Leica M8 Shutter Issue

[Chrisjkriek]

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Hi all, Just bought a second hand M8 and all was great until I could not get out to do some photography for a few days. I now notice that when I turn the camera on the shutter button is inactive until I turn it of and remove the bottom plate, there is then a resetting type "ping"  noise and after replacing the plate and turning the camera on all is ok. Any thoughts on this rather strange phenomenon?

Any information would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[jaapv]

This is indeed strange as the bottom plate has nothing to do with the shutter nor does a ping noise make much sense. Does the camera produce any kind of warning message on the LCD display during this procedure? 

[dem331]

In my experience most of the problems with the M8 (apart from terminal shutter failures) come from the power supply. I do not have a scientific basis for this, just observation.

I would make sure the battery is fully-fully charged and try again.

If problem persists, I would try running the battery down to zero charge and trying again after charging fully. People that know a lot more than me will tell you this is not good for the battery, all I can say is that it worked to me

If you still have problems get a new battery. 

[Borna]

44 minutes ago, dem331 said:

In my experience most of the problems with the M8 (apart from terminal shutter failures) come from the power supply. I do not have a scientific basis for this, just observation.

I would make sure the battery is fully-fully charged and try again.

If problem persists, I would try running the battery down to zero charge and trying again after charging fully. People that know a lot more than me will tell you this is not good for the battery, all I can say is that it worked to me

If you still have problems get a new battery. 

Yep, I agree - I had some weird issues with my M8 in the beginning. Tried my friends M8/M9 battery and it worked like new. I recommend to see if it is an battery issue. 

[Chrisjkriek]

Thank you all. It is amazing when like minds get together, working toward a common goal achieve so much. I will try all suggestions as I love this old camera and using it. "Built like a tank and shoots like one" CJK

[a.noctilux]

When you have the battery out, date code is scratched somewhere.

WWYY 

WW is week of the year 1 to 52

YY is year of manufacture, last digits.

In my wife's M8, it's 48 06 so from 2006 !

[a.noctilux]

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On 11/27/2023 at 12:07 PM, Chrisjkriek said:

Thank you all. It is amazing when like minds get together, working toward a common goal achieve so much. I will try all suggestions as I love this old camera and using it. "Built like a tank and shoots like one" CJK

How it came out ?

[Chrisjkriek]

Hi a.noctilux. Thank you for checking in. I tried everything except using an M9 battery charger which I do not have access to. I have now given it back to "The Camera Exchange" in Melbourne and they are conducting some tests. They have done a firmware upgrade to no avail. Hoping to have a final answer in a weeks time or else I may have to ask for my$$$ back and look for another. After this experience I am questioning if it is worth the trouble. Love the M8 and the photographs that I can make with it....but!.... Somewhat disappointing journey. Fingers crossed that they can fix it.