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My M8 has died again. What should I do ?


eronald

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I sent my camera back to Solms once for the sensor mod. Then it died and they swapped it. Now the new one has died again. What should I do ? I am a bit frustrated by a camera which is unreliable.

 

Edmund

 

I feel your pain. I had 3 die before I got a good one. But now that I have a good one it was all worth the wait. Keep trying. This is kind of unnerving, however, because a lot of us thought this problem was a thing of the past. Lately there have been a few new failures like yours reported. Damn!!!!!

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Have you tried to remove the battery for a few hours and put it in again, freshly recharged?

 

I haven't tried anything. It hung once and revived when I removed the battery briefly, now it's really dead. What use is a camera which goes out of action unpredictably ? I had some stuff to image today !

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I sent my camera back to Solms once for the sensor mod. Then it died and they swapped it. Now the new one has died again. What should I do ? I am a bit frustrated by a camera which is unreliable.

 

Edmund

 

Hi Edmund,

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I still wonder about the possible effect of static electricity on the M8. In many parts of the world we're moving into a drier time of year and static electricity is more common. The camera I had replaced in February is still fine.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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This worries me. My M8 locked up several times on a trip to Colorado last week. Everything would go blank except for the small red light on the back would come on when I would press the shutter button. No other displays would work and the shutter would not fire. Removing the battery and putting it back in solved the problem. I hope it is not a warning of things to come.

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This worries me. My M8 locked up several times on a trip to Colorado last week. Everything would go blank except for the small red light on the back would come on when I would press the shutter button. No other displays would work and the shutter would not fire. Removing the battery and putting it back in solved the problem. I hope it is not a warning of things to come.

 

I don't think anyone has reliably established a pattern whereby "hard crashes" of the M8's computer is in indicator of upcoming failure. But, I'm curious, was there much static electricity nearby when your cameras crashed? (Boots on carpet, etc.?)

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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I had no carpet. I was living out of my travel trailer during the week which has vinyl floor coverings. I was in Mesa Verde National Park shooting outdoors the first two times it happened and the third time was walking the streets of Santa Rosa, NM shooting neon signs at night. It's a mystery to me as I have been using the camera with not a problem since January.

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Hi Edmund,

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I still wonder about the possible effect of static electricity on the M8. In many parts of the world we're moving into a drier time of year and static electricity is more common. The camera I had replaced in February is still fine.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Sean--I know you have long suspected that static electricity is the possible cause of SDS. In winter, the air in my part of the country is very dry and static filled. I hope that is not the cause, but if it is I will probably be one of the first to report another failure here. We should know within a few weeks.

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Sean--I know you have long suspected that static electricity is the possible cause of SDS. In winter, the air in my part of the country is very dry and static filled. I hope that is not the cause, but if it is I will probably be one of the first to report another failure here. We should know within a few weeks.

 

It would be interesting to see if there's any hint of a correlation between the two. I hope nothing happens but if it does, I would be interested to know.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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This worries me. My M8 locked up several times on a trip to Colorado last week. Everything would go blank except for the small red light on the back would come on when I would press the shutter button. No other displays would work and the shutter would not fire. Removing the battery and putting it back in solved the problem. I hope it is not a warning of things to come.

 

Nah methinks as far as static. I've had this happen a few times both on my original body and now on my replacement. I'm here in the Pacific NW one of the least dry places in the country! I think it's the little computer inside getting confused and therfore the need to reboot. Lets hope Leica's next software update delves into this problem.

 

If it makes the o.p. feel any better I knocked over a tripod today with my D200 and a rental 12-24 on it. The D200 survived though with cracks in the metal casing on the back therefore removing any resale value (towards a new D3). The rental zoom is going to Nikon for repair and I'm crossing my fingers as to how much. For once I'm thankful that my M8 is back to Solms (for sticky rangefinder frames) because I know it wouldn't have survived that fall like the Nikon.

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I took a lot of flak from members of this forum when I said I was selling my M8. It spent 4 and 1/2 of the 6 months I owned it at Leica.

When it came back the second time, the sensor was dirty. I cleaned it but that was the straw that broke this camel's back. The camera should have come back from Leica pristine.

 

I was very happy with it the first month of ownership, but that was then and this is now.

 

That said, I am not abandoning Leica after 37 years. I still have 2 M5s, an MP, and the following lenses: 21 Asph, 24 Asph, 28 Elmarit (last version), 35 Summicron Asph, 50 Summilux Asph, 50 Noctilux, 75 Summicron, 90 Apo, 135 Apo and a 28,35,50 Tri Elmar.

 

I also have 2 SL2s, a 35, 60, 100 APO and a 180 Apo Telyt.

 

I have a d-Lux for digital and family photos and my wife has a V-Lux, both of which have been flawless performers.

 

Edmund, I am really sorry for your M8 problems.

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Nah methinks as far as static. I've had this happen a few times both on my original body and now on my replacement. I'm here in the Pacific NW one of the least dry places in the country! I think it's the little computer inside getting confused and therfore the need to reboot.

 

It's that little computer (with its various components inside) that I'm wondering about. That is the thing that *may* be vulnerable to static.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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Edmund -

 

As others, sorry to hear of that. It is surely totally frustrating.

 

My M8 was a replacement/fixed one from early December of last year and has been remarkably trouble free. Thereis the occaisional strange lines on the back screen, when the computer gets confused, and it shut down once in 20 degreee F weather about 8 months ago, but has been remarkably friendly and solid ever since. All that's to say they can get it right....

 

Geoff

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Sorry if I repeat an hypothesis I gave long time ago (great age effect probably;) ), but I am still convinced that some - if not all - deaths are due to a bad working of the circuit which manages the battery voltage, either inside M8 or/and inside the batteries.

This comes from some facts I encountered:

- I can produce at will a small death by executing the sequence on-off-on quickly, particularly when a picture is stored on card.

- trying to use a not completely charged battery then trying to format a card gave a small death.

- small death also arriving right after a serie of continuous pictures shot.

In all these cases, one can deduct that the voltage was certainly fluctuating, and that the base program get stuck -> death (I call small death when removing the battery and replacing it or a fully charged one clear the problem).

HTH.

I haven't (yet:eek: ) seen more serious problem with my M8.

Mark: the "T2" repair was part of which circuit?

All the best to all.

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I took a lot of flak from members of this forum when I said I was selling my M8. It spent 4 and 1/2 of the 6 months I owned it at Leica.

When it came back the second time, the sensor was dirty. I cleaned it but that was the straw that broke this camel's back. The camera should have come back from Leica pristine.

 

I was very happy with it the first month of ownership, but that was then and this is now.

 

 

Richard--I think a lot of the flak was just good natured ribbing, but I do think several people were kind of shocked to hear someone was selling their M8 ostensibly because the sensor was dirty. Obviously, there was more to it than that and if your confidence in the product was shattered you shouldn't keep it. Being an early M8 owner has been, for many of us, like having a colicky baby--initially very exasperating and frustrating, but rewarding once the phase has passed. I hope you didn't take any of the comments too personally.

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I'm on the verge of sending my own (early model) M8, for the original fix, subsequent crashes and, lately, the battery which refuses to charge. I have hesitated, 'til now, to send it, cuz I hope they solve everything before they replace mine! They must have nailed the problems by now. Haven't been reading for a while; are new models reliable?

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