Poll on absolute reliability

[enboe]

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Thank you for humoring me with your survey responses.

 

I am at a point of deciding whether to further my M8 kit, or update my Nikon D2X when the D3 hits the shelf.

 

My concern, my M8 has not provided 100% reliability. I sent it back in to Leica last weekend to address issues with the SD card slot. I want a camera that will be there for me 999 times out of 1000, and my personal M8 seems to have issues more like 1 time out of 20. 5% failure rate seems high, so I sent it back in, which makes it a second trip in my first year of ownership. Alas, it also means no M8 to use over Christmas, I fear.

 

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

Thank you once again.

 

Eric

 

P.S. My responses would be:

1) 1 year, but only 9 months in-hand due to immediate return when purchased new with buckled shutter.

2) 7500.

3) Yes. Failure to write to cards of multiple approved types. Card shown as locked. Card shown as no-images when half-full. etc.

4) About 1 of 20 times I turn on the camera. Think of it like 2 failures per 36 exposure roll of film.

[Eoin]

1. 1 Year (9 months actual use due to original return and subsequent returns for lens/camera calibration)

2. 6500 frames approx

 

3. Yes, locked up about 3 times in total, removed battery and everything OK

 

4. About 1 in 2000

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[johnastovall]

I've had my M8 for a month today and look on it like I did my Jaguars. So, it has problems but nothing puts a smile on your face like it does when you use it.

 

 

I've got a Canon 5D for when I want to drive a Camry.

[Speenth]

Your questions:

 

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

My answers:

 

1) 6 months, but for more than 6 weeks of that the M8 was back at Solms.

2) Well over 2,000 (at a guess, sorry - no access to my M8 right now so I can't check).

3) Excess oil spotting on the sensor in the early days of ownership (sufficiently bad to require the camera's return to Solms).

4) No other malfunctions of any significance (just the usual quirks - occasionally stays on after switched to off; unintended scrolling of the menu screen, very funny white balance, etc).

 

Overall - I'm pretty happy with it - though its nowhere close to any old brand of Japanese camera when it comes to functional reliability and it remains to be seen if its any better screwed together - somehow I doubt it. I like it for its looks, its size (portability) and its optics. I have my fingers-crossed it will still be doing the job for me in a few years time - otherwise I'll not see much of a financial return on this particular investment!

 

Do you detect the hint of doubt? I like it, but I'm not in love ... yet.

[tbarker13]

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

1) A little over a year

2) Nearly 11,000

3) It malfunctioned twice in the past year - solved by pulling the battery out and popping it back in.

4) twice in 11,000 shots

[jaapv]

Body 1:

12 months

7500

yes;once; faulty battery when there were no spares yet, solved within the day.

down-time over one year two weeks for the upgrade.

It is in Solms now for mechanical damage, I crashed it.

Body two

10 months

8000

No faults, no down-time

[gduveen]

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1) Since January

2) In the thousands

3) No faults

4) No downtime

 

Gerard

[Shootist]

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

 

1) Bought my first one in late January. It worked fine with no functional problems until it was replaced for other reason then function. Replacement came in the middle of June along with a second body I bought. Both of these M8's have never failed to work in any way (only problem with both bodies is when going into the Clean Sensor mode. They will hang for no rhyme or reason and it is totally random).

 

2) First one had about 3000 frames. Replacement chrome has about 2500 and black body has about 3000.

 

 

3) No (other then the Clean Sensor hangs). Neither has ever failed to take and record the shot.

 

4) N/A

 

To expand on this (and this is not a "Well other cameras do this or that BUT).

My Nikon D200 has failed to record shots taken. Which in my opinion is very bad. You think you got the shot only to find out that shot is not anywhere on the card.

[xrogers]

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

1) It will be one year next week sometime, subtract one month for early camera recall/update.

2) About 7000.

3) Yes

4) Lockup, two times last winter, battery removal and reinsertion required.

 

I consider my M8 as trustworthy and reliable as any camera I've owned (no other camera of mine has locked up, but each has failed me in a variety of ways no less offensive than an infrequent lockup). A truly excellent camera overall.

 

Later,

 

Clyde

[grduprey]

Thank you for humoring me with your survey responses.

 

I am at a point of deciding whether to further my M8 kit, or update my Nikon D2X when the D3 hits the shelf.

 

My concern, my M8 has not provided 100% reliability. I sent it back in to Leica last weekend to address issues with the SD card slot. I want a camera that will be there for me 999 times out of 1000, and my personal M8 seems to have issues more like 1 time out of 20. 5% failure rate seems high, so I sent it back in, which makes it a second trip in my first year of ownership. Alas, it also means no M8 to use over Christmas, I fear.

 

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

Thank you once again.

 

Eric

 

P.S. My responses would be:

1) 1 year, but only 9 months in-hand due to immediate return when purchased new with buckled shutter.

2) 7500.

3) Yes. Failure to write to cards of multiple approved types. Card shown as locked. Card shown as no-images when half-full. etc.

4) About 1 of 20 times I turn on the camera. Think of it like 2 failures per 36 exposure roll of film.

 

Eric,

I have had mine 11 months, and probably about 3000 exposures. The camera has worked flawlessly, no problems at all.

Gene

[cbretteville]

1) Eight months

2) approx 5.000

3) Yes, once

4) Shutter release lockup, resolved by removing and reinserting the battery.

 

- Carl

[mat_mcdermott]

 

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

 

1. 8 months

2. Somewhere around 5,000

3. Yes

4. Twice. The battery wouldn't display properly even though it was fully charged. Fully draining it and recharging it solved it. Another time, the camera wouldn't finish writing to the SD card; shutting down the camera, pulling the battery and reinserting it fixed it (without losing any frames I might add).

 

Overall, the types of problems I've had are probably less frequent than I've experienced with any piece of computer hardware/software I've ever used. My problems are essentially on the order of my computer crashing or a program quitting unexpectedly and having to reboot.

[jaapv]

I understand the reasons behind this thread, but it is playing at statistics, and pretty unscientific ones at that. You do realize that the predictive value for the reliability of YOUR M8 are exactly nil?

[argomazov]

1) 10 months

2) Around 2500

3) No

4) Never

 

Luca

[LichMD]

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

 

1) 9 months, continuous

2) 9k-ish

3) Yes, in India, resolved when replaced battery with fully charged

4) Once

[dbraid]

Hello all,

 

I agree that this poll may not provide good data on the M8. I suspect there are many, like me, who have found the camera to be very reliable (In 9 months I have had no trouble with my M8 that removing and replacing the battery would not solve--I have had to do this once). It would also be essential to know the reliability data of other cameras in comparison to the M8. I have heard stories of other electronic cameras from major brands being sent repeatedly for service.

 

Donald

[rwfreund]

My questions for you:

1) How long have you owned your M8

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

Body 1:

1) 8 months

2) 5.5k

3) 2-3 lockups fixable with battery remove-reinstall

4) 2-3 times

 

Body 2:

1) 2 months

2) 1.7k

3) No

4) zero

 

but...

Both cameras had significant rangefinder infinity setting issues.

Body 1 is now at Leica for a rangefinder adjusment to do a better job than my efforts at using the 2mm wrench along with a 90/2 for coding and a 35/1.4 for diagnosis (never seemed right)

When / if Body 1 comes back along with the 90 and 35 (with both focusing correctly), then I will send in Body 2

 

In comparison to a D200

1) two years

2) 6k (less fun exposures)

3) no malfunction other than its rubber covering coming off and blocking the front wheel

4) once if you count that as a malfunction

 

The nikon has a higher degree of electronic, and firmware quality but a lower level of "finish"

Th Leica has lower levels of build quality mostly due to low volume manufacturing and the lack of tooling that dictates.

-bob

[rothberg]

1) How long have you owned your M8: November 2006 (About a Year)

 

2) Approximately how many frames have you shot 1000's

 

3) Has the camera malfunctioned during this time

Yes

Full lock up requiring a trip to Germany X1

Returned to Germany for Upgrade X1

About 10 Battery Removal resets

 

4) How frequently has it malfunctioned

 

at least monthly

I do not trust my M8 although I like using it

 

If there is $$$ involved, out come the Canons

 

Leica builds great lenses, The M9 (if & when) will fix most of this stuff

in the mean tine when it doesn’t count, I use my M

[ken_tanaka]

Eric: Having owned my M8 since February 2, 2007 it has seriously "malfunctioned" (i.e. required a time-out) only once in just over 6,000 frames. I have no complaints about the M8 from this perspective.

 

But even if you get 10,000 responses here what will it really mean to YOU? If you do not feel that you can rely on your M8 then you're a goof for dumping more money into the system. You can't prop the camera with a print-out of our responses. If I experienced problem rates similar to yours I would not own the camera or its lenses any more. I'm interested in photography not fondling.

 

If you're basically a family/travel/social/personal commemoration snap-shooter I know you can do equally well, with greater reliability and far less expense, with other cameras. Why live with unnecessary drama?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Ariston]

1) Since early March - 8 months

2) 2500+

3) No problems