M11 freeze issues [Merged]

[ELAN]

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18 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

I bet you still had the SD card in when you were shooting to IN memory!?!

No. I only insert an SD card when traveling and may need storage for more than ~500 frames. 

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[LocalHero1953]

54 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Everybody is barking up the firmware tree, but on the 240 similar freezes were due to heat problems in warm weather and continuous EVF use. Any ideas there?

And they were still sorted, eventually, by firmware changes. Like mine was. (And I didn't use the EVF continuously.)
The firmware doesn't have to be the cause, but it can be the solution.

Edited January 8, 2023 by LocalHero1953

[jaapv]

Like mine was too  

[lucy63]

2 hours ago, lluvia said:

Hello everyone, I was going to order a M11 this week and then I found this group 🙁. So how bad is it? has something change since the M11 release (firmware wise?). I had a M10 a few years back and it was a nightmare, the camera froze a lot. I hoped Leica had stepped up in that area. With the M10 I send the camera to Wetslar 3 times, each time it took more than a month and the camera came back the same.. At the end the guy of the Leica store change my M10 for a use M10, but glitches free.

So know I'm a bit concern

I've had two very freezy M11's the last eventually died on me after a month of use, stayed playing dead for 3 days and came back to life in the shop after it was returned..anyway, I'd encourage you to find a very good dealer who would replace the camera with no quibbles. 

This person returned a couple because of freezing but loves the M11

 

 

[Kiwimac]

1 hour ago, Photoworks said:

Just keep in mid that the people complaining are always the loudest! 
to top this many on this forum complaint about the M11 with out even using it.

I was reading in the Wetzlar news that the M11 was the most successful digital M camera to date, maybe it is part of the fact that you can buy it in most store. You don't have to wait months like the M10.

I am very happy with my M11, much more useful then M10-R that just sits there.

their maybe are few bugs, but it is minimal at this point, and probably solved in the next FW update, they seam to be only software issues.

I’m curious. Why can you buy it without having to wait?

 

 Not that I want to wait, you understand; more what has happened to change the usual delay? Are they making more (and if so, is that contributing to poorer QC?) or selling fewer?

[Photoworks]

1 minute ago, Kiwimac said:

I’m curious. Why can you buy it without having to wait?

 

 Not that I want to wait, you understand; more what has happened to change the usual delay? Are they making more (and if so, is that contributing to poorer QC?) or selling fewer?

small company make camera in Germany by hand. M11 is selling greater number than M10 in the firs year.

The have stock of parts for few years for the camera, so no waiting for parts.

In the past every Leica new product has a long waiting time, production are still limited on lenses, and demand is high. The apo 35mm is still a preorder item in most stores.

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2 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

I’m curious. Why can you buy it without having to wait?

 

 Not that I want to wait, you understand; more what has happened to change the usual delay? Are they making more (and if so, is that contributing to poorer QC?) or selling fewer?

Or a third option - They're making more with higher quality.

Generally, in technology, early production runs are smaller with more issues which gradually get ironed out

[EJS73]

My camera exhibits the occasional lock-up even since installing 1.6 but I have not been able to pinpoint the cause. I just went through a week of moderately intense use of the M11, two batteries, the occasional lens switch, the occasional card switch, shooting both JPG and DNG - no freezes at all, one bad case of overexposure. Based on my own personal experience I'd rule out any specific setting that trigger these issues so would go along with the poster suggesting this might be caused by software pipeline clashes (or a memory leak). For me the issue is only a mild annoyance, not severe enough to dissuade me from using the camera. It's still the best platform to use M lenses.

[Alexis M]

Still with the firmware 1.6 I have a problem with a freeze when the camera go in standby mode can’t return until I take out the battery 

[lct]

43 minutes ago, Alexis M said:

Still with the firmware 1.6 I have a problem with a freeze when the camera go in standby mode can’t return until I take out the battery 

Welcome to the forum . My usual boring tips besides choosing a slower card. Format your card with SD Card Formatter, update old user profiles under firmware 1.6 and/or choose another setting for standby.

[paligap]

17 hours ago, Alexis M said:

Still with the firmware 1.6 I have a problem with a freeze when the camera go in standby mode can’t return until I take out the battery 

HI all, new user here. I have the same problem.

[LocalHero1953]

I assume all those new posting about M11 freezes have reported them to their dealer or Leica. It would be helpful to report the responses they get back, when they post here about the problem. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by LocalHero1953

[thinkscientist]

This is still happening to me nearly a year after getting my M11. I find it only happens when the EVF is on

[Alexis M]

On 1/9/2023 at 7:07 PM, lct said:

Welcome to the forum . My usual boring tips besides choosing a slower card. Format your card with SD Card Formatter, update old user profiles under firmware 1.6 and/or choose another setting for standby.

Thanks a lot for your answer. I used before SD Kingston Canvas Select Plus 128GB and had same problem but I think more often before. Now I bought Extreme Pro 128GB 200MB/s and installed firmware 1.6.

Today choose another setting for standby and formatted my Extreme Pro 128GB 200MB/s with SD Card Formatter will see.

PS I’m in love with a simplicity of Leica but never had so many software bugs with my Canon and Sony as I had with Leica M10R and now with M11. I was sure the M10R was a transitional model and the M11 would be perfect. Still don't understand how such expensive cameras can have such elementary problems.

[hdmesa]

41 minutes ago, Alexis M said:

...never had so many software bugs with my Canon and Sony as I had with Leica M10R and now with M11...

You must not have gotten one of the first-year R5 bodies then. 

[lct]

31 minutes ago, Alexis M said:

[...] Now I bought Extreme Pro 128GB 200MB/s and installed firmware 1.6.
Today choose another setting for standby and formatted my Extreme Pro 128GB 200MB/s with SD Card Formatter will see. [...]

Should work if your M11 is like mine. Don't forget to update your user profiles under firmware 1.6 if you have any. I cannot explain why but it did fix my issues.

[Qlan]

4 minutes ago, lct said:

Should work if your M11 is like mine. Don't forget to update your user profiles under firmware 1.6 if you have any. I cannot explain why but it did fix my issues.

Look lct, I know you have a good heart and are trying to help people but it's getting super annoying (to me) that you think only the SD card and profile are causing the freeze. There are many example of people still getting freezes (including me) after 1.6 and not using the SD card at all and after updating their profile. Whenever you say that, it kind of diminish my and other's experiences with freezes.

Here are the factors for freezes that I personally experienced:

1. SD card (well documented here already)

2. Battery: some batteries are defective, or maybe it's the power component in the M11.

3. Third party lenses: 95% of my freezes happen at startup after changing a lens (and yes, I did try using Lens Off in the camera setting)

Again, I know you come from a good place, but I'm annoyed tbh.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Qlan

[lct]

1 minute ago, Qlan said:

Look lct, I know you have a good heart and are trying to help people but it's getting super annoying (to me) that you think only the SD card and profile are causing the freeze. There are many example of people still getting freezes (including me) after 1.6 and not using the SD card at all and after updating their profile. Whenever you say that, it kind of diminish my and other's experiences with freezes.

As far as I know, here are the factors for freezes:

1. SD card (well documented here already)

2. Battery: some batteries are defective, or maybe it's the power component in the M11.

3. Third party lenses: 95% of my freezes happen at startup after changing a lens (and yes, I did try using Lens Off in the camera setting)

Again, I know you come from a good place, but I'm annoyed tbh.

There is no reason to be annoyed. We are here to help each other aren't we. Been doing this for 20 years on this forum and i won't change my way for freeze issues i have seen on M240 and M10 already. Only difference i never suffered from such problems myself before the M11 but i found a way to fix them on the latter so i see no reason not to share it with others .

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[charlesphoto99]

1 hour ago, Alexis M said:

I was sure the M10R was a transitional model and the M11 would be perfect. Still don't understand how such expensive cameras can have such elementary problems.

You have that backwards. M11 most definitely a new game for Leica.

[SrMi]

54 minutes ago, jqian6 said:

holy moly, go here on youtube, but what is interesting is not this video. but rather one of the comments down there. I quoted below.

if any of this true, Leica M11 is completely f--ked!

"I can confirm 100% this and the majority of other lockup / freeze / brick scenarios that have been relorted by users have nothing to do with sd cards. My wife’s brother is an executive at one of the companies that supplies components for the main board in the M11 and they have identified one of the RAM ic’s as the problem. More than 20% of the chips that have come off the line are out of tolerance. It is unclear how many are bad enough to cause the camera to freeze or brick. Furthermore he said that as the main board ages and is exposed to both heat and cold extremes they except to see an increase in the number of IC failures. Hope this helps"

It has always been my suspicion that some component is out of tolerance. Something similar has happened with X1D. The solution was to send the camera in, if you have issues.