M9 Known Issue with Battery Detection No Longer Covered by Leica (RIP CCD M-Systems)

[Ko.Fe.]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

On 9/11/2022 at 7:04 PM, TomB_tx said:

I agree - I expect electronic devices to last at least 5 years, and anything beyond that is a bonus. I couldn't believe it when Leica replaced the sensor for free when my M9 was 7 years old and out of warranty - and it's still going strong now.

I developed industrial field electronic test equipment, and keeping it in production for 10 years meant redesigning circuits several times as components became obsolete and unavailable. I've been retired for 13 years now, and still hear from people searching for repairs. When an instrument uses chips mainly used in consumer electronics the production life is based on how often the major companies redesign models - maybe 3-4 years. Now after the Covid disruptions lead-time on even some common chips is up to 2 years - really causing companies relying on them a lot of grief, as they never expected such a condition. Retirement is good!

Your expectations are extremely low. I had several cameras with way older than any M9 manufacturing day and they were working. Including tiny, MIC Ricoh GRD. 

I think you are wrong on mixing of some electronic devices and cameras. But cameras could be lemons too. We had some Canon video camera around 2007 or so. Canon refused to service it under reasonable price. We gave it to one handy person we knew. He fixed it, but the cause was cheap contacts which were oxidizing within couple of months.

Yet, our family Canon 500D from 2009 was through winters, summers and continents, but it is just keeps on working. It is at 100K shutter activations mark now. My go to camera for camping in spectacular Ontario .