D-lux 8 worked approximately 3 days .. and then "SD Card" bug, unusable camera

[AlexVery]

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I bought the Dlux-8 recently

I used it with a microSD card + adapter and the camera wasn't able to store more than 6 pics (on a 2GB card), then a "Card error" showed, and erasing the card never solved the problem

I then received my Sandisk 256GB SD Card, and began to use my Dlux8

In less than 3 days of use, I began to have problems again : corrupted DNG, corrupted JPG, and SD Card errors

Erasing/formatting the card, from the camera or from my computer, never solved the problem, after few photo corruption came again, and quickly after "SD Card error".

It seems that I'm not alone to have this kind of problem, I wrote to Leica support, waiting for their answer. What I don't want is to send a buggy camera to the support and get it back in the same state.

Have you encountered the same problems as I have?

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[andybarton]

If the camera isn’t right, send it back to the dealer and ask for a replacement. 

[jaapv]

Customer rights: replacement or money back. 

[AlexVery]

I'm waiting for Leica support to answer me

I'm not here only to complain, but to know if I'm alone in this situation, or if other users meet the same issues

It's terrifying to see how an expensive product, from a so well known brand, can be so buggy right after unboxing

[jaapv]

No complaints yet. Normally Panasonic is quite good in this respect but any product I especially electronic can suffer early failure; the price is irrelevant. 

[andybarton]

I’ve not heard of anyone else having any problems with their D-Lux 8s.

[jaapv]

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So yes, you are alone and not really in a situation. Your product had a rare early failure so just exchange it at your dealer and carry on taking photographs. 

[AlexVery]

52 minutes ago, jaapv said:

So yes, you are alone and not really in a situation. Your product had a rare early failure so just exchange it at your dealer and carry on taking photographs. 

I've read the same situation on DPreviews (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4784143) that's why I think I'm not alone

I've ordered another SD card, a Lexar 1667x USH II, but I would be very surprised to discover that my brand new Sandisk Pro 256GB 200MB/s would not be up to the task for this small camera.

In the same time, I'm discussing with Leica support

[jaapv]

Why discuss this with Leica? Your dealer should handle aftersales and this should be resolved within minutes. 

[andybarton]

Panasonic need to get their act together if there are three examples with similar problems. 

I’m surprised that no one else has reported anything similar here. 

[jaapv]

Three in how many?  Manufacturers don’t publish their failure rates so we cannot compare but as this kind of fault can cannot be found by QC, we may be sure that it happens everywhere. I’ve been lucky with my Panasonics over the years I guess. With all my cameras as a matter of fact. 

[AlexVery]

6 hours ago, jaapv said:

Why discuss this with Leica? Your dealer should handle aftersales and this should be resolved within minutes. 

My dealer is an online website, I wrote to them but with no answers at the moment, and I'm afraid they answer me "this product have a warranty bla bla bla"

I talked with Leica support, they sent me some instructions to test this and that
Since then, I didn't encounter any corrupted photo, neither any SD card problem.
But ... I have to lock the SD before inserting it into the Mac, then copy the photos on my internal storage, as the card is locked I can't remove the photos on it, then eject the card, unlock it and use it again with the Dlux-8

As far as I do that, I have no problems (just tested that for few hours only, so I keep an attention on it)
But it's a bit painful to do that each time I transfert my photo in my Mac, and as the pics are not deleted on the card, the new ones add to the old ones which need more time and attention each time I transfert my photos, not the best workflow

Which bring me a question : what is your workflow for transferring your pics after a shooting ? Do you use a USB-C cable ? SD card reader ? Do you copy the files and then delete ? Leave it on the card ?

[andybarton]

It’s good to see that you’re getting to make some progress.

Is your online only website an official Leica dealer?

Why do you need to lock the SD card when inserting into your Mac? This is not standard or common practice. In all the years I’ve been using SD cards, I’ve never done this. 

Are you using Lightroom?

[jaapv]

Transferring images from any camera: Card reader or Mac card slot and Adobe  Bridge. Never delete from the card; that creates fragmentation and maybe even your troubles. Always make a backup and then format the card. Similar procedure for Lightroom. I never lock the card any more nowadays. That is a thing of the past. 

[AlexVery]

23 hours ago, andybarton said:

It’s good to see that you’re getting to make some progress.

Is your online only website an official Leica dealer?

Why do you need to lock the SD card when inserting into your Mac? This is not standard or common practice. In all the years I’ve been using SD cards, I’ve never done this. 

Are you using Lightroom?

Not an official dealer, juste an online shop specialised in photo (http://missnumerique.com/)

I lock the SD as a test, theses instructions were sent by Leica support.
I know it's unusual and it's also paintful to work like this   
But this test showed that following this process, I don't encounter DNG corruption and SD card issue with the Dlux-8. That explains many things.

And that means that the way I used to work, inserting the card in the Mac, copying the DNG in local storage, and the deleting it on the card from the Mac, is not a good idea with this Leica. I did that with my old Canon and Nikon cameras and never encounter any problems, for years.

I use Lightroom but I use it with photos stored on my Mac, never from the SD as even the fastest cards are very slow (300MB/s from the best SD cards, 7500 MB/s from the internal SSD of my MacBook Pro), so the software used is not concerned.

Next test will be to no lock the cards, and just copy photos from the card to the internal storage, and then eject it without touching any files. If it works, I will use that workflow and format the card from the camera. 

[AlexVery]

I wanted to thank you all for helping me or at least following my issues

[AlexVery]

22 hours ago, jaapv said:

Transferring images from any camera: Card reader or Mac card slot and Adobe  Bridge. Never delete from the card; that creates fragmentation and maybe even your troubles. Always make a backup and then format the card. Similar procedure for Lightroom. I never lock the card any more nowadays. That is a thing of the past. 

I think that's exactly why I have theses problems, but as I said, I work like that since many years without any issues. That's why I didn't understood what was happening, but talking with you, with Leica support and doing some tests help me to understand and to change few things to have a workflow that is reliable

[jaapv]

Things do change over the years in this digital world, I fear.

In this developing conversation I would suggest that you replace deleting by formatting,  preferably using SDformatter ( free and the official app for the purpose) to begin with and see how it goes. This implies keeping the card unlocked. If you are a belt-and-braces person you can subsequently format the card in the camera as well. 

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

Use Adobe Bridge (free from Adobe) to import to your Mac. Its Photo Downloader enables you to choose which files to download and which not, making culling much less tedious.  It will make a simultaneous backup copy as well. 

https://www.adobe.com/products/bridge.html

Don’t delete files in-camera either. It is a bad habit that can cause problems. Note to self: take your own advice… 🤔😉

BTW, this has probably nothing to do with the present issue, but do make sure that your Mac is on its latest OS. 

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