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My M8 is all out of whack...


Iron Flatline

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Well, my M8 is all out of whack, just as I'm starting a really important project.

 

I took it to the Leica store here in Berlin, and they were really helpful - we tested my various lenses, and it seems my camera (and possibly my 35 'Lux) are out of whack. So they're sending everything to the company to have it adjusted.

 

This is - of course - really unfortunate timing. I am the (pro bono) in-house photographer for an Institute here in Berlin that just started it's new year YESTERDAY. Looks like my D-Lux 3 will be getting quite the work-out.

 

... and my Canon 5D, which I haven't used since January.

 

I'm a little heart-broken, and I just wanted to come here and cry. My wife does not want me to lament the illness of my camera with any more concern than I show for our kids. ... I guess she just doesn't understand...:D

 

Anyway, when you all come to Berlin in the fall for the One Challenge, I suggest you stop by the Leica store and say hi to the guys there. They've certainly been helpful to me.

 

...and while I was there I put myself on the list for a 90mm Summaron. :Dx2

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Well, my M8 is all out of whack, just as I'm starting a really important project......

 

I'm a little heart-broken, and I just wanted to come here and cry. My wife does not want me to lament the illness of my camera with any more concern than I show for our kids. ... I guess she just doesn't understand...:D

 

Yeah, these women are a funny lot. Just let the dog have a nice chew on a table leg and see what happens!

 

I hope they fix it quickly and correctly for you.

 

Bill

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Iron, if it's any consolation, my M8+Noct. are right there for the same treatment. I assure you my outfit is very sympathetic and will look after yours if they pass on the workbench.:p

 

I presume you will get yours back much sooner, being in Germany. Coming from Oz, I expect mine to be away 3 months! Second time around. Fortunately, the local importer loaned me an M8 body for the duration.

 

Regrettably, it seems I will not make Berlin this year. Pity, I was so looking forward to it.

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Iron, if it's any consolation, my M8+Noct. are right there for the same treatment. I assure you my outfit is very sympathetic and will look after yours if they pass on the workbench.:p

 

I presume you will get yours back much sooner, being in Germany. Coming from Oz, I expect mine to be away 3 months! Second time around. Fortunately, the local importer loaned me an M8 body for the duration.

 

Regrettably, it seems I will not make Berlin this year. Pity, I was so looking forward to it.

You will be missed in Berlin.

 

Yeah, I assume our Noctis will cross the same work-bench. I sent in my Noctilux, my 35mm Summilux, and my 28mm Elmarit.

 

... and I really miss them. LOL.

 

I shot a whole (informal) event this afternoon with my D-Lux 3. Not bad, actually - certainly good enough for 5x7 prints :)

 

... or whatever the print-size is for 16:9.

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Guest guy_mancuso
Well, my M8 is all out of whack, just as I'm starting a really important project.

 

I took it to the Leica store here in Berlin, and they were really helpful - we tested my various lenses, and it seems my camera (and possibly my 35 'Lux) are out of whack. So they're sending everything to the company to have it adjusted.

 

This is - of course - really unfortunate timing. I am the (pro bono) in-house photographer for an Institute here in Berlin that just started it's new year YESTERDAY. Looks like my D-Lux 3 will be getting quite the work-out.

 

... and my Canon 5D, which I haven't used since January.

 

I'm a little heart-broken, and I just wanted to come here and cry. My wife does not want me to lament the illness of my camera with any more concern than I show for our kids. ... I guess she just doesn't understand...:D

 

Anyway, when you all come to Berlin in the fall for the One Challenge, I suggest you stop by the Leica store and say hi to the guys there. They've certainly been helpful to me.

 

...and while I was there I put myself on the list for a 90mm Summaron. :Dx2

 

Just a little concerned basing sending it in on the performance of the 35 lux alone, which is somewhat problematic but if everything else is out than i see that .

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Are you saying we're stupid? Or that we're to be pitied?

 

I'm reminded of the anecdote attributed to the cinema actress Mae West, who had been brought in-to court for some offence and had made some sort of smart comment to which the judge asked her (no doubt rhetorically) if she was trying to show contempt for the court...to which she supposedly replied "Actually judge, I'm doing my best not to." :D

 

Many of us who do own M8s have experienced failures, and those blessed few owners who haven't ought count those blessings and not tempt irony to strike, by getting cocky ;) I for one hope your M8 will soon be back in whack :D

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Guy, we tried out all my lenses, then some lenses from the store, and then we tried all my lenses on a different body. It is definitely my camera, though my 35 showed it's own (relatively slight) need for adjustments. Like I said, they were quite helpful at the Leica store.

 

Gratuitous Link

 

tummydoc, I was told frequent whacking is not going to help... but it might lead to blindness...

 

fnarrr.

 

Thanks for the good wishes.

 

I'm thinking maybe Leica could furnish us with a quasi-Advent calendar. It would mean having to get gear back to us in 24 days. The calendar would have those little cut-out paper doors with a little piece of chocolate behind each while we wait for our gear to come home. Maybe the chocolate could be shaped like various popular Leica pieces - with chrome items rendered in white chocolate.

 

Like I said, I have a lot of free time right now...

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I'm reminded of the anecdote attributed to the cinema actress Mae West, who had been brought in-to court for some offence and had made some sort of smart comment to which the judge asked her (no doubt rhetorically) if she was trying to show contempt for the court...to which she supposedly replied "Actually judge, I'm doing my best not to." :D

 

Many of us who do own M8s have experienced failures, and those blessed few owners who haven't ought count those blessings and not tempt irony to strike, by getting cocky ;) I for one hope your M8 will soon be back in whack :D

 

 

Your comments, mostly, and especially this one , are totally off base.

"The "FEW" owners that haven't had any failures".

Well it seems that Leica has sold around 20,000 M8's. Let say half of those, 10,000, went to people that bought 2. That's 5000 people that have 2 and 10,000 that have 1 M8.

That's 15,000 owners. I think you would hear a bigger stink here at this site and it would be in every news broadcast and across all the trade rages if there was even 10% failure rate.

Although you may be a fairly intelligent fellow in your own field, which I take to be a Tummy Doctor, you certainly have NO clue about the success/failure rate of the M8.

 

I know I did say I was never going to respond to any more of your posts but this one take the cake.

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Ed,

 

Sorry to bring up a sour note but I have had a h**l of a job cleaning my sensor today. Shutter not opening, shutter not closing on switch off. My three batteries have been dancing in and out of my M8 over about a two hour saga. The firmware (1.107) has been reloaded twice over this period. The M8 was NOT my favourite toy today. This is just the most recent in a line of irritating but not terminal glitches.

 

Wilson

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Friends, I really didn't want any fighting in "my" thread. All I wanted was some light-hearted misery. Please, we've discussed the M8 and whatever troubles there may be ad nauseum.

 

Carsten, danke! Extremely grateful. I will work with my gear for now, but there may come a time toward the end of the month where I may ask you if it is still available.

 

... speaking of daily blog: are you coming to the European Photobloggers Meet-Up in Berlin this weekend? We meet on Friday at the Ellington on Nurnberger Strasse.

 

Check it out!

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Guest tummydoc
Your comments, mostly, and especially this one , are totally off base.

"The "FEW" owners that haven't had any failures".

Well it seems that Leica has sold around 20,000 M8's. Let say half of those, 10,000, went to people that bought 2. That's 5000 people that have 2 and 10,000 that have 1 M8.

That's 15,000 owners. I think you would hear a bigger stink here at this site and it would be in every news broadcast and across all the trade rages if there was even 10% failure rate.

Although you may be a fairly intelligent fellow in your own field, which I take to be a Tummy Doctor, you certainly have NO clue about the success/failure rate of the M8.

 

Speaking of intelligence, surely you're not asserting that all 15,000 owners are on-line and therefore the only reported M8 failures are those that have been reported on the on-line forums?

 

I know I did say I was never going to respond to any more of your posts

 

Speaking of credibility.... :D

 

 

I also detest and protest those who've never owned an M8 chiming in on forums belittling M8 owners as if we were all complete fools. However, as someone who had 2 M8s fail (and not alone in that, either) yet accepted a third rather than take my money back in disgust, I believe I've earned the right to express my opinion as well as someone who's been lucky enough not to have a failure. That nonwithstanding the fact that I've purchased at least one copy of practically every Leica-M item made in the last 15 years, plus a rather extensive array of collector's items, makes one somewhat more of a bona-fide Leica supporter than were one simply running off at the mouth in un-solicited defence of their honour.

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I can't beleive Leica could continue to sell cameras at the clip they have if 'most' buyers or even a large minority of buyers had the problems some have described here. I certainly would not have stuck with the system (I have not had any problems) and I am pretty sure most are like me, pretty intolerant of equipment that can not be depended on. If cameras were dying left and right on new owners the sales would have gone right off a cliff (which quite a few trolls and naysayers predicted). Well pretty much the opposite has happened. I've owned a lot of cameras, computers and cars and on rare occasions I have gotten a stinker or had a new product fail, it sometimes happens with the best equipment and will happen quite often if you are first on line for new model introductions.

 

So I hope you get your camera and lens back soon. I am incredibly happy to have the M8 and not have to be dependent on DSLR's to shoot digitally. Small footprint, range finder focusing and an incredible collection of lenses at every price point and taste (from Leica, CV and the used market) and a simple interface that uses analogue controls like aperture rings and a dial for shutter speed. What's not to like?

 

Lest I give the impression I am minimizing the problems and failure that have been related on this forum I am not. Those who have put up with the headaches and are still here. You are more patient and better then I.

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Iron I do hope all your gear comes back well adjusted. And that the body is adjusted to a tight tolerance, so in the future when you buy new lenses they work right out of the box, and that your current lenses are then matched to the tolerances of the body.

 

I do know this. When in the old days with my first M3 IF I NAILED the focus the images were outstanding. But now I look back at those days and ask myself "Maybe I did nail the focus on most of my shots and the camera, and or lenses, were slightly off" and the shots that came out "Outstanding" were where I slightly missed the focus but missed it on the side that was really in-focus.

 

It so easy with the M8 to tell if you nailed the focus. And if you know you nailed in through the viewfinder but yet had fuzzy images you know something is off.

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Iron,

 

Sorry to hear that but I may have some good news for you.

 

As a professional photographer Leica may lend you a camera. You should contact Frau Andrea Frankl at Solms (Phone: 06442 208 189 / E-Mail: andrea.frankl@leica-camera.com)

 

I don't know how it works in Germany. In France, with your professional card, you get 10% off on the lenses (not on the camera) and when you're registered as a professional photographer at Leica, they will lend you gear when your camera/lens(es) are serviced.

 

When my first M8 died, I had Frau Frankl on the phone who said that if my dealer couldn't replace the camera (not in stock), they will replace it and Leica France had a camera ready for me I could borrow until the replacement arrives from Solms.

 

Finally, this was not necesary. My dealer replaced the camera: he had another one in stock.

 

My CRON 28/2 is in Solms now and they offer me a replacement. I didn't accepted it because I could live without for a couple of weeks.

 

I often complain about bugs and quality concerning the M8 (I know!) but I must say Leica's Professional Customer Care department is the BEST! I had an M6 for 17 years which travelled a few times to Solms just for inspection, cleaning and normal maintenance.

 

I think you should contact Leica explaining your work. I'm sure they will help you

.

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I don't think Iron is a pro, not a photographer anyway :)

 

The offer stands, and towards the end of the month I will be around and have no plans. Let me know if the need arises.

 

I won't be able to get to the blogger meeting, unfortunately. I am going to RT07, a computer graphics conference in Ulm, for the next week or so.

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Ed,

 

Sorry to bring up a sour note but I have had a h**l of a job cleaning my sensor today. Shutter not opening, shutter not closing on switch off. My three batteries have been dancing in and out of my M8 over about a two hour saga. The firmware (1.107) has been reloaded twice over this period. The M8 was NOT my favourite toy today. This is just the most recent in a line of irritating but not terminal glitches.

 

Wilson

 

WIlson, a new firmware version is comming soon. Maybe is worthy to remain 1.107 till then, but I went back to 1.102 because with the latest version I had "non reproductible" bugs. I don't regret it because all these undesirable effects have disappeared.

.

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