SL2 not turning on following attempted Firmware update

[gotgotneed]

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Hi All,

I wondered if someone could help with some advice. Yesterday when attempting to update the firmware in my SL2 the camera froze and eventually crashed.
 

When I tried to restart it it wouldn’t turn back on and now nothing happens except a faint flickering of the screen on top of the camera. No red light etc.

I took the camera into the Leica store (in London) but unfortunately they couldn’t assist as their technician is currently away, although they did suggest it may need to go back to Germany and could take up to 12 weeks to get back. 
 

I wondered if anyone could offer some advice on what my options are given that the camera is under warranty - purchased in August 2022 - as I really can’t be without it for such a prolonged period of time. It’s an essential tool for work. 
 

Any assistance would be gratefully received.

 

[jaapv]

Have the Leica Store send it in and ask for a loaner.

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[Stuart Richardson]

38 minutes ago, gotgotneed said:

I wondered if anyone could offer some advice on what my options are given that the camera is under warranty - purchased in August 2022 - as I really can’t be without it for such a prolonged period of time. It’s an essential tool for work. 
 

Any assistance would be gratefully received.

 

You options are primarily what Jaap has said. If you bought it at that store, they are more likely to try to help you out, but Leica does not have a general policy that offers loaners, but stores do at times. Hopefully the technician will be able to reset the camera in the UK, as it is likely that it just needs the firmware rewritten, rather than a repair that will require disassembly. Additionally, you could call Leica in Germany and talk to their customer support. They do better with phone calls than emails in my experience. They do speak English.

If it is an essential tool for work, then it makes sense to have a backup. While another Leica might be ideal, the Panasonic S bodies will use all the L mount lenses natively, and a used S1, S5 or S1R will be fairly reasonably priced and offer similar image quality (the S1R sharing the sensor with the SL2, and the S1, S1H and S5/S5II sharing the sensor with the SL2S. That would be a lot cheaper than trying to source a used SL2.

I know it does not help you now, so please don't take it the wrong way, but it is often a good idea to hold off on updating the firmware unless you need the new features. The classic "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. This firmware seems to have caused a lot of problems for people. Hopefully they will fix it in a new release shortly. This would not be as big of a problem of course if Leica had efficient service, but unfortunately their service has been very slow in the last years.

Edited February 6 by Stuart Richardson

[gotgotneed]

4 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

You options are primarily what Jaap has said. If you bought it at that store, they are more likely to try to help you out, but Leica does not have a general policy that offers loaners, but stores do at times. Hopefully the technician will be able to reset the camera in the UK, as it is likely that it just needs the firmware rewritten, rather than a repair that will require disassembly. Additionally, you could call Leica in Germany and talk to their customer support. They do better with phone calls than emails in my experience. They do speak English.

If it is an essential tool for work, then it makes sense to have a backup. While another Leica might be ideal, the Panasonic S bodies will use all the L mount lenses natively, and a used S1, S5 or S1R will be fairly reasonably priced and offer similar image quality (the S1R sharing the sensor with the SL2, and the S1, S1H and S5/S5II sharing the sensor with the SL2S. That would be a lot cheaper than trying to source a used SL2.

I know it does not help you now, so please don't take it the wrong way, but it is often a good idea to hold off on updating the firmware unless you need the new features. The classic "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. This firmware seems to have caused a lot of problems for people. Hopefully they will fix it in a new release shortly. This would not be as big of a problem of course if Leica had efficient service, but unfortunately their service has been very slow in the last years.

Hi Stuart, many thanks for the reply and going into so much detail, there maybe a chance of a loan camera - the person helping at Leica did kindly mention it was a possibility - which I’ll follow up on tomorrow with the team there. That would certainly help and ease the frustration (I have with myself primarily). I say this in response to your last point - certainly no offence taken - as I really wish I hadn’t bothered to attempt the update. I didn’t need to but kept getting reminders to do so and eventually caved in to curiosity. Not a mistake I’ll make again. Fingers crossed it reaches as speedy a resolution as possible. Much Appreciated, Will

[gotgotneed]

45 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Have the Leica Store send it in and ask for a loaner.

I’ll certainly enquire about that possibility. Many thanks for the reply

[BernardC]

It probably won't help, but you can try removing all memory cards, and swapping-in a fresh battery. Removing the lens might help too, in case the problem is on that end.

[gotgotneed]

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Thanks BernardC I have tried all those suggestions. No joy unfortunately 

[KateStarr]

@gotgotneed Hi there. I was just wondering if you got this resolved and how. I just had the same experience while attempting to update my SL2-S.

I tried to update the firmware via the Fotos app, received an error notice on the app that the update didn't work. My camera was stuck on the "upgrading the firmware" screen so I eventually pulled the battery. Now the camera is completely non-responsive, not even the faint flickering that you experienced. It will not turn on at all and shows no signs of life.

I assume I'm going to have to send the camera in to my (not local) Leica dealer, but wanted to check to see if you found an easier solution first.

Cheers!

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

27 minutes ago, KateStarr said:

@gotgotneed Hi there. I was just wondering if you got this resolved and how. I just had the same experience while attempting to update my SL2-S.

I tried to update the firmware via the Fotos app, received an error notice on the app that the update didn't work. My camera was stuck on the "upgrading the firmware" screen so I eventually pulled the battery. Now the camera is completely non-responsive, not even the faint flickering that you experienced. It will not turn on at all and shows no signs of life.

I assume I'm going to have to send the camera in to my (not local) Leica dealer, but wanted to check to see if you found an easier solution first.

Cheers!

A few days ago, the same thing happened to my SL2S, but I had not pulled out the battery. After displaying the “upgrading camera” screen for maybe 10-15min, the camera went blank and became unresponsive.

I was updating the software via the app. Phone battery was above 80% and plugged into a charger, camera battery around 90%. 

I pulled out the battery, SD card, unmounted the lens and left it overnight in this state. In the morning I inserted a different fully charged battery and the camera came back to life, but with flickering rear display and flickering top display.

Mounted the SL-50/1.4 and SD card back, the camera still kept flickering randomly. The camera froze for the first few photos - AF point was unresponsive, shutter did not fire. Turned it off and on again, it started to work normally. 

Maybe this is of some help. 

[KateStarr]

2 minutes ago, TheGodParticle/Hari said:

A few days ago, the same thing happened to my SL2S, but I had not pulled out the battery. After displaying the “upgrading camera” screen for maybe 10-15min, the camera went blank and became unresponsive.

I was updating the software via the app. Phone battery was above 80% and plugged into a charger, camera battery around 90%. 

I pulled out the battery, SD card, unmounted the lens and left it overnight in this state. In the morning I inserted a different fully charged battery and the camera came back to life, but with flickering rear display and flickering top display.

Mounted the SL-50/1.4 and SD card back, the camera still kept flickering randomly. The camera froze for the first few photos - AF point was unresponsive, shutter did not fire. Turned it off and on again, it started to work normally. 

Maybe this is of some help. 

Thank you! I will try this and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

3 minutes ago, KateStarr said:

Thank you! I will try this and keep my fingers crossed.

 

Wishing you luck! Shouldn’t have to be such an adventure to upgrade FW though