Has your M8 shutter failed in the cold?

[Jman95]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi again everyone, I just received an M8 in the mail from Montreal, it arrived and once I took the first shot it said shutter failed and I could hear this intermittent whirring noise, the camera was very cold to the touch coming from 23F weather, after 5 minutes of panicking I turned the camera on again and it winded back to normal and I can now take photos.

Is this a usual thing to happen to the leica’s in prolonged exposure to the cold? I live in Toronto so it does get cold here especially overnight and it was probably colder in the warehouse in Montreal.

[farnz]

It's probably not the shutter that's failed it'll be reduced battery capacity owing to the cold and the battery hasn't got quite enough remaining muscles to fully cock the shutter.  M8 batteries can be quite different to those in other cameras and appear to run out of juice quickly.  

As a general rule, as soon as the battery uses up it's first bar in the round window I change it for a fresh one.  Before I started doing that I would get the whirring-trying-to-cock-the-shutter noise occasionally or complete M8 shut down until the battery was popped out and back in.  Very rarely since.

M8 batteries are cheap compared to the cost of repairing a stuck shutter.

Pete.

[Jman95]

7 minutes ago, farnz said:

It's probably not the shutter that's failed it'll be reduced battery capacity owing to the cold and the battery hasn't got quite enough remaining muscles to fully cock the shutter.  M8 batteries can be quite different to those in other cameras and appear to run out of juice quickly.  

As a general rule, as soon as the battery uses up it's first bar in the round window I change it for a fresh one.  Before I started doing that I would get the whirring-trying-to-cock-the-shutter noise occasionally or complete M8 shut down until the battery was popped out and back in.  Very rarely since.

M8 batteries are cheap compared to the cost of repairing a stuck shutter.

Pete.

Hey thanks for the reassurance Pete,

I was pretty worried that it had failed on me, I was puzzled because the battery indicator was showing full battery but I didn’t believe it since it’s been in a truck and at the Canada post facility since Monday afternoon.

[Jman95]

47 minutes ago, farnz said:

It's probably not the shutter that's failed it'll be reduced battery capacity owing to the cold and the battery hasn't got quite enough remaining muscles to fully cock the shutter.  M8 batteries can be quite different to those in other cameras and appear to run out of juice quickly.  

As a general rule, as soon as the battery uses up it's first bar in the round window I change it for a fresh one.  Before I started doing that I would get the whirring-trying-to-cock-the-shutter noise occasionally or complete M8 shut down until the battery was popped out and back in.  Very rarely since.

M8 batteries are cheap compared to the cost of repairing a stuck shutter.

Pete.

I just checked the shutter on the camera and it’s currently 85,279 pretty high, do you think that could be the cause of the issue? I wouldn’t have guessed it was that high since the condition is flawless and it doesn’t have any scratches.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

I live in Vermont so similar weather. The M8 batteries don't like the cold, my CL is much better. In the summer the M8 battery lasts longer, go figure. As Pete said, if you don't have all three patches change the battery. Use the camera for a while see how it works, high shutter numbers could just be a camera that was used over the last 13 years. Often cameras that sit around unused have the problems. 

[jaapv]

It is also possible that the solenoid rocker that controls the shutter got stuck both through cold and lack of use. Now that it freed itself, it is most likely OK.

See post 7 in  this thread