Determining Shutter Actuations on an M8

[Shootist]

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Thanks for the tip WestMichigan Got my M8 second hand, the owner had it since 2006 I think, it's an early serial model... when I checked the actuations, it came out 4629! Wow...

 

There's a receipt in the box though, for service under warranty. The circuit board was repaired, and everything was adjusted, etc. Is it possible the actuations were reset or something? I can't believe a 4 year old camera has just 4629 actuations...

 

No Leica never resets the shutter activation on the camera. Even if the shutter is changed it doesn't get reset.

[perb]

Is there a way to see the camera firmware version via the exif data?

 

Yes, here is an example from the "---- IFD0 ----" section:

 

"0x0131 Software : 2.004"

 

Regards

Per

 

PS. this was produced with "exiftool -a -u -g1 -H <file>"

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[photoshutter]

One of my M8 has this code:

0000000000000000000000000001462C

only two years old.

[SJP]

Google "0x1462C in decimal"

 

0x1462C = 83 500

 

Wow

[wilfredo]

If you use firefox as browser, this plugin will do the job nicely:

https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/3905

 

Then look for the unique ID which is at the end of the file and looks like this:

 

Image Unique ID = xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

It's a hex code, which you can convert to decimal here:

hexadecimal conversion, convert decimal to hexadecimal

 

Pretty cool. I just tried this with a Leica M8 loaner. I'm getting a "new" replacement camera and curious to see what the shutter actuations will be? The loaner Image unique ID is 00037D9 which translated to 14,297.

Edited April 30, 2010 by wilfredo

[jaques]

can anyone tell me the shutter actuations on my new (second hand) M8 from this image:

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[ampguy]

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you can try this exif viewer for online or local images:

 

Jeffrey's Exif viewer

 

However, keep in mind that Leica has told users that there is no reliable way to tell the exact # of shutter actuations or unique images, due to a variety of potential variables.

 

YMMV.

[ho_co]

Jaques--

6428 exposures.

 

 

your file data from Bridge:

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

 

conversion from HEXADECIMAL to BINARY conversion, HEX to Decimal converter, Hexdecimal convertor

Edited May 13, 2010 by ho_co

[john_newell]

Howard, that is a brilliantly informative and helpful post, not only for the inquiry at hand but for the future. Well done!

 

John

 

quote=ho_co;1328175]Jaques--

6428 exposures.

 

 

your file data from Bridge:

[ATTACH]202453[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

conversion from HEXADECIMAL to BINARY conversion, HEX to Decimal converter, Hexdecimal convertor

[ATTACH]202452[/ATTACH]

[bonjac]

I am a real newbie. Bought a used M8 which seems to work perfectly, however, I am curious about the number of actuations. I read this thread and, now, am really puzzled. A current image number is L1010061 but the unique id is ...000000000000F. The F seems to translate to 14 but the image number would suggest 10061 actuations. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thanks

[ho_co]

Sounds strange to me as well.

 

I think hex 0F actually translates to 15, but either way, that sounds like a very small number of actuations. You're sure you're reading the full Image Unique ID? Could the final digits be hidden by some chance?

 

What software are you using to decipher the EXIF? On Mac or Windows?

 

Remember, since the File Number can be reset (p 120 of the manual), it's really not indicative of use.

Edited December 19, 2010 by ho_co

[RichardM8]

Very useful thread!

 

I bought my M8.2 s/h a little while ago and I just installed the Firefox plug-in. Turns out mine has only done 3500 actuations including some 400 of me. So it really is in the mint condition that it looks like. Good to know!

 

Richard.

[Alberti]

Very useful thread!

 

I bought my M8.2 s/h a little while ago and I just installed the Firefox plug-in. Turns out mine has only done 3500 actuations including some 400 of me. So it really is in the mint condition that it looks like. Good to know!

 

Richard.

 

To spoil the fun a bit:

when I had my M8 refurbished (it fell in the water), I got it back from Solms with a reset counter. It went from something like 00037d3 (= 14.291) to 0000cb (=203). Now the counter is again 00001c6d (=7277).

So did I take more than 21.500 pictures with the camera? No. The counter gets augmented for every file written to the memory card. So if you have DNG and JPEG enabled, then this counts as two images. I have often used this mixed setting.

Like ampguy says: the number is not 'reliable'.

 

albert

 

ps - On my iMac I use 'preview' (=voorvertoning') and 'information (=cmd-i) on an DNG. It brings up the hex-number directly.

[farnz]

... So if you have DNG and JPEG enabled, then this counts as two images. ...

Albert,

 

This surprises me. When I shoot DNG and Jpeg both files have the same file number, eg 1037969.dng and 1037969,jpg and since the shutter has only actuated once I can't see how the CPU could increment by 1 for DNG and by 2 for DNG and Jpeg.

 

Have I misunderstood you?

 

Pete.

[pop]

When I shoot DNG and Jpeg both files have the same file number, eg 1037969.dng and 1037969,jpg and since the shutter has only actuated once I can't see how the CPU could increment by 1 for DNG and by 2 for DNG and Jpeg.

 

It would not be difficult to program the firmware to do that. However, my M8 does not assign two different numbers to the DNG and JPG variant of the same image. The two have the same unique image ID, as they ought to have. It's the same shot and the JPG file is just a transform of the DNG.

[Alberti]

Albert,

 

This surprises me. When I shoot DNG and Jpeg both files have the same file number, eg 1037969.dng and 1037969,jpg and since the shutter has only actuated once I can't see how the CPU could increment by 1 for DNG and by 2 for DNG and Jpeg.

 

Have I misunderstood you?

 

Pete.

 

Hi Pete. This is my common understanding, but you make me look into it:This requires an experiment then. First revisiting my files:

A)

JPG, 2007 06 09 Leiden 158.jpg seen in Firefox: 00000000000000000000000000000378

same picture 2007 06 09 Leiden 159.tif (renamed dng to open it) in Apple Preview: 00000000000000000000000000000378. Firmware Version = 1.092 The stored files have a different number.

One picture taken now. Frame Unique ID = 0001ca1 (7329)for both DNG and JPG, and both image names are now the same (L1007193). Firmware = 2.005

 

==> conclusion: the subsequent numbering in older firmware has led to my thinking this also counted double.

 

Sorry to have given a wrong impression.

 

Regards

albert

[bonjac]

Sounds strange to me as well.

 

I think hex 0F actually translates to 15, but either way, that sounds like a very small number of actuations. You're sure you're reading the full Image Unique ID? Could the final digits be hidden by some chance?

 

What software are you using to decipher the EXIF? On Mac or Windows?

 

Remember, since the File Number can be reset (p 120 of the manual), it's really not indicative of use.

 

CS4 on a Mac. I have checked again, and the 0F is correct. There is nothing following it. From what I have read, this combination of unique id and file number are out of whack. So, is it impossible to ever really get at the actual shutter actuations? I appreciate your help.

[ho_co]

Frankly, I'm lost. It does sound as if the camera's brains are jumbled.

 

The Image Unique ID does increment each time you take a picture, right?

 

Why not contact Leica and tell them the situation? They'll have a repair history of the camera, at least insofar as it was handled by them. They won't give you the history, but they'll be able to tell you whether it had major surgery, as I think is likely.

 

Funny, as soon as we think we know how it all fits together, something like this pops up.

 

Do let us know what you find out. It's the first time I've heard of a situation like this.

Edited December 28, 2010 by ho_co

[Shootist]

CS4 on a Mac. I have checked again, and the 0F is correct. There is nothing following it. From what I have read, this combination of unique id and file number are out of whack. So, is it impossible to ever really get at the actual shutter actuations? I appreciate your help.

 

There must be. Maybe you need to expand the area where the number is shown in Bridge. Put your mouse pointer over the edge of that area and it should turn into a double ended pointer. Click and move right or left to expand that area.

 

Shutter actuation are just that. It records every time the shutter was opened and closed, whether or not a image was captured. So if you clean your sensor often, or try to take images with the lens cap on, the actuation count will be higher then the image count. And if at some time the previous owner reset the image count it can be thousands of number apart.

 

Using F as the first character with varying character behind it, 4 character, give me somewhere in the 60,000 range. You said the camera looked well used.

 

Please Copy and Paste that whole string in a post. IE after you have expand the area in Bridge that shows that string.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Shootist

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[bonjac]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them and let you know what comes of it. When I said the camera looked used, it had some minor chipping and ruboff on the bottom plate but other than that it is in exceptional condition. Its condition is about what I would expect for 10k actuations. Admittedly, I am not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes to computers but I will try to expand the string of numbers -- that said, I have checked the number of actuations on two different software programs and got the same answer. Now that I think of it, I don't believe the camera is incrementing the unique id after each shot. I will check that as well. Thanks again. More to come.