Ivar B Posted November 14, 2007 Share #1 Posted November 14, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) This has maybe been discussed before, but let an M8 newbie ask again. I just received my M8 back from Solms yesterday after sudden death. I now tried to update to the new firmware, but I always get the error message that battery power is too low, despite the battery having been charged the whole night an is new (I only used the M8 for 1/2 before it collapsed). Anyone has any advice on this? Perhaps battery is faulty, but I do get the full battery power indication on the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 Hi Ivar B, Take a look here M8 battery. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
cbretteville Posted November 14, 2007 Share #2 Posted November 14, 2007 Sounds like a bad battery. PM me and let's see if we can't set up a meet. I have three batteries that work properly. - Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 14, 2007 Share #3 Posted November 14, 2007 Let the battery drain down all the way in the camera, IE until the camera shuts off, then re-charge the battery Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 14, 2007 Share #4 Posted November 14, 2007 That's right, Ed, but one has to disable autoshutoff in the menu first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivar B Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share #5 Posted November 15, 2007 Thanks all - I will try this out first. I see that plenty of low cost barreries are available on eBay. Are these ok as a backup, or can they in any way damage the camera or charger? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 15, 2007 Share #6 Posted November 15, 2007 They are cheap, but they are problematic, most do exactly the same thing your battery is doing now. I have two, but I keep them for emergencies. The best thing to do is to have at least one Leica backup battery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
orjanf Posted November 15, 2007 Share #7 Posted November 15, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks all - I will try this out first. I see that plenty of low cost barreries are available on eBay. Are these ok as a backup, or can they in any way damage the camera or charger? In my experience they're OK - work just as well and long as the original but you have to let them run down before re-charging if you want the status indication to work. BTW you don't have to disable auto shutoff - just use them till they stop working. If I were a professional I would use them only as emergency backup (they are very cheap) and buy enough Leica batteries to last any normal session. As an amateur I can 'use it up' whenever I don't expect an interruption for changing battery to matter . (Which is nearly all the time). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
usefeet Posted November 15, 2007 Share #8 Posted November 15, 2007 I see that plenty of low cost barreries are available on eBay. Are these ok as a backup, or can they in any way damage the camera or charger? If getting a spare battery, ..and after investing so much money in the Leica M8, I would recommend getting a proper Leica battery. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
orjanf Posted November 15, 2007 Share #9 Posted November 15, 2007 If getting a spare battery, ..and after investing so much money in the Leica M8, I would recommend getting a proper Leica battery. Cheers After investing so much money in the leica M8 some people may regrettably succumb to the temptation to buy improper batteries or, even worse, improper lenses. They may not be as good as Leica items but they are a LOT better than nothing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 15, 2007 Share #10 Posted November 15, 2007 If getting a spare battery, ..and after investing so much money in the Leica M8, I would recommend getting a proper Leica battery. Cheers That is true if you only have one battery, get a second real Leica battery. But I have 2 aftermarket batteries that work just fine except that you have to fully drain them before a recharge for them to display the charge state correctly. I slight PITA but as a emergency spare battery they work OK. Actually right now I'm using the AM batteries all the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted November 15, 2007 Share #11 Posted November 15, 2007 That is true if you only have one battery, get a second real Leica battery. But I have 2 aftermarket batteries that work just fine except that you have to fully drain them before a recharge for them to display the charge state correctly. I slight PITA but as a emergency spare battery they work OK. Actually right now I'm using the AM batteries all the time. Ed, There are quite a few suppliers on eBay, one of whom I bought Digilux 2 and D-Lux2 batteries from in the past. Right now, there are some dirt cheap 1700mAh batteries available from the same supplier and I am tempted since I had no problems with the previous batteries I bought from him. Interestingly though, for about $45.00 there are 2000mAh batteries available from a US seller - this sounds interesting, as the original M8 battery is 1900mAh. Can you share with us what aftermarket batteries you are using and who was the supplier? I already have a couple original M8 batteries and would not mind adding a couple cheaper ones for emergencies. Money saved will be used for film fodder for my sulking M7......... Best, Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted November 15, 2007 Share #12 Posted November 15, 2007 Ivar, buy "real" batteries (I have 4). When you're out of power and you pull out the substitute battery and it doesn't work, you'll have your assistant beat you over the head. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 15, 2007 Share #13 Posted November 15, 2007 Ed, Can you share with us what aftermarket batteries you are using and who was the supplier? Best, Jan I'm using Impact batteries. As for the supplier just do a search on Impact batteries and you will come up with it. I think they are made for that one photo supply house. The reason I don't mention them is the last time I did it was for the problem I posted about and they graciously sent me another battery free of charge without asking for the original back. But that new battery did the same thing as the original. It was then I realized that the first battery was OK IF you fully drain it before a recharge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted November 15, 2007 Share #14 Posted November 15, 2007 Ed, if I rephrase your posting (and include the posting you refer to), then you're actually recommending this battery. Is that right? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 15, 2007 Share #15 Posted November 15, 2007 Ed, if I rephrase your posting (and include the posting you refer to), then you're actually recommending this battery. Is that right? Yes and No. If I had to do it over again I would probably skip getting any aftermarket batteries. But if someone wants to save some money on batteries for the M8, and can deal with always fully draining them befroe you recharge them, then these batteries work just as well as the real Leica batteries. I use them in 2 different M8's and haven't noticed any irregularities with either camera. The cameras function as good, or as bad (whether your glass is half full or half empty), as they do with real Leica batteries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
orjanf Posted November 15, 2007 Share #16 Posted November 15, 2007 Ed, Can you share with us what aftermarket batteries you are using and who was the supplier? eBay Australia Store – i-modetech: Search results for leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivar B Posted November 16, 2007 Author Share #17 Posted November 16, 2007 Thank you all for your inputs. Running down the battery twice and recharging it brought it back to life, and there were no problems with the update. I have ordered another Leica battery and a few very cheap emergency non original batteries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Ortego Posted November 19, 2007 Share #18 Posted November 19, 2007 Ok, I'm new and I'm reading here, although I was really looking for info regarding battery life (charge). Is there such a thing as that? I mean, what can I expect to receive from a fully charged battery after charging? Perhaps1-2 hours or x-photos, etc? Regards, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted November 19, 2007 Share #19 Posted November 19, 2007 Ok, I'm new and I'm reading here, although I was really looking for info regarding battery life (charge). Is there such a thing as that? I mean, what can I expect to receive from a fully charged battery after charging? Perhaps1-2 hours or x-photos, etc?Regards, You can get about 200 DNG shots from a full battery, at least that is my experience. Other have gotten more, in the range of 300-400. Best practice is to always have a second full battery with you if you think you are going to shoot more then 100 shots. Also I try to start out with a full battery when I'm going somewhere to shoot something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted November 19, 2007 Share #20 Posted November 19, 2007 The greatest number of shots I've taken at one time is around 350, and there was still some charge left in the battery. So I'd guess around 400 on a full charge. If you 'chimp' then you'll get fewer than this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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