MY M8 DIED TODAY

[kbg32]

I was out photographing this afternoon, took a few exposures, went to take another, nothing. Just a beep,

and an "Err" message in the finder, as well as "ATTENTION SHUTTER FAULT" on the rear screen. Pulled the

battery and card out, reinserted them, and still the same message. Tried a new battery, still the same. I

guess I will call Leica tomorrow and see what they will do. It seems a shame to have to send in the camera

for repair, and then do it again in August for the shutter upgrade.

 

15 months and over 3500 exposures without a problem.

[ronald_moravec1]

Hope it is warrantee.

 

Electronic stuff is just too expensive for me. Nikon D300 is my limit.

[vick_ko]

Fifteen months.... ouch.

I bought an M8 finally, but was almost ready to buy a demo with 12 month warranty.

 

Fortunately, Rich Pinto saved the day by selling me a new unit with 3 years warranty, at last-year's price. I'm so glad I have the 3 year warranty.

 

Good luck with your repair.

 

Vick

[akochanowski]

Sorry about your problem Keith. I get the feeling owning an M8 is like owning a Land Rover: you better have a Toyota to get you to work.

[jtk]

Driving up the old "Triple Six" (666) on the Navajo Nation, I came across a USMC convoy, maybe 50 Humvees...between each 5 Humvee there was an antique Chevrolet Blazer K5, full of mechanics.

 

Owning an M8 is like a celebrity divorce.

[kbg32]

I get the feeling that it owning a M8 is a problem waiting to happen. I heard so many

complaints, so many problems, but mine just kept trucking along. Kept it upgraded. I carried

it everyday. Needless to say I'm pretty bummed......

[jtk]

"I'm so glad I have the 3 year warranty."

 

Wish my Canon Ps had warranties. They're half way to their recommended CLA: 2058.

 

My IIIc was a hassle for the previous owner: he had to CLA at 40 years.

[kbg32]

Actually 4200 exposures. Lets hear what Leica says tomorrow.

[akochanowski]

That is exactly why no pros really and truly use the thing. There may be a couple Magnum guys who snap with it, but you better believe there is a reliable Canikon in their bag. No one else does. I am certainly no Magnum photog on deadline, but I do get assignments to shoot boxing, fashion, and the like. I may snap 700 shots in a night at a fight. I would not dream of taking one of these things (even if you'd try to manually focus it at a fight), even if the file quality was marginally better than from my Nikon D200 or D300-- which frankly I strongly doubt that it is.

[noah]

<< Wish my Canon Ps had warranties. They're half way to their recommended CLA: 2058.

 

My IIIc was a hassle for the previous owner: he had to CLA at 40 years.>>

 

Yes, but can your IIIc shoot digital images? I love film too, and prefer to shoot Tri-X which

is what I do for all of my personal work and long-term projects. But for professional work

on deadline, digital is not merely an option these days, it's a necessity.

 

We all know that film Leicas are reliable. Yet it seems someone always feels the need to

point that out on every thread about the M8, which is tiresome.

 

Sorry to hear about your camera, keith. Hope Leica stands behind their product.

[aplumpton]

Keith, an important head's up for you:

 

I had the same problem 6 months after buying my M8. I returned it to Leica New

Jersey (via my seller store) and they either fixed it there or in Germany. After 3

months they returned it via their service depot in Toronto. The Toronto group found

it OK then sent it to Montreal to the seller. He didn't have an M8 on hand to show a

potentrial buyer, so he demostrated with my returned and repaired camera. It

worked OK for a few clicks, then the message "ATTENTION SHUTTER FAULT" appeared

again and it shut down again. Luckily the Toronto chief technician for Leica film

cameras was on hand to verify and discuss the problem.

 

It was then a question of sending it back to New Jersey. I discussed it with them and

suggested the following: Either they (1) give me a replacement camera or (2) they fix

it and give me a three year guarantee on the repair.

 

They opted to send me a new M8. I am surprised that you MAY be having the same

problem. It will probably have to be sent back to Leica (viayour store of purchase),

but they (or your store) will first ask you to do a preliminary check on different things

before doing that. Contact your seller store and he will contact Leica for their

proposal. Keep in mind my experience, although your problem may not be as serious

as mine.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. My 3 month wait may not be typical , as

when it arrived in New Jersey most of the technical group were on a training course in

Germany and this slowed the repair.

 

I applaud Leica for correcting my problem. I just hope it is a permanent fix and not a

recurring problem.

[blakley]

<i>That is exactly why no pros really and truly use the thing. There may be a couple Magnum guys who snap with it, but you better believe there is a reliable Canikon in their bag. No one else does.</i>

<p>

This is of course totally false, as you can easily verify by doing quite simple searches in all the obvious places.

<p>

I have no idea why you feel the need to distort a discussion of an actual report of a fact about the M8's spotty reliability with this kind of misinformation.

[Uhooru]

Ok I'll bite, what obvious sources would I check to see who professionally is using an M8. Really,just curious.

[blakley]

You could start with the <a href="http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/">Leica Users Forum</a> (now L-Camera forum), where a number of pros who shoot the M8 hang out. Or check the Wedding & social events forum here, where there are several pros who use the M8 at weddings. Obvious Google search terms will also lead you to the blogs, websites, etc..., of a variety of pros who shoot the M8.

<p>

Some of them are happy with the camera; others are unhappy, and still others are on the fence.

[neilambrose]

<p>Reputedly, the shutter fault message is terminal and indicates the shutter blades have

become damaged. Apparently the blades are liable to impact damage due to their high

speed of travel. See LUF - according to some pundits there, that's one of the reasons why

the upgraded shutter available from Leica has a 1/4000 max speed.</p>

 

<p>In light of which, I suspect that if you send it in now for repair you'll get one of the

new style shutters.</p>

[anthony_brookes5]

My daughter's Toyota was a nightmare - it took four vistis to the dealer before they found the fault then refused to accept it was a production fault till we proved 100% it could only have been a factory error. For us Toyota wanted to fight all the way not to accept a warranty item.

[mohir_ali]

SS is related to slit width in addition to transverse speed, which maxxes out at the sync speed.

[blakley]

There certainly are shutter faults due to physical problems with the shutter, but there also seem to be instances of shutter fault occurrences without observable physical damage, so there is probably more than one type of failure being observed.

[steven_moseley1]

Hi,

 

"My daughter's Toyota was a nightmare"...you were VERY unlucky.

 

I have had several Japanese cars, some bought used with very high mileages and not a single fault with any of them. The two Audi's I have had both gave trouble. It seems a modern trueism that the Japanese products generally are certainly more reliable than German ones..make of that what you will. The Japanese just seem much better with electrical systems/electronics...and for that matter mechanical devices also.

 

cheers Steve.

[kbg32]

Well it looks like I have to send it in, as Leitz said it is an electronic problem. This really sucks

as it is only 5 months away until the shutter upgrade. Either I send it now, repair it, use it,

and then send it again in August, or I have an expensive paper weight for the next 5 months.

[michael s.]

Unlucky as to the breakdown and the timing here, Keith.

 

Hope a back-up will keep you out snapping in the interim.

[Alex_Es]

My M8 is at Leica, Tokyo for repairs. I was getting a streak on the right side, which

showed up particularly in dark photos. Also it was failing to start up at times, and a few

times it started up by itself and overheated. Latest report from Leica, Tokyo is that they

have almosty everything fixed. They need to find out why the camera starts up by itself

occasionally and fails to start up. They promised to have the M8 back by March 15, if all is

fixed.

 

Meanwhile, I'm using my Epson RD-1 a lot. It's been trouble free but I dread the day

anything goes wrong. The backup service is iffy at best.

[jerry_lehrer1]

Keith

 

Requiescat en pace.

 

Jerry

[kbg32]

Alex, funny, but a week before my camera died, I took it out of my bag and it was quite

warm to the touch. Camera was off, but when I turned the camera on to check it out, the

battery was dead. Wonder what that was all about. I will be telling Leica about that as well.

[dg1]

I have a 2000 Toyota MR2 spyder. The engine blew last year due to a catalytic converter fault and the aftermarket warranty company refused to come through. Toyota replaced the engine block at what would have been, for me, a cost of about $6000.00. I didn't pay a dime.

 

I just purchased an Olympus E1 with 13k actuations on the shutter and I'm expecting from all reports to have no problems, I've never heard of any. The shutter is as smooth and quiet as the M8 and it cost less than $400.00. I'm also glad the the PanaLeica L1 I have has its electronics done by a Japanese company that actually knows something about electronics. Perhaps M8 owners would be better off with a Digilux 3. How can a $5000.00 body just fail like that? It's absurd.