pgh Posted April 30 Share #241 Posted April 30 Advertisement (gone after registration) 2 hours ago, 7enderbender said: I get what you’re saying but I don’t think it’s 100% accurate. Yes, a lot of people treat these cameras as jewelry for the big name and big price tag. Same issue really with watches, including Rolex, since you mention it. That doesn’t take away from the fact that both are very solid tools built with purpose (unlike a silly overpriced bag made in China). The battery issue: yes, it’s annoying that for whatever reason those are hard get here in the US. On the other hand, I’m glad that Leica keeps tight controls since I don’t want to deal with the same kind of nonsense again, that I had to deal with with Canon - where you have to be very careful not to buy counterfeits even through the big photo stores. I was able to get another backup through Leica Germany which I will pick up at a friend's house when going to Europe in the Summer. This should be easier. They’re good, if finicky and not wholly reliable tools but I am speaking more about Leicas advertising philosophy coupled with product support on the ground. It smacks of a planned obsolescence approach. Ie, pushing people to toss things that could be used much longer (in part because they are well built). And yes some people buy into that jewelry sort of philosophy but this forum seems to mostly be people who actually want to make photos, thankfully. anyways. Yes it should be easier. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 30 Posted April 30 Hi pgh, Take a look here M10 Batteries. Availability (merged thread). I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
weatherproof Posted April 30 Share #242 Posted April 30 3 hours ago, 7enderbender said: The battery issue: yes, it’s annoying that for whatever reason those are hard get here in the US. On the other hand, I’m glad that Leica keeps tight controls since I don’t want to deal with the same kind of nonsense again, that I had to deal with with Canon - where you have to be very careful not to buy counterfeits even through the big photo stores. I was able to get another backup through Leica Germany which I will pick up at a friend's house when going to Europe in the Summer. This should be easier. That's what Leica claims, but I'd rather have the option of mediocre third-party batteries in 2030 instead of nothing from Leica and trawling eBay for "[EXC+++] Mint BP-SCL5" batteries. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekitr Posted May 1 Share #243 Posted May 1 At Last I got one in Montreal from Camtec. They told me they received four and kept one for me. Thx Francis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jja Posted May 2 Share #244 Posted May 2 Does anyone have advice on best practices for maintaining good battery life over the long run? I have a few batteries but sometimes my camera is idle for a week or more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helge Posted May 2 Share #245 Posted May 2 vor einer Stunde schrieb jja: Does anyone have advice on best practices for maintaining good battery life over the long run? I have a few batteries but sometimes my camera is idle for a week or more. Don’t let them go empty without recharging immediately. Don‘t store them at 100% charge level, 80% is better. If not in regular use, look em up once in a while (every month, every other month latest) and recharge if necessary. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekitr Posted May 2 Share #246 Posted May 2 I have a theory about these M10 batterie. !- Assume that Varta won't rig another factory to produce these batterie for some cost consideration or availability of the chips needed. 2- Leica have a stock of batterie that they deliver very slowly trying to cover let's say two more years. Then they can say they supported the M10 long enough and avoid being sued. Now the question is, if that's so, will they permit third party to produce the batterie or at least, by way of a new firmware, unlock the identification process for the batterie. It may seem far fetched but with the vacuum of info from Westlar we can speculate. Any comment? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crem Posted May 3 Share #247 Posted May 3 Advertisement (gone after registration) 10 hours ago, jja said: Does anyone have advice on best practices for maintaining good battery life over the long run? I have a few batteries but sometimes my camera is idle for a week or more. Take this as non-official advice based on the advice of a stranger on the Internet so it can't be wrong. I store my batteries at 50% - 70% charge if I know I'm not going to use them for a while. It's difficult to charge to a specific number and I'm not overly concerned about it. I mostly make sure I don't store them with a low charge (could kill them) or store them at 100% (premature aging?). They will slowly drain on their own and I try to give them a little exercise at least every month or two. I started shooting more film so the digitals haven't gotten a ton of use which is why I started doing this. Though with the price of film these days I will think about going back to digital. $10/roll Tri-X and $18/roll Portra 800 is getting rather silly. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwidad Posted May 3 Share #248 Posted May 3 On 4/24/2025 at 11:18 AM, charlesphoto99 said: I doubt most are even doing that, and just selling on with the traded in battery as-is. I'm not even sure (actually totally doubt) if Leica USA has them available as a spare part. Look at the replacement parts pages on Leica Miami and 90% of it is out of stock (I'm looking for a front protection ring for my 35 2.5 Summarit, rare as hen's teeth). But hey, you can always get a $500 teddy bear or pencil set.... Much as I love leica Miami I don't think those stock status's on spare parts necessarily reflect a true availability. They may just choose to order on demand from Leica when they do parts orders. It amazes me how I can call a dealer out of stock andtehy can sometimes find one. My partners D-lux 8 was bought from a dealer out of stock. Good luck with the protection ring. I bought one miraculously it seems for my 35 summarit and never take the shade of so it sits with the original cap in my draw. What a lens! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 3 Share #249 Posted May 3 12 hours ago, lekitr said: I have a theory about these M10 batterie. !- Assume that Varta won't rig another factory to produce these batterie for some cost consideration or availability of the chips needed. 2- Leica have a stock of batterie that they deliver very slowly trying to cover let's say two more years. Then they can say they supported the M10 long enough and avoid being sued. Now the question is, if that's so, will they permit third party to produce the batterie or at least, by way of a new firmware, unlock the identification process for the batterie. It may seem far fetched but with the vacuum of info from Westlar we can speculate. Any comment? It has nothing to do with any identification process. It is safety software. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 3 Share #250 Posted May 3 23 hours ago, jja said: Does anyone have advice on best practices for maintaining good battery life over the long run? I have a few batteries but sometimes my camera is idle for a week or more. https://batteryuniversity.com/articles 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekitr Posted May 3 Share #251 Posted May 3 2 hours ago, jaapv said: It has nothing to do with any identification process. It is safety software. Thank you for the precision. Beside this detail does anything else in this theory make sense? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 3 Share #252 Posted May 3 Maybe in a way. Leica does attempt to make battery availability a design parameter. The CL uses a widely available type, The SL series is consistent on battery interchangeability. Maybe the enthusiasm of the battery industry for the M8 made them a bit optimistic. In general the M series has a few problems. Size and shape is a difficult design aspect in the constricted M bodies so different models have different batteries; only relatively small numbers can be ordered and stocked. The battery industry is battling a shortage of basic materials because EV production is gobbling up the supplies, driving the price up, making the margins for consumer products rather thin, this making small runs of specialty batteries rather unattractive. So no interest in making Leica M battery clones nor small batches for M10 cameras and Leica is too small to be able to push in. Large numbers are more efficient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted May 6 Share #253 Posted May 6 On 5/2/2025 at 7:51 PM, lekitr said: I have a theory about these M10 batterie. !- Assume that Varta won't rig another factory to produce these batterie for some cost consideration or availability of the chips needed. 2- Leica have a stock of batterie that they deliver very slowly trying to cover let's say two more years. Then they can say they supported the M10 long enough and avoid being sued. Now the question is, if that's so, will they permit third party to produce the batterie or at least, by way of a new firmware, unlock the identification process for the batterie. It may seem far fetched but with the vacuum of info from Westlar we can speculate. Any comment? I got a new battery the other week and the manufacture date was 2025, so it might not be the case that they have ceased production. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherproof Posted May 7 Share #254 Posted May 7 For anyone looking: CameraWest has some BP-SCL5s in stock for $215 (up from $200) https://camerawest.com/products/leica-lithium-ion-battery-bp-scl5-m10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helge Posted May 7 Share #255 Posted May 7 Price increase in the US is probably also a result of the dropping value of the $ (compared to € 😉). The battery is still at €165 here in Germany. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexGig0 Posted May 7 Share #256 Posted May 7 (edited) 18 hours ago, weatherproof said: For anyone looking: CameraWest has some BP-SCL5s in stock for $215 (up from $200) https://camerawest.com/products/leica-lithium-ion-battery-bp-scl5-m10 You beat me to it. I got an availability notification from Camera West, today, Wednesday, the 7th of May. I ordered one, each, for our 240-series cameras. Availability extending into a second day is a good sign. Perhaps the availability crisis is ending. Edited May 7 by RexGig0 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted May 9 Share #257 Posted May 9 (edited) Yeah, with the talk of future batches asking $300 when I saw one in stock at $215 delivered I ordered one that arrived today. Seems to be charging fine. That should last me the life of my M10 (or me). I suspect Leica prices their batteries based on a percentage of the camera price - people who can spend $10K on a camera can afford $300 for a battery. Edited May 9 by TomB_tx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helge Posted May 9 Share #258 Posted May 9 I think you ignore a little bit the present economical situation in the US. Tariffs and a dropping value of the $ (reflected in the exchange rate) will put everything from Leica on a more or less steep ramp of price increases in the US. The batteries are AFAIK still at about 160€ here in Germany. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel_leica Posted May 29 Share #259 Posted May 29 For those in Canada - it looks like Downtown Camera in Toronto received a small shipment of M10 batteries. I was able to pick one up today and I see that it’s available online as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted May 29 Share #260 Posted May 29 https://leicacamerausa.com/leica-battery-lithium-ion-bp-scl5-for-m10.html?utm_source=instocknotify&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=instocknotify Back in stock at Leica USA Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now