Official Leica Statement: Leica SL3 Issues

[jaapv]

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Maybe but I recently found an old M8 card and it was still fine. For medium term storage I wouldn’t expect problems. 

[SrMi]

I use SD cards where high speed card write does not matter. The reason is that my home computer and laptop both have built-in SD card readers.

[jaapv]

1 minute ago, Indeepthought said:

We have used SD cards for years, admittedly some have proved faulty. But, surely it’s up to the camera manufacturers to ensure their electronics are compatible with all if not the majority of SD cards.. can you imagine the uproar if your family car would only run properly/safely on one make of tyre! Over the last 20years of using all makes of digital cameras I have never been told ‘use this specific make’ of media..

But your family car won’t run on all types of fuel. E5, E10, ethanol, diesel, it is all to easy to ruin your engine by choosing the wrong kind. 

[Indeepthought]

49 minutes ago, jaapv said:

But your family car won’t run on all types of fuel. E5, E10, ethanol, diesel, it is all to easy to ruin your engine by choosing the wrong kind. 

But:- you can use any make of the specific fuel - Mobil/Shell etc. etc..

[LocalHero1953]

CFe cards look and feel better made than SD cards, but I’ve still rarely had a SD card failure. 

I would not want a camera that only had internal memory - I usually download all my images from a session and reformat the card before using it for another session. Occasionally I don’t have time, and it would make me nervous (perhaps irrationally) if I had to use a card for a session that had valuable images on it from the previous session. A camera with only internal memory would put me in the same paranoid situation. 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

No cameras currently available have only internal memory. It’s just redundancy that can’t be removed. A card option is still there. Plus’s….

1. You can’t leave your memory at home accidentally if it’s built into the camera.

2. Most card failures are from pulling a card during writing. You can’t do that with internal memory.

3. Read/write speeds are generally faster with internal memory. My X2D download speeds are just spectacular. Even a fast CFE/B card doesn’t keep up because the readers are limited. SD isn’t even close.

4. You only need one type of card. Too many cameras with CFE and SD required for two card slots.

I see no downsides to internal memory plus one card slot, except when they skimp on capacity like the M11. Still it’s the first M with dual memory capability.

Maybe the SL3-P will get internal memory?

Gordon

p.s. In 25 years of shooting digital I’ve had less than half a dozen card fails. Mostly the old CF cards. Two SD failures. Both straight after inserting the card. Lost 4 images in 20 years. I’ve hot swapped a hundred batteries but never when the card was writing and never lost a file that way.

[SrMi]

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1 hour ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

No cameras currently available have only internal memory

 

Pixii.

[Simone_DF]

On 7/16/2024 at 3:10 AM, Jim B said:

I’m sorry but through this whole rant of a thread…. Is there any one person who actually owns the camera and  lost files? And in all honesty, if you pulled the battery while the camera was on, or writing a file, or shut it off while it was writing a file…. That’s on you! It’s common sense! And Yes it takes longer to write a 60 meg file and certainly a burst of them!

Did you actually bother to read the thread? I suspect you didn't. The camera doesn't lose files that have not been written on the card yet. The camera overwrites files that have been written on the card even 1-2 hours before you pull the battery.

[Ken Abrahams]

I just heard there is a firmware update for the SL3 coming very soon 😃

[JTLeica]

22 minutes ago, Ken Abrahams said:

I just heard there is a firmware update for the SL3 coming very soon 😃

WOOOOOOOOOOO

I am going to be hot swapping batteries just for fun

Lovely recent image of the minimal house Ken!

[BernardC]

16 hours ago, IkarusJohn said:

This is probably the wrong place to post this, but is it time to dump SD cards?  We’ve had problems with SD cards since the M9.  I’m very happy with the 1TB of internal memory in my X2D.  I do use a CFE card (and it was shockingly expensive), but I now wonder why.

There were issues in the M8/M9 days, but not really since (other than counterfeits).

Those were the wild west days of SD cards. A lot of brands interpreted specs in their own ways, and performance demands on cards were exploding because of digicam popularity.

The great thing about SD is that it's ubiquitous and cheap. You can pop it into almost any laptop or TV and it will work. On the downside, speed is limited for video, and very large cards are expensive compared to CFe B.

 

Having an internal SSD makes sense for some high-end stills cameras, like the M11 or Hasselblad, but I doubt it's a cost savings, and many consumers prefer to choose how much storage they want to pay for. Video shooters want swapable storage so they don't have to stop and download their files in the middle of a job.

[Jim B]

6 hours ago, Simone_DF said:

Did you actually bother to read the thread? I suspect you didn't. The camera doesn't lose files that have not been written on the card yet. The camera overwrites files that have been written on the card even 1-2 hours before you pull the battery.

My experience since May is that the camera works Perfectly.  If people think that digital cameras were made to have their batteries hot swapped, they are mistaken and risk damaging the camera, corrupting the firmware, and corrupting the cards. So I’m not surprised they are having issues, however I am shocked that people would remove the battery while it was on  and think it’s an acceptable practice…. 

[LocalHero1953]

31 minutes ago, Jim B said:

My experience since May is that the camera works Perfectly.  If people think that digital cameras were made to have their batteries hot swapped, they are mistaken and risk damaging the camera, corrupting the firmware, and corrupting the cards. So I’m not surprised they are having issues, however I am shocked that people would remove the battery while it was on  and think it’s an acceptable practice…. 

Fortunately for the rest of us who are so misguided, incompetent and lacking in your experience, Leica appears to agree that this is a malfunction that should and will be corrected. See post #1.

Edited July 17, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

FWIW, I was shooting a play dress rehearsal last night with the SL2-S, and took about 450 photos in an hour (single shots). Towards the end (i.e. when the action builds to a climax and one doesn't want to miss a moment) the battery icon started flashing (it was a bit below 100% when I started). I was ready with a spare in my back pocket, hot swapped in a few seconds, and continued shooting. I remembered the last shot before the swap, and it was not lost. This is normal practice and outcome for me, with this and previous cameras.

[Jim B]

Paul I am actually shocked, that you hot swap batteries. Don’t you care about your nice equipment? Just think about it….Do you pull the plug on your computer? Do you pull out sd cards without properly ejecting them?  Just stop, please stop doing it! 🫣

[LocalHero1953]

2 minutes ago, Jim B said:

Paul I am actually shocked, that you hot swap batteries. Don’t you care about your nice equipment? Just think about it….Do you pull the plug on your computer? Do you pull out sd cards without properly ejecting them?  Just stop, please stop doing it! 🫣

I am sorry you are shocked. However, the great thing about internet forums is that one is not obliged to take unsolicited advice.

[Jim B]

28 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Fortunately for the rest of us who are so misguided, incompetent and lacking in your experience, Leica appears to agree that this is a malfunction that should and will be corrected. See post #1.

While Leica may be able to fix the file naming convention upon restart, they wouldn’t be able to fix the possibility of damage to the camera, firmware, or sd card from the abrupt power surge of hot swapping batteries. I was just reading another thread where a user fried the motherboard of his non Leica  camera  hot swapping lenses…  All you hot swappers are living way too dangerously 🫣

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited July 17, 2024 by Jim B

[Simone_DF]

3 hours ago, Jim B said:

My experience since May is that the camera works Perfectly.

Thanks, but you are not the center of the universe. I’m glad it has not happened to you, but other people have lost precious files. 

 

3 hours ago, Jim B said:

If people think that digital cameras were made to have their batteries hot swapped, they are mistaken and risk damaging the camera, corrupting the firmware, and corrupting the cards. So I’m not surprised they are having issues, however I am shocked that people would remove the battery while it was on  and think it’s an acceptable practice…. 

People also speed while driving, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, eat junk food, cross streets without waiting for the green and all the rest. And there’s a remediation plan for all these situations. For the SL3 overwriting files, there’s no remediation plan put in place by Leica. 

[Jim B]

20 minutes ago, Simone_DF said:

Thanks, but you are not the center of the universe. I’m glad it has not happened to you, but other people have lost precious files. 

 

People also speed while driving, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, eat junk food, cross streets without waiting for the green and all the rest. And there’s a remediation plan for all these situations. For the SL3 overwriting files, there’s no remediation plan put in place by Leica. 

Well Simone, they are working on it. And in the meantime, they are suggesting people use the camera according to the manual, which will avoid them loosing their images. I rarely have ever stood up for a company, but in this instance, I think that there are a lot of hard working people that put a lot of dedication into making this camera. I do not think it is fair to them to have people constantly bashing the product over user errors. 

What the real issue at hand has come down to is that some people think hot swapping lenses and batteries is a normal way to operate a camera. IMHO it’s not.  Why blame the company when the user is at fault?  Because they didn’t spend enough time beta testing let’s see what happens when we pull the batteries out?  Common sense would tell you it’s not a good practice on any camera and you risk damage to the camera, the firmware and the cards. In this instance, its file naming convention has issues… big deal …. They said they will fix it and you know they will. In the meantime, operate the camera as it states in the manual, and you will be fine.

I’m more happy they greatly improved the autofocus, the image quality of the new sensor and the overall great performance. I think the workers did a good job with the camera.
 

 

Edited July 17, 2024 by Jim B

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[jaapv]

34 minutes ago, Simone_DF said:

Thanks, but you are not the center of the universe. I’m glad it has not happened to you, but other people have lost precious files. 

 

People also speed while driving, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, eat junk food, cross streets without waiting for the green and all the rest. And there’s a remediation plan for all these situations. For the SL3 overwriting files, there’s no remediation plan put in place by Leica. 

Errr.. remediation plans? Compulsory rehab clinics for cigarettes, glasses of wine, hot dog eating and chain fences on every crossroads? I wouldn’t want to live in a place like that. So keep to Leica’s advice for the time being and have no overwritten files and in the meantime they will find a way to hold your hand when changing batteries. And yes, I need this battery pampering as well, or rather would need if I had an SL3.