Leica M8 Issue: Camera Freezing After Photo with “Summing” Sound

[llb]

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been using my Leica M8 for the past six months, and overall, I’m absolutely thrilled with it. However, I’ve recently encountered a problem that I’m not sure how to address.

After taking a photo, the camera sometimes “freezes.” It makes a “summ summ summ summ” sound (the duration varies), and during this time, I’m unable to take another photo. The issue doesn’t happen every time, but it’s becoming frequent enough to be frustrating.

Has anyone experienced something similar or knows what might be causing this? Any advice on how to fix it or whether it needs servicing would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Topsy]

Hi, would you say that the sound is similar to an old film camera motordrive/power winder sound?

BTW where are you located (Country)?

[Olaf_ZG]

May be this?
 

 

[Topsy]

13 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

May be this?
 

 

Yes, that's my M9 and I have it away for repair assessment at the moment. I will keep the 2 threads updated as it progresses.

[llb]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Topsy:

Hi, would you say that the sound is similar to an old film camera motordrive/power winder sound?

BTW where are you located (Country)?

Yes, I think your description of the sound is accurate. Normally, there’s a single winding or motor-like sound right after the shutter is released, but in my case, the sound repeats itself multiple times—sometimes 5 to 15 times. During this period, the camera remains unresponsive, and I can’t take another photo until it stops.
I’m from Cologne, Germany. 

[llb]

vor 18 Minuten schrieb Topsy:

Yes, that's my M9 and I have it away for repair assessment at the moment. I will keep the 2 threads updated as it progresses.

Ah, thank you! So the suggestion is to send it all to Leica for Repair?

[Topsy]

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1 hour ago, llb said:

Ah, thank you! So the suggestion is to send it all to Leica for Repair?

Mine only acts like that when it is cold, below 5 degrees usually, sometimes to stop it I have to remove the battery then once I put the battery back it works fine for a short time. when it isn't cold the camera works fine. As I said I have it in the post to a repair man (Leica trained, ex employee) in UK, he will get it tomorrow and assess it for me. When he has an answer I will share it. As @jaapv said it should be an easy fix (I hope) but for me to send the camera back to Wetzlar Leica have said estimate within 2 months repair once authorised a further 4-6 months which is not acceptable to me so I have gone with an independant here in UK.

I will know more in the next day or 2 but his initial view at worst is maybe a new shutter assembly which he can do.

I'll update as it develops.

[llb]

vor 55 Minuten schrieb Topsy:

Mine only acts like that when it is cold, below 5 degrees usually, sometimes to stop it I have to remove the battery then once I put the battery back it works fine for a short time. when it isn't cold the camera works fine. As I said I have it in the post to a repair man (Leica trained, ex employee) in UK, he will get it tomorrow and assess it for me. When he has an answer I will share it. As @jaapv said it should be an easy fix (I hope) but for me to send the camera back to Wetzlar Leica have said estimate within 2 months repair once authorised a further 4-6 months which is not acceptable to me so I have gone with an independant here in UK.

I will know more in the next day or 2 but his initial view at worst is maybe a new shutter assembly which he can do.

I'll update as it develops.

Thank you for your explanation! I’m curious to see what the diagnosis will reveal.

After familiarizing myself with the forum, I came across this thread. It seems to describe the same issue I’m experiencing, especially when it’s very cold.

 

[jaapv]

As said it is a known issue. The “fingers” that control the rewind of the shutter get sticky. If it is the lower one -it often is- it is a simple repair. If you are unlucky it might be a shutter replacement. 

[Borna]

What about battery, have you tried with a new fresh original battery? My had similar issues and it was faulty batteries. New made wonders. 

[llb]

Thank you very much! I’ll keep monitoring the issue. It hasn’t occurred during the last shots.
I might need to take a closer look at whether it could be related to the battery. I actually have two old batteries and one new one, and as far as I can tell, the issue has happened with all of them.

[3D-Kraft.com]

May be, all of the batteries are "weak" already. The internal resistance invreases over time which means, the voltage drops significantly when the shutter motor is working and the processor operating in parallel - even when the battery is fully charged.

I would take a look for replacement batteries. There are many cheap 3rd party batteries e.g. on eBay. Look for the reviews and if there are'nt too many bad reviews, it may be ok (at least better than your worn out samples).

[Ernstk]

6 hours ago, 3D-Kraft.com said:

I would take a look for replacement batteries. There are many cheap 3rd party batteries e.g. on eBay. 

I've been using 3rd party batteries made by Cameron Sino for many years. They're good quality and cost around £20-25 on eBay or Amazon.

Ernst

[3D-Kraft.com]

Yes, mine were also from the "Cameron Sino" Store (on Amazon). No problem so far.

[farnz]

On 1/16/2025 at 8:09 PM, llb said:

Yes, I think your description of the sound is accurate. Normally, there’s a single winding or motor-like sound right after the shutter is released, but in my case, the sound repeats itself multiple times—sometimes 5 to 15 times. During this period, the camera remains unresponsive, and I can’t take another photo until it stops.
I’m from Cologne, Germany. 

This is a problem that has been recognised since the M8 was first released in 2006.  The shutter cocking spring is quite stiff (because it needs to create a lot of electrical energy from the battery that it can transform into mechanical energy to operate the shutter).  M8 batteries have a 'sharp knee' in their discharge curve, which means that down to a certain voltage they are fine but beyond this voltage their capacity reduces very quickly.

It's likely that you're hearing the shutter trying to re-cock but the battery not having the oomph to cock it all the way so the camera tries again and again but fails because, of course, there's still not enough capacity in the battery to fully re-cock the shutter.

The 'fix' is usually to replace the battery with a freshly charged one and the M8 should carry on as expected.  I've had M8's since the beginning and have followed a simple rule to change a battery out as soon as it shows the first 'bar' has been used and I haven't had this problem since.

The temptation is to just carry on but the risk of doing that is not only experiencing the problem you've noted here but that eventually the camera has to give up with the shutter half-cocked, which can cause the camera to see an 'unrecognised state' and shut down to protect against damage.  Changing the battery might not fix this if the 'unrecognised state' has been written into RAM and would need a lengthy trip back to The Mothership for some TLC.

Pete.

[Topsy]

By way of an update on my M9 with the shutter re-cock issue in cold weather.

I needed a sensor clean on my D-Lux (typ 109) so I contacete Leica Mayfair who said they no longer service the Typ 109 (but do the D-Lux 7 onwards) but they gave me the details of a guy who used to work for them and now does the older digital stuff himself (David Slater, Camera Focus (Camera Repairs), david@camera-focus.co.uk) who did an excellent job for me in less than a week. Anyway whilst talking to him I mentioned my M9 issue and asked if he did repairs on M9s, initially he said Leica still do but said if I wanted a quicker turnaround he would do it for me. Long story short I sent him my poorly M9 and he looked it over and gave me a quote to service and sort out the shutter (if needed) so I sent it off to him. He said he would be able to get the shutter working better as it had clogged lubricant but was ubsure if he could get it 100%, that said if not he did have a new shutter (his last one) that he had bought from Leica when he worked for them and could fit that if necessary. I said if in any doubt fit the new one (which is what he did in the end).

So here I am now just waiting for it to be returned in the post (due to arrive tomorrow) with a new shutter and complete service. Should last me a while now. 😊

[Topsy]

On 2/6/2025 at 11:50 AM, Topsy said:

By way of an update on my M9 with the shutter re-cock issue in cold weather.

I needed a sensor clean on my D-Lux (typ 109) so I contacete Leica Mayfair who said they no longer service the Typ 109 (but do the D-Lux 7 onwards) but they gave me the details of a guy who used to work for them and now does the older digital stuff himself (David Slater, Camera Focus (Camera Repairs), david@camera-focus.co.uk) who did an excellent job for me in less than a week. Anyway whilst talking to him I mentioned my M9 issue and asked if he did repairs on M9s, initially he said Leica still do but said if I wanted a quicker turnaround he would do it for me. Long story short I sent him my poorly M9 and he looked it over and gave me a quote to service and sort out the shutter (if needed) so I sent it off to him. He said he would be able to get the shutter working better as it had clogged lubricant but was ubsure if he could get it 100%, that said if not he did have a new shutter (his last one) that he had bought from Leica when he worked for them and could fit that if necessary. I said if in any doubt fit the new one (which is what he did in the end).

So here I am now just waiting for it to be returned in the post (due to arrive tomorrow) with a new shutter and complete service. Should last me a while now. 😊

Camera is now back, totally happy with David's service/work.