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Determining Shutter Actuations on an M8


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Than ran it in the other program and got 9474 which sounds about right

 

Guy, you've got somewhat more mileage on your machines than I have on mine; have you noticed any fall-off in splodges on the sensor? Implicit in my question is the assumption that shutter lubricant is the source, which of course may not be correct. If that is the case, do we have to wait for the shutter to seize for lack of lubrication for the splodges to go away? Sorry, rhetorical question.

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Guest guy_mancuso
Guy, you've got somewhat more mileage on your machines than I have on mine; have you noticed any fall-off in splodges on the sensor? Implicit in my question is the assumption that shutter lubricant is the source, which of course may not be correct. If that is the case, do we have to wait for the shutter to seize for lack of lubrication for the splodges to go away? Sorry, rhetorical question.

 

I don't think lubricant will ever dry up per say and what new owners are seeing is maybe some excess lubricant flying around. For me that has settled down and mostly dust now but i get a occasional grease spot but pollen and air quality will also have a effect on a dirty sensor. Were never going to get away with not cleaning it on occasion

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458, not that much more than they would have done in the factory as part of testing.

 

I just checked my first shoot made the first day with the new M8 and ( after conversion from HEX to Decimal ) I found out that this frame was the n.152 for the camera .

Is that a normal number for factory testing ?

Also the pic number was L1000088, at the factory they do not reset to zero the picture counter before releasing a new camera ?

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

EM

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I just checked my first shoot made the first day with the new M8 and ( after conversion from HEX to Decimal ) I found out that this frame was the n.152 for the camera .

Is that a normal number for factory testing ?

Also the pic number was L1000088, at the factory they do not reset to zero the picture counter before releasing a new camera ?

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

EM

Normaly any camera coming from the factory is reset to L100 000 so the first image taken with it is numbered L100 001. It is normal for the camera to have SOME shutter activation when new. All 3 of the M8's I've had had between 70 to just under 100 activations when new. but the first image I took with them were L100 001

I suspect your dealer let someone take some shots with your camera before it was sold to you. 87, it seems, before you got it. 87 from 152 is 65 activation at the factory which looks normal.

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Ed, that's not right, at least wrt. Leica and the M8. We had a discussion about this a while back, and found that several people had cameras with counter around 100-150. Maybe more recently the counter numbers have been lower, since they are getting the process under control, but 150 isn't abnormal. Perhaps the dealer shot a few.

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I assume this number of shutter actuations is down to basic testing and calibrating the shutter speeds. There doesn't appear to be any mechanical timing within the shutter itself, so it's all down to the relative timing of activating the electro-magnets which is controlled by firmware and has to be taught to the camera based on the actual shutter installed.

 

What does surprise me is that they don't reset the shutter counter after this calibration process is complete in the same way some car manufacturers allow a one time reset of the odometer below a certain mileage so that customers get a "new" car.

 

It would be interesting to know whether they reset the counter when the shutter is replaced and also whether separate counters are maintained for the shutter and motor drive.

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Ed, that's not right, at least wrt. Leica and the M8. We had a discussion about this a while back, and found that several people had cameras with counter around 100-150. Maybe more recently the counter numbers have been lower, since they are getting the process under control, but 150 isn't abnormal. Perhaps the dealer shot a few.

 

Carsten eziomi stated that the first picture he took with his new M8 was numbered 88. Leica does reset the camera image "counter" back to zero before they ship the camera out to distributors and dealers. So when the original owner of the camera takes his first image it is numbered L100 001. Leica DOES NOT set the shutter actuations/activations back to zero and I'm not sure you can without changing out parts in the camera. The only way to tell this is to have someone that bought a marked refurb M8 and have him look at the Image Unique ID and convert it from HEX to Dec for the first shot he took with the camera. IIRC the count is under 100 for factory activations for most M8's. Some cameras may have had more then 100 but that is not the norm.

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Dirk, thanks. I downloaded it via Firefox, but I am not sure where it is plugged in, how to open it, and use it? Maybe it is explained in German, which I am afraid I don't know.

 

Thanks.

 

If you clicked "install" it should have been installed automatically.

If that is the case, you can right-click on any picture you see here (I'd suggest the one on the first page) and see "view image exif data".

 

A new window will open with the exif data of the shot.

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  • 8 months later...
If you clicked "install" it should have been installed automatically.

If that is the case, you can right-click on any picture you see here (I'd suggest the one on the first page) and see "view image exif data".

 

A new window will open with the exif data of the shot.

 

Venkman, I downloaded thge newest Firefox 3.0 and would like to install the plug-in, but alas, Vista says nay to the plug-in. The extension (*.xpi) is not recognized and the Windows Redwood site is also stripped of any recognition... :confused:

 

BUT the Firefox team has the answer:

-

At the top of the Firefox window On the menu bar

, click the Tools menu and select Add-ons to open the Add-ons window.

  1. In the Add-ons dialog, the list of currently installed extensions is displayed.
  2. To acquire new extensions, click Get Extensions [or get add-ons].
  3. enter EXIF in the search field; and presto, the add-on returns.
  4. Click the 'trust' button and it is added.:D

The numbers do not show up in the C1 conversions; only in the original Leica files. Via the site mentioned in post 4# you get the output.

Mine is: Image Unique ID = 000000000000000000000000000019ad

6573 counts! For just a bit over 12 months of use. There is no DSLR that can make me work like that. A good reason for an M8!

alberti

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Is there some way to determine the total number of shutter actuations on an M8?

 

Yes, very user friendly, and as has been published here several times:

 

PHOTOME: PhotoME - Exif, IPTC & ICC Metadata Editor

 

Look (when installed and a DNG opened) at Unique Image ID under Manufacturer Notes.

 

(Sorry, WIN only)

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  • 1 year later...

Nice. I just bought my M8 used a couple of weeks ago. The previous owner bought it from the local Icelandic dealer in July 2008 so it is just over a year old. I looked for the unique Id and found it has only had 3461 actuation's. That includes the probably around 500 I've made since getting it :D I guess the previous owner didn't use it all that much.

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Lordy, what a production!

 

I just copy the hex number in Bridge's EXIF and paste into the Mac's basic OS calculator (which includes basic, scientific, and hexadecimal).

 

No consults with Firefox, no special downloads, no special websites...

 

Is this 2009 or 1999?

 

(Still have my first M8 shot from 11/2006 - L1000001.DNG was the 116th shutter actuation - but the camera was very early production and probably got extra factory test shots. My two cameras are now at 15710 and 19423, respectively)

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Really useful thread. Many thanks.

 

My "leica ex demo" M8 (whatever that actually means:rolleyes:) sold with full passport has only done just over 4000 actuations - and i've done around a 1000 since I got it a few weeks ago. So much better than I expected.

 

Excellent news to start the day :D

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Lordy, what a production!

 

I just copy the hex number in Bridge's EXIF and paste into the Mac's basic OS calculator (which includes basic, scientific, and hexadecimal).

 

No consults with Firefox, no special downloads, no special websites...

 

Is this 2009 or 1999?

 

(Still have my first M8 shot from 11/2006 - L1000001.DNG was the 116th shutter actuation - but the camera was very early production and probably got extra factory test shots. My two cameras are now at 15710 and 19423, respectively)

 

You couldn't of said it better.

I'm on Win XP and use the Calc that comes with it to do the same. I had posted this same thing, about Window Calc, and also mentioned that "Doesn't Mac come with a Scientific Calculator program".

But every body else keeps saying "Download this program", "Use this website", whatever whatever.

Yes for me it is a 2009.

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  • 2 months later...

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