Leica M 240 sensor issue/flaw

[feven0816]

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I want to share my personal experience regarding of my Leica M240 and sensor issue i am having right now. Very disappointing with Leica sensor quality! 

This camera was purchase around 7 years ago.

In 2019 summer, i found out there was vertical line shows at left of every image and live view. Paid $360 USD to get it remapped at NJ service center USA.

Recently another vertical line came back at right of image and you can see it when live view is on as well, so I emailed Leica NJ again then sent in, paid another $370 USD to get remapped.

After nearly 1 month waiting, it finally came back today and Leica said it is done, issue resloved! 

Today, May 20 2021, when i open the package and test it out, another horizontal line can be easily see on the top part of image, this is ridiculous, not sure if Leica service center even care or test before they ship to customers. 

I am sure there many people out there have same issue. 

 

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[jaeger]

I have similar experience and wasted 18 months fighting.  I posted here to warn others about their lemon and refurbished product sold as new but got removed - cancel culture.  I knew it will come back again from someone and I wish to see a class action.

[feven0816]

2 minutes ago, jaeger said:

I have similar experience and wasted 18 months fighting.  I posted here to warn others about their lemon and refurbished product sold as new but got removed - cancel culture.  I knew it will come back again from someone and I wish to see a class action.

Leica just cant get quality sensors and they dont deserve the reputation. 

sad to hear it from you and there are many victims out there, sooner or later they will have another class action just like the M9 junk sensor corrosion 

[jdlaing]

Sour grapes.

[pedaes]

38 minutes ago, feven0816 said:

Leica just cant get quality sensors and they dont deserve the reputation. 

sad to hear it from you and there are many victims out there, sooner or later they will have another class action just like the M9 junk sensor corrosion 

Opinion and false information. Details of M9 'class action' please.

[feven0816]

sorry for the misinformation, there is no class action for M9 sensor.

just pure poor quality of digital M sensors with tons of issues....it keeps coming.

[jaeger]

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Feven0816 do you know how to detect hidden flaw in sensor?  I can PM a method to you if you are interested, so you can prevent further pain. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by jaeger

[boojum]

The reality is quite different from the image projected by Wetzlar.  If this is true, and it seems to be, it cannot be called a case of "sour grapes."  It is shoddy gear and shoddy support.  And to say that other cameras have problems may be accurate. But they do not puff themselves up as superior and charge such high prices.  And I have not had my other cameras fail like the ones mentioned here.  So it seems buy a Leica at inflated prices, take a chance on the electronics and then if the electronics fail take a chance on Leica making it whole again.  If all of this is true it is appalling, really appalling.  

I have bought four, two M240's, an M9 and an M8.2.  So far, so good.  But let's face it, these cameras are a pain in the ass to work with.  I am leaving for a trip through the Southwest soon and you can be sure I will take my DSLR along because I want something I know will be in focus and correctly exposed, in the blink of an eye, and Zeiss lenses are good lenses.  I'll use the M9 and the M240 when I have the time to set up.  And I will do the same shot with all of them, just to see if all the ballyhoo is true.

Yeah, it's fun having a Leica.  Just like it is fun having a stem-wound old pocket watch.  Both are nearly anachronisms.  But fun to play with and show off.

Edited May 21, 2021 by boojum

[pedaes]

7 hours ago, boojum said:

and show off.

The only thing you should 'show off' is the wonderful prints you make from the images taken with your Leica rangefinders. 

[jaapv]

Much as I feel for the OP we must keep an eye on reality. Complaints about the quality of M240 sensors, indeed of the M240, are few and far between and certainly no reason for a round of Leica bashing. 
Something obviously went wrong with the repair of the OP’s sensor and it should be resolved in a customer-friendly manner. First call CS USA and talk to the person in charge . If that does not work,  I would advise him to address a formal complaint to Wetzlar. As it is, repairs carry a guarantee. He should avail himself of it. 

[boojum]

14 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Much as I feel for the OP we must keep an eye on reality. Complaints about the quality of M240 sensors, indeed of the M240, are few and far between and certainly no reason for a round of Leica bashing. 
Something obviously went wrong with the repair of the OP’s sensor and it should be resolved in a customer-friendly manner. First call CS USA and talk to the person in charge . If that does not work,  I would advise him to address a formal complaint to Wetzlar. As it is, repairs carry a guarantee. He should avail himself of it. 

You are a nice fellow, mean well and are responsible. But to me you seem to have a consistent blind spot.  That makes you part of the problem.  There is a consistency of electronic failure and support failure with Leicas.  It pains me to see you defend it.  Proost

[jaapv]

I don't think it is a blind spot. See my many posts criticizing where Leica dropped the ball. My take is that I do not extrapolate one single failure to take down tens of thousands of flawless cameras. 

Yes - NJ went through a bad patch - but I understand it is running fine now - Yes, we all know the M9 saga, but Leica came through with a more than acceptable solution after the heat was turned on in this forum - including me, BTW- 

As for your assertion that you take a DSLR for reliability? I have been taking Leicas into harsh conditions since 1988. The only time I was unable to take the photographs I wanted was when a city bus ran over my M4 in Pretoria. Oh - and when the OIS failed on my Canon 300 in the middle of the bush. I find it very silly to regard Leica as playthings for fumbling amateurs when they obviously are not. And even then - horses for courses - Even if I see people carrying huge DSLRs for travel, street and reportage, they are not the tools of first choice, nor is the Leica M made for motor sports or long-range wildlife, even if some use them that way. The most reliable image taking machine you should take into harsh conditions is the iPhone 12 Pro, not a full camera at all.

[250swb]

24 minutes ago, boojum said:

You are a nice fellow, mean well and are responsible. But to me you seem to have a consistent blind spot.  That makes you part of the problem.  There is a consistency of electronic failure and support failure with Leicas.  It pains me to see you defend it.  Proost

And yet it remains true that faults with the M240 are few and far between. Show us the figures for consistent failures, or are you only looking with your blinkers on? Maybe you extrapolate from the people who report problems via the forum, and often before they've even contacted Leica, but it isn't proof, it just means we are presented with a biased sample.

[luigi bertolotti]

4 minutes ago, 250swb said:

And yet it remains true that faults with the M240 are few and far between. Show us the figures for consistent failures, or are you only looking with your blinkers on? Maybe you extrapolate from the people who report problems via the forum, and often before they've even contacted Leica, but it isn't proof, it just means we are presented with a biased sample.

That's the point... do figures exist ?  It's obvious that most of M240 users who DON'T have had issues have NOT reported this absence : btw, I am one of those (by chance, also mine is 7 years)... can we conclude that, given that in this thread we have one guy with an issue and another without, about 50% of M240s suffer of some sensor failure ? 😁

[pedaes]

39 minutes ago, luigi bertolotti said:

about 50% of M240s suffer of some sensor failure ?

Mine is ok - so that brings it down to 33%.  Anyone to make 25%?

Edited May 21, 2021 by pedaes

[ianman]

1 hour ago, pedaes said:

Mine is ok - so that brings it down to 33%.  Anyone to make 25%?

That makes it 2-2. Cheat!!

[Wayben]

My M6, M8, M9, and M240 are all good.  Never any problems with any of them.  The only cameras I've had fail in the last 50 years are two Nikons.  One an early digital (N2020?) that got wet and fried, the second a D810 that bounced around too much in a motorcycle side case on a road from hell in Tanzania.  I'd still say both Leica and Nikon are very reliable, but there will always be exceptions.  The important part is how the company reacts to the exception, but they have to be made aware of it before they can rectify it.

[jdlaing]

3 hours ago, pedaes said:

Mine is ok - so that brings it down to 33%.  Anyone to make 25%?

Mine is okay. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[oldwino]

I am under the impression that the M 240 series was/is pretty bulletproof, with the fewest "quirks" of all the digital Ms. 

What I find distressing is the haphazard service that leica sometimes offers. Why was the OP charged twice for sensor remapping? Once, I can see, but twice seems to be an error on Leica's part. 

[Paco]

Consumer electronics has a life around 4 years. Likely this is why Leica provides a two-year warranty. Leica offers repair support (so far they have repairing parts). 

My guess is that you got a custom firmware for your camera where the defect line is avoided in the DNGs and JPEGs. As the sensor is not replaced, your camera sensor will continue to die.  

I understand, that we pay a lot of money for a Leica camera and we want that it works fine for 20 years. A pity, but this is not the case. M lenses can work fine (with some care) for more than 50 years, but not electronics. Anyway, that an average Leica M (digital) can work fine ten years is amazing. My Leica M has 8 years, it has no problems, but I know that one day it will not work anymore...