jrh68uk Posted March 18, 2008 Share #1 Posted March 18, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all, In a moment of madness (or perhaps not) I just bought an ex-demo M8 from a dealer at a reasonable price (£2400). Everything seems fine, of course, and it came with box, all accessories and passport application form which I must send off tomorrow. Going by the serial number, it is well within the first 1000 made which puts it in the latter part of 2006. Now I'm getting worried as I'm reading stuff about "the fix", recall(s) of early batches, etc. The test card has four red splodges near the serial number and I've read that these might mean it's had some kind of service at Solms. Is this true? The test card of my M7 does not have these. Would it be sensible to assume that any early recall-fix would be made by Leica before sending the camera out as ex-demo stock? Is there anything in particular to watch out for? Cheers, Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 18, 2008 Posted March 18, 2008 Hi jrh68uk, Take a look here Ex demo M8: concerns?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Photoskeptic Posted March 18, 2008 Share #2 Posted March 18, 2008 Jason, did you buy the camera from a Leica dealer? Don't know about UK, but demo Leica merchandise in the US usually comes with a one year warranty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleeson Posted March 19, 2008 Share #3 Posted March 19, 2008 I bought one from Kurland in NYC last fall. Shortly after registering online, I received an email from the homeland asking if I'd noticed any problems with streaks, etc. Even though it seemed fine, I sent it in for the PC board upgrade rather than wait for a problem near the end of the warranty. They also did a CLA. Only problem was the 10 week turnaround. I think also they did something to the shutter -- it's definitely quieter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benkelley Posted March 19, 2008 Share #4 Posted March 19, 2008 I've had my demo since October... works like a dream. I think mine was an early production as well... no problems at all! Ben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted March 19, 2008 Share #5 Posted March 19, 2008 Would it be sensible to assume that any early recall-fix would be made by Leica before sending the camera out as ex-demo stock? Is there anything in particular to watch out for? I think it's a reasonable assumption. If it hasn't had 'the fix' you will get fairly obvious streaking and 'green blobs' when you have bright light sources in an otherwise low light shot. The effect becomes more noticeable as you increase the ISO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 19, 2008 Share #6 Posted March 19, 2008 Hi all, In a moment of madness (or perhaps not) I just bought an ex-demo M8 from a dealer at a reasonable price (£2400). Everything seems fine, of course, and it came with box, all accessories and passport application form which I must send off tomorrow. Going by the serial number, it is well within the first 1000 made which puts it in the latter part of 2006. Now I'm getting worried as I'm reading stuff about "the fix", recall(s) of early batches, etc. The test card has four red splodges near the serial number and I've read that these might mean it's had some kind of service at Solms. Is this true? The test card of my M7 does not have these. Would it be sensible to assume that any early recall-fix would be made by Leica before sending the camera out as ex-demo stock? Is there anything in particular to watch out for? Cheers, Jason All first series cameras were actively recalled by Leica, either from the owners or from the dealers. Any that have not been upgraded ( it seems it was a matter of a ground connection) will have been retained consciously by their owner. An ex-demo is 99.999% sure to have been fixed. In use these cameras (I have # 3101100, November 9th 2006)) are as good as any later camera, so no worries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlancasterd Posted March 19, 2008 Share #7 Posted March 19, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've had my demo since October... works like a dream. I think mine was an early production as well... no problems at all! Ben I bought a silver chrome ex-demo just under 12 months ago, saving myself around £300, but getting all the usual new-camera benefits, including the warranty and free filters. According to the Metadata in Lightroom it is No.3100130, making it a very early example (although the engraved number is much later). I reckon that this makes it one of the cameras that was upgraded by Solms after the initial problems. I also suspect that it was well tested before it left the factory - Leica would want a demo camera to work faultlessly, after all. I don't normally shoot vast numbers of photographs, but I recently did an assignment where I managed 145 shots in about 3 hours and it didn't falter once. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrh68uk Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share #8 Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks for the replies so far. Going by jaapv's s/n and date, I guess mine is from some time in October 2006. When I realized how early in production this one was I had a bit of a panic but it's a very good point that Leica would not want a demo to display any kind of obvious fault. wattsy, you say that, if it's not had "the fix" then there would be green streaking and blobs where a bright light source is in an otherwise darker frame. Is this a different phenomenon to the one where green stripes may appear when bright sources are near frame edges? That one is still an issue, according to leica's M8 FAQ as of Jan 2008... Cheers, Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 19, 2008 Share #9 Posted March 19, 2008 No, it doesn't work that way; they assigned a batch of numbers ( afaik 1250) and delivered the cameras irrespective if numbers. Mine was amongst the first ten delivered to the general public. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted March 19, 2008 Share #10 Posted March 19, 2008 wattsy, you say that, if it's not had "the fix" then there would be green streaking and blobs where a bright light source is in an otherwise darker frame. Is this a different phenomenon to the one where green stripes may appear when bright sources are near frame edges? That one is still an issue, according to leica's M8 FAQ as of Jan 2008... Yes jrh68uk, the green stripes phenomenon is different. Incidentally, the streaks (pre-fix problem) weren't green - just the blobs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted March 19, 2008 Share #11 Posted March 19, 2008 Just what is a EX-DEMO??? A demo camera is just that. Whether is is still used as a demo or being sold as a used camera. That's not to say it has or has not had the updates done to it. Could be a dealer held onto a original camera just so he had one to show potential customer. The question of whether or not it had been back for the fixes (as there have been more then one) is something you should of asked the dealer (person/company) you bought the camera from. There is NO WAY anyone on this forum can tell you if it has had any of the fixes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 19, 2008 Share #12 Posted March 19, 2008 Not all cameras do it by the way, I was lucky, I've got two streak-free ones. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelap Posted March 19, 2008 Share #13 Posted March 19, 2008 I bought my M8 from a UK Leica dealer as new, with the full 2yr Leica warranty and Leica UK passport. The dealer was honest enough to tell me that it had been back to Germany, via Leica UK, and gave me the official paperwork ("...the factory in Germany carried out the corrective attention as necessary and confirms this equipment will now conform to the manufacturer's specifications..."). I was happy to buy it, with a suitable discount, and have had no problems to date (reaching for the nearest piece of wood). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrh68uk Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share #14 Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks again, everyone. I'm new to the Leica system, as you may have guessed The dealer explained to me the way that the "ex-demo" system works (at least here). Apparently, every two years, Leica puts up for auction equipment that they have taken around shows, etc. and it's up to the dealers to bid for them. This particular dealer bought two M8s, a black and a silver one, and had sold the black one a few days previously. They had only had them for a few days before that. When they were boxing mine up they said, "well, that's it for another two years then". Anyway, I've finally been able to do some proper testing today. I don't have streaking or blobs (not counting three small dust bunnies which won't budge with air). What I did see is a large amount of sensor bloom (blue) where very bright objects (eg., window) border on darker (eg., frame) but I don't think that's a problem as I can control it by stopping down and it's much worse with my CV 35 than with my Leica 50 'cron. At least I now know what "the fix" was all about so thanks again to all who took the time to reply. Cheers, Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedog Posted September 29, 2008 Share #15 Posted September 29, 2008 Hi Jason, Interesting to hear your question since I too bought a demo M8 from Kurland Photo. Eli and the crew at Kurland have been tremendously helpful, by the way. Anyways, my M8 performed flawlessly as expected over the course of the year that I have owned it (bought '07). Then just recently some 50% or more of the DNG images that I took would display pixel wide horizontal stripes or streaks. The stripes looked like hot pixels that streaked across the sensor, like a shooting star. Another thing, I could not reproduce with JPEGs, although I didn't try hard. These stripes were random, not in one specific place, but spanned 1/8th of the way across the image. I tried every trouble shooting step I could think of, re-flash firmware, format SD card etc etc etc. Nothing worked so I sent it in to Leica NJ. Long story short, I got my estimate back from Leica and it looks like they are planning on fixing the problem for free, which music to my ears. In retrospect, I would buy demo from Kurland again (do S2 demos exist yet? 8^) and Leica service has been great to deal with. Cheers, The Dog Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnalex141r Posted September 29, 2008 Share #16 Posted September 29, 2008 I have a Kurland "DEMO" camera - it has also been flawless. IIRC, it had about 1,000 shutter actuations on it when I received it. It came with a 1 year leica warranty, not a 2 year one; came with the filters, but someone pre-registered the Capture One software; company not responsive, so I purchased Apple Aperture instead. JohnS. ...Interesting to hear your question since I too bought a demo M8 from Kurland Photo. ... The Dog Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedog Posted September 30, 2008 Share #17 Posted September 30, 2008 No filters came with mine from Kurland (bummer...), and I am unsure of the shutter count. Warranty was for one year as I think all demos are. It should come in the mail tomorrow from Leica repair. I'm excited to test and see what might have been repaired. BTW, turn around time at Leica was less than 7 days!!! I know that sounds unusual but it's true...(I hope that means that they actually fixed something). Cheers, The Dog Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted September 30, 2008 Share #18 Posted September 30, 2008 No filters came with mine from Kurland (bummer...), and I am unsure of the shutter count. Warranty was for one year as I think all demos are. It should come in the mail tomorrow from Leica repair. I'm excited to test and see what might have been repaired. BTW, turn around time at Leica was less than 7 days!!! I know that sounds unusual but it's true...(I hope that means that they actually fixed something).Cheers, The Dog If this is a true Demo, Refurbished by Leica, with a real Leica 1 Yr warranty you have to register the camera on the Leica website to get the 2 free filters. LEICA M8 Registration They do NOT COME WITH, at time of purchase, the camera. How could they, how would Leica know what sizes you needed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintpot Posted April 13, 2010 Share #19 Posted April 13, 2010 I bought an ex-demo M8 yesterday, first sold on (by the same dealer) April 2009. The previous owner had not sent the passport application off so I've done that today. He had not even put the strap on the camera, it's in MINT condition. I wonder if it had ever been out of the box! the number is in the 3200's Charged it up and tried it yesterday afternoon, using my ex-Bessa R 50 and 25mm optics Sharp! Anyway we'll see what Leica do with my application. And I'll post again when I get a reply from them. Happy snapping all! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted April 13, 2010 Share #20 Posted April 13, 2010 Congratulations! You will enjoy this piece of art. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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