Intermittent over-exposure using M10-P

[Snap Happy]

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I've had my M10-P for a few years and it's always served me well. Over recent months it has developed an intermittent and unpredictable issue…it will overexpose frames. I usually set the ISO to auto and use aperture priority. I’ve tried setting the ISO on the dial, but this doesn’t make any difference. In the metadata, the issue will sometimes show as an incorrect auto ISO selection, such as 3200 on a sunny day. There won’t even be a clue in the metadata on other occasions. Has anyone else experienced this issue, and what can be done?

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[MaticB]

In my case, the problem is the "opposite" - namely, turning camera "on" and take first photo immediately after, camera underexpose the first shot. It doesn't happen frequently and it happens only on auto ISO, otherwise works perfectly. Well, I don't bother too much, I just take another picture. 🙂

[mujk]

I have the standard M10 since 2018 and had previously experienced maybe two black frames over a period of 7 years.

However, on a recent trip to Porto I had the dark frame twice and a totally white frame once on the same day, during a period of maybe two hours. All three happened either when stressing the camera to take a picture as soon possible after waking it up from sleep or when preventing the camera from going into sleep by regularly half-pressing the shutter release. The camera was on auto-ISO and aperture-priority. Because of the totally white or black outcome I cannot really tell if the problem was with exposure or something else, so my problem may be a different one from the one you have.

In my case one of the cases may have been related to the battery running low. My firmware was also on an older level, so I have now updated it. A third possible reason is some problem with the SD card that manifests itself on startup (e.g. defragmented or slightly corrupted file system). I have not yet reformatted or replaced the card because I wanted to see if the problem repeats itself after the fw update.

[adan]

I have not had such problems with my M10s (both 2017-18 vintage), which have made at least 50000 exposures each at this time. Unless I forget and leave the lens cap on 🤪 .

Nevertheless, it is certainly possible that some M10s have developed an exposure/ISO/shutter fault.

But it also pays to remember that unless one is using an M10 with live-view or the Viso EVF - the M10 "classic" metering (like the M film camera metering - but even more so) can be tricky to use. It is not IDEAL for fast-moving auto-operations, unless one takes precautions.

1) Half-pressing the shutter button to "be ready" for a photo will lock in an auto-exposure (either auto-ISO or shutter speed or both). Which may well be incorrect if one THEN frames (recomposes) a shot with the shutter button still depressed, and takes a picture. It may have "locked in" the expoure for your feet on the shady side of the street, and then used that for the bright sunlit building across the street. Or vice-versa.

2) The "classic" off-the-shutter metering (no electronic viewing) is heavily centerweighted - virtually a "wide-spot meter" of the center ~10-15% of the shutter curtains/opening.  And that is baked into the physical hardware. "Setting" the M10 to spot or multi-field in the menu does not change the metering area - unless the camera is used in Live-view or EVF mode.

3) However, the metering area is NOT constant in the optical viewfinder - it is a constant proportion of the specific frame lines for a given lens (i.e. an even more spot-like area with a 90mm lens, and a very wide "nearly-the-entire-depth of the built-in viewfinder" with a 21mm.

2) and 3) combined means you may be including "bright sky" or "dark shade" in the scene you are metering - without realizing it.

Unlike the M11 - where the metering is always and only from the sensor itself, using the double-acting (open/meter-close-open/expose/close-open) shutter.

 

Edited April 10 by adan

[Snap Happy]

On 4/10/2025 at 5:43 PM, adan said:

 

But it also pays to remember that unless one is using an M10 with live-view or the Viso EVF - the M10 "classic" metering (like the M film camera metering - but even more so) can be tricky to use. It is not IDEAL for fast-moving auto-operations, unless one takes precautions.

1) Half-pressing the shutter button to "be ready" for a photo will lock in an auto-exposure (either auto-ISO or shutter speed or both). Which may well be incorrect if one THEN frames (recomposes) a shot with the shutter button still depressed, and takes a picture. It may have "locked in" the expoure for your feet on the shady side of the street, and then used that for the bright sunlit building across the street. Or vice-versa.

2) The "classic" off-the-shutter metering (no electronic viewing) is heavily centerweighted - virtually a "wide-spot meter" of the center ~10-15% of the shutter curtains/opening.  And that is baked into the physical hardware. "Setting" the M10 to spot or multi-field in the menu does not change the metering area - unless the camera is used in Live-view or EVF mode.

Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough reply. I've taken many thousands of photos with the M9, M240, M10 and now the M10-P so I can call myself very experienced with the M and its metering system. The overexposed files were anomalies of the camera and not user error. My confidence led me to overlook checking the files until I got home - too late to remedy the situation.

 

 

[Mute-on]

If your camera has started overexposing random frames in circumstances that it did not in your previous years of experience, somewhat intuitively it would seem fairly clear that something has changed in the internal operation of the camera. It is highly unlikely you have changed the way you operate the camera, so the only conclusion is that the camera now has a fault. Contact your dealer, or Leica Australia, and arrange a repair. 
 

Good luck. 

[Snap Happy]

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I was hoping that someone else might have experienced this and could share their experience. As it is an intermittent fault I haven’t rushed to get the camera serviced due to the considerable delay and cost, and the likely outcome of the technician taking a few frames and declaring it without problem. 

[jmechan]

I had a sort of similar issue - a new-to-me used M10-R would overexpose half or full frames approximately 5% of the time. At first I thought it was temperature-related as I was in a very cold climate, but I saw the issue in more normal temperatures too. The most frustrating part was that it was quite intermittent, so I would think it had magically fixed itself only for it to happen again. Lost a few decent shots too. Anyway...

Turns out it was a shutter fault - I returned it to the vendor who sent it to Leica for repair, who replaced the shutter (and did the usual cleaning etc.). I've just received it back and it's as good as new. So it could be that you're seeing a similar issue. Or it could be completely unrelated - just sharing a data point for you. Good luck!!

[Snap Happy]

On 4/22/2025 at 10:19 PM, jmechan said:

I had a sort of similar issue - a new-to-me used M10-R would overexpose half or full frames approximately 5% of the time. At first I thought it was temperature-related as I was in a very cold climate, but I saw the issue in more normal temperatures too. The most frustrating part was that it was quite intermittent, so I would think it had magically fixed itself only for it to happen again. Lost a few decent shots too. Anyway...

Turns out it was a shutter fault - I returned it to the vendor who sent it to Leica for repair, who replaced the shutter (and did the usual cleaning etc.). I've just received it back and it's as good as new. So it could be that you're seeing a similar issue. Or it could be completely unrelated - just sharing a data point for you. Good luck!!

Thanks for that information. I'll put up with it for now, but keep this in mind.