for the M10M. The M246 uses 12-bit pixels, the M Monochrom uses 14-bit pixels, as does the M10M.

 

If you try the M246, take it through the same type of post-processing you do with the M Monochrom. My Nikon D1 was 12-bits. The M8- I use Raw mode for 14-bits. M9, I always shoot uncompressed. The M246- for whatever reason, they threw out 2 bits of every pixel.

As much as I'd love to get an M10M - that's way too expensive for me right now!

I'm trying the M246 on a load this week and I'm really enjoying it...especially in low light it's quite impressive (ISO 6400 it's great!), long battery life and somehow I'm really enjoyin the Live View which I'm not using for shooting but to check exposure etc (never been a huge fan of Leica meters). 

 

[Kodak35]

On 11/20/2020 at 3:36 AM, BrianS said:

uploaded, the "non-uniform" column shows up.

ISO 10,000- full resOriginal: Bad Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Using program "MONO1FIX" to correct the bad line.Restored Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

ISO 5000.Original: Bad Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Restored.Restored Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

wow, impressive! how could you do that ? by software ? or firmware ? my M8 have the same vertical lines
could you show me how to fix these lines ?

[lightvox]

On 11/19/2020 at 3:36 PM, BrianS said:

uploaded, the "non-uniform" column shows up.

 

ISO 10,000- full res

 

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Original: Bad Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Using program "MONO1FIX" to correct the bad line.

Restored Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

ISO 5000.

Original: Bad Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Restored.

Restored Column by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Just discovered deal pixel vertical line on my M9 images. Is your code something that can be used for M9 color as well? I tried some software that another thread pointed to, PixelFixer, but that program seems to alter the image instead of just dealing with the dead pixels. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.