M240 battery

[jdlaing]

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18 minutes ago, pippy said:

No-one (AFAIK) in the public domain has access to output production numbers comparing the M8/M9/M240 cameras to the 240-series.

If you have any authenticated sources which can 'confirm' your assumptions would you care to share the proof of this information with us?

 

 

‘The Shadow knows.

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[lct]

Price being what it is, i'm not sure what the problem is. As mentioned above (or was it elsewhere?) new batteries are available as spare parts under the part number 420-240.020-000.

[Mute-on]

New batteries and charger unpacked. Batteries are made by Varta in Indonesia, dated week 33 of 2022. Charging one in each of my original charger and the new charger.  Green lights are blinking. So far so good. 

[fotomas]

vor 20 Minuten schrieb Mute-on:

New batteries and charger unpacked. Batteries are made by Varta in Indonesia, dated week 33 of 2022. Charging one in each of my original charger and the new charger.  Green lights are blinking. So far so good. 

Was it empty when it arrived? Mine all 3 where at 0% (2422, 0323, 0623). IIRC that wasn't so in the past. Makes me wonder, if they gave them any charge at all after production.

[Mute-on]

1 hour ago, fotomas said:

Was it empty when it arrived? Mine all 3 where at 0% (2422, 0323, 0623). IIRC that wasn't so in the past. Makes me wonder, if they gave them any charge at all after production.

I didn’t check percentage in camera before putting them on charge. Both chargers still blinking away happily after about 1.5 hours. I’ll be watching to see when they reach 80% (yellow light). 

[fotomas]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb lct:

Price being what it is, i'm not sure what the problem is. As mentioned above (or was it elsewhere?) new batteries are available as spare parts under the part number 420-240.020-000.

It's sounds like it should be available in future, what is good, but to be honest this spare-part thing give me some mixed feelings.
It's kind of unusual and so raised some questions for me.

1. If it is still in production, why it's no longer available trough the free market in normal photo-stores? Or is each battery now hand-crafted from the CS? Or is it out of production and they only sell the rest as spare-part?

2. Price would be interesting. Maybe it becomes so high, that one might consider dropping the camera. Is it fixed or have I to ask for an offer each time?

3. How to get it? As I was told it should be available via Leica-stores too. But what if there isn't one near by? Will it be in stock there or has it to be ordered every time? Or will there be a online-store for spare parts? If I search the net for this spare part no. now I only get this forum as result.

4. Why this special way only for the M 240? Looks like the M9 battery is still available as normal.

[Luke_Miller]

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I suspect batteries for the M240 and M10 (as well as other models) are made in batches rather than in continuous production.  Presumably a new batch will hit the supply chain in the near future.

[dante]

12 hours ago, lct said:

Price being what it is, i'm not sure what the problem is. As mentioned above (or was it elsewhere?) new batteries are available as spare parts under the part number 420-240.020-000.

I put that question to Leica USA this morning. We'll see what they say. The fact that a spare part number exists does not mean that it is actually available in a particular market. That you need to know a "secret code" to order a battery is not encouraging. If that is for sale, it should be accessible from Leica's website. Instead, they direct you to a dealer (that does not have it). 

By the way, the price itself is not a deal breaker. I bought a few of these batteries new as spares when I bought my cameras way back when.

Dante

Edited August 2, 2024 by dante

[dante]

14 hours ago, pippy said:

No-one (AFAIK) in the public domain has access to output production numbers comparing the M8/M9/M240 cameras to the 240-series.

If you have any authenticated sources which can 'confirm' your assumptions would you care to share the proof of this information with us?

 

 

I'm basing it on years in the market and the notion that sales are steady or increasing over time. It could be incorrect.

None of this changes the fact that Leica is still selling batteries for the M8 I bought in 2008 -- but not the M240 I bought in 2014, the M246 I bought in 2015, or any M262 that was sold in 2020. 

Dante

[lct]

22 minutes ago, dante said:

I put that question to Leica USA this morning. We'll see what they say. The fact that a spare part number exists does not mean that it is actually available in a particular market. That you need to know a "secret code" to order a battery is not encouraging. If that is for sale, it should be accessible from Leica's website. Instead, they direct you to a dealer (that does not have it).

It is for sale the same way as other spare parts, i suppose. Normal way as far as i recall is ordering the spare part to your Leica store that will order it to Wetzlar. I can be wrong though as it happened to me a couple of times only in half a century and those were not batteries.

[pippy]

2 hours ago, dante said:

I'm basing it on years in the market and the notion that sales are steady or increasing over time. It could be incorrect...

Ah; OK.

I was just curious to know whether you knew of anywhere that had posted official production numbers as some people here would be very interested to see figures for the M-D Typ-262 production run.

As far as your contact with Leica USA I will be one of those who would like to know what they say in reply. Here is a cut'n'paste'n'contraction from something I posted back on page 1 of this thread;

On 7/19/2024 at 1:11 PM, pippy said:

...I've just had a chat with Ivor at Red Dot Cameras. When we were talking he logged-in to the appropriate site and he told me that the battery for the M240 is no longer listed as being available to order from Leica.

I was just about to type that it could simply be that Leica, themselves, are awaiting delivery of a new batch from the manufacturer but before I hit the 'Post' button Ivor called me back to say that he had just spoken to someone at the Leica sales desk who confirmed that the battery has, indeed, been discontinued......a strange state of affairs if we consider that these batteries were used by the M-E 240 which was still in production as recently as four years ago......I wonder if anyone from Leica themselves wouold like to explain the exact state of affairs?...

I really do think it would be good were we to hear of any decision Leica themselves have made on this matter as such a decision will have repercussions for a great many users.

Philip.

Edited August 2, 2024 by pippy

[Gregm61]

As Josh at Leica Store Miami suggested, I placed an order for two and he said they would contact me when they were ready to fill the order.

I’ll wait patiently, figuring none of the four I currently have that are all 8 years old or older are going to give up the ghost anytime soon.

And BTW, Ace Photo, the place where I bought the 2013-dated and DOA “new” battery, have not replied to any messages I’ve sent about my purchase.

 

Edited August 2, 2024 by Gregm61

[Mute-on]

23 hours ago, Mute-on said:

I didn’t check percentage in camera before putting them on charge. Both chargers still blinking away happily after about 1.5 hours. I’ll be watching to see when they reach 80% (yellow light). 

Update. Both batteries achieved 80% charge in about 2 hours. I left them on charge for about 5.5 hours (went out for the evening). Both batteries tested in camera at 100% next afternoon.

Conclusion is Varta Indonesia batteries produced in August 2022 are perfectly viable and charge to 100% 2 years later, as one might expect. 

[dante]

Ordered two from Miami. We'll see if they ever materialize. 

No word from Leica USA, even citing the "part" number.

Dante

[mmx_2]

I was in Hamburg last week and bought two batteries for friends, the first one had the same issue as previously described, it would not charge at first, but after some fiddling it worked. Second one was fine out of box.

When I asked for batteries at the counter his first comment was that this battery is out of production. He had 6-7 on stock and had ordered another 10, but after that he would not get any more.

this was at Meister-Camera which is also a Leica Store so it must somehow represent the official view of Leica to my opinion. Therefore I’m a bit puzzled by the message from CS that they are available like before. Maybe the battery went out of production already some years ago but Leica has been selling from their spare part stock (not uncommon for companies to do) and now they are actually running low on them.

[fotomas]

My newest one is from 0623. So in February 2023 it was still in production and it couldn't be years. Does anyone have a newer one?

What other companies sell the batteries only as spare parts?

[lct]

1 hour ago, fotomas said:

Does anyone have a newer one?

My last one, sold by a French store, has been made by Varta Indonesia in December 2023.

 

[a.noctilux]

Maybe the battery shortage is fake news spreading all over Internet.

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Hallo,

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[fotomas]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb a.noctilux:

Maybe the battery shortage is fake news spreading all over Internet.

Could be. But in this case it should have been easy for Leica to make clear that it's not true.
Why instead this strange thing that it is only available as spare part now?
And we had several reports from stores that pointed out that it was no longer available. There should have been even more stores that claim that it is still listed then.
At the Leica Store where I bought mine over three weeks ago they are still sold out.
We have no confirmation yet that the batteries are still in production. Only thing we got that they seemed to be produced at least until December 2023, so 9 months ago.

Edited August 10, 2024 by fotomas

[lct]

As mentioned above (link), batteries are available as spare parts. This info coming from Wetzlar, i'm not sure if some dealers' knowledge or ignorance can have any relevancy.