Significant M9 Problem.

[jsc1]

<p>My M9 was purchased new in late fall 2090. In mid-summer, 2010, it began making a 'mess.'</p>

<p>Leica, New Jersey, USA, recently replaced the 'circuit board' under warranty. Unfortunately, their repair did not solve the problem.</p>

<p>The attached photo is from after the Leica repair... this image is not significantly different from photos before the 'repair.'</p>

<p>Stay alert, my friends...</p>

 

[jsc1]

<p>here it is...</p><div></div>

[phule]

<p>I'm assuming you've tested with a different card, and a different card reader, on a different computer?</p>

[maciek_stankiewicz]

<p>Josiah,</p>

<p>It's a tuff question since You and Your camera came from the future. Propably travelling in time damaged very sensitive electronics.<br>

Leica cameras are aging very well but nobody tried the opposite way...<br>

I hope it can be fixed. <br>

<em>M.S.</em></p>

[michael_dimarzio]

<p>Is that David Letterman in 2090?</p>

<p>But sure, bummer about the camera but they'll get it fixed, I guess rather later then sooner.</p>

[starvy]

<p>Even Leica would struggle to get their 2090 camera to work in 2010. I am just wondering if a setting has changed inadvertently. Can you remember what was the last thing you did before it started coming out as if NTSC feed is being shown in PAL. In television terms that is what it reminded me off. Of course, that is impossible with still images.</p>

[jason]

<p>i guess your gonna learn not to post Anti-Leica statements here! They and the truth are not welcome. The "card" indeed. It's always the user at fault. When folks complained about focus differences at Pentax,Nikon,Canon and Sony and the rest, a added feature was "getting accurate" focus. Here of course you are guilty of sedition,rabble rousing and general dis-orderliness,whatever.<br>

I've read about other problems but "Capiche"!</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>Whatever the reason for this mess it should not be happening in a new camera, or went in an old camera. I never seen anything like this. Leica owes Josiah S. Carberry a replacement M9. Simple as that. </p>

<p>I have had my problems with my M8 but nothing on this scale. </p>

[berg_na]

<p>I'm not sure the messed up image is caused by a defect in the camera. The jpeg image is simply corrupted, an issue which is typically caused by a defect in the SD card, a botched up file transfer process, or even a defective hard drive. A more complete description of the issue is reviewed here: <a href="http://www.jpeg-repair.org/jpg-errors/">http://www.jpeg-repair.org/jpg-errors/</a></p>

[Bill Blackwell Images]

<p>I am assuming you've checked and it isn't your SD card (the first thing I would look at). </p>

<p>I know it's annoying, but what's the big to-do? It isn't fixed and it is still under warranty, so simply contact Leica and arrange to send it back.</p>

[phule]

<p>[[The "card" indeed]</p>

<p>It's called eliminating variables, Jason. That empty spot in your head? That's where the clues go. Try to keep them in next time, they're useful.</p>

 

[mukul_dube]

<p>If Leica did something to the camera <em>to set it right</em>, perhaps it can be assumed that the problem did not lie in the card -- or, for that matter, in the egg that Josiah ate for breakfast.</p>

[bms]

<p>Just wondered, did you shoot DNG or JPG? I would assume Leica would not go through the trouble of putting in a new CB if they could not reproduce the error. Do all the images look like that?</p>

[Alex_Es]

<p>Agree try another card. If it is still a problem do as Bill says. Send it back for repairs. Or insist on a New M9. Or at least get a loaner while yours is being fixed. I got a loaner twice from Leica Tokyo when my M8 was on the fritz.</p>

[Uhooru]

<p>I didn't see any "anti Leica" statements. Just a guy having a problem he shouldn't be with his camera people making suggestions. Try reformatting the card in the camera and then take some more test shots. If it's not there, and you think the software is all good, you might try it on another computer, just in case if you have one. Then if the simple tests to rule out the easiest fixes don't work, send it back as other's say. It seems they should give you a loaner too.</p>

[deirdre_saoirse_moen]

<p>To sort of summarize in a series of quasi-logical steps:<br>

1) Reformat existing card. Try again.<br>

2) If that doesn't fix, try a different card.<br>

3) If that does fix, toss first card.<br>

4) Set to use DNG only. Try that.<br>

5) Try it on another computer.</p>

[shadforth_stephen]

<p>Send it back again...or better still, take it back yourself and replicate the problem with them.<br>

Leica have a very good replacement policy across all their different product ranges. I sell their GPS surveying gear and if one breaks under warranty or even out of warranty, their do the right thing. </p>

[Nowhereman]

<p>Josiah, when I received my M9 in mid-October last year it had a crack in the sensor cover-glass, and Leica dealt with it within five business days — three weeks elapsed time including shipment and customs clearance in Germany and Thailand, where I was). Two weeks after that, the camera started to have an intermittent problem that resulted, each time it occurred, in some 4-8 DNG files that had a lighter-colored rectangle within the frame — I suspect that your problem is of a similar kind. When I spoke to Solms for the first time about this they called it a "processor fault" and told me that they would replace the camera.</p>

<p>After sending them the camera and not hearing from them for some weeks, I called and they said that they couldn't replicate the problem and told me that the technicians thought that it was "a Lightroom problem". I told them I was using Aperture, not Lightroom, and insisted that in any case the problem could not have been caused by the RAW developer because, then, it would have not been intermittent and also would not have been visible on the LCD of the camera when reviewing the shots. Eventually, they were able to replicate the problem and told me that they would replace the insides of the camera rather than sending me a new one because there were some (minor) scratches on the top and bottom plates. I wasn't happy about that because I thought that the problem was probably caused by something done when Leica Service had replaced the sensor and wanted a new camera.</p>

<p>It took three months before I got the camera back, and by that time I had lost confidence in Leica Service and sold it when someone offered me $200 less than I had paid for it, although he knew about the problems. I feel that Leica Service should have honored their original undertaking to replace the camera right off — I had sent them a few of the problem files — rather than having to replicate the problem and use my original top and bottom plates and making me wait three months in the process.</p>

<p>—Mitch/Paris<br>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/malland/5117748797/in/set-72157625048893585/lightbox/">Paris au rythme de Basquiat</a></p>

[john_tran14]

<p>That's why warranty is important. If it's a serious fault that is common to all M9 they will have a recall even out of warranty. So there is nothing to worry about. Only learn how to use it correctly to get the good results</p>

[bms]

<p>In any case, please post here if and how the problem was resolved.</p>

 

[johnr78735]

<p>Let me take a stab at this from another angle as a Monday morning quarterback...<br>

You paid somewhere around $7,000.00 for this item. I'll take a wild guess that you did not pay with cash, but rather with a credit card.<br>

You are obviously a person of some financial means.<br>

Did you try calling your credit card company and arranging a return for credit for defective merchandise?<br>

Visa, Mastercard and American Express all have such policies...especially for their high use customers.<br>

From my vantage point as an American Express cardholder for over 30 years I would have been told immediately "No problem sir we will take care of it."<br>

End of story.</p>

 

[johnr78735]

<p>Let me take a stab at this from another angle as a Monday morning quarterback...<br>

You paid somewhere around $7,000.00 for this item. I'll take a wild guess that you did not pay with cash, but rather with a credit card.<br>

You are obviously a person of some financial means.<br>

Did you try calling your credit card company and arranging a return for credit for defective merchandise?<br>

Visa, Mastercard and American Express all have such policies...especially for their high use customers.<br>

From my vantage point as an American Express cardholder for over 30 years I would have been told immediately "No problem sir we will take care of it."<br>

End of story.</p>

 

[jason]

<p>If you did buy with "credit card" dump the pile of problems. Electronics was never a European strong point in cameras. Leica is too far set in another world, that never existed! My M3 with 110000 numbers arrived in the box with 3 hand signatures on the warranty. Wonderful. What a party that day in Wetzlar. It did not have a complete Rangefinder. Assembly was completed in my country at the time. Somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. The Leica people would not exchange. I wish at the time that I knew my legal position better. I could have canceled the deal. I still have the M3. It is my most repaired camera.<br>

I am a service-technician and a pro-photographer with many awards world wide. TG My carreer was not based on Leica! Pentaxes that NEVER required repairs and Nikons which did, due to being dropped and or things thrown at us! Used in riots. When I had important assignments, I never used my Leicas.</p>

 

[marcsharp]

I had some images that looked like this on the computer monitor only. The problem was the video card on my iMac.

Apple replaced it...No charge. Problem solved.

[fotografz]

<p>The oddity here is that Leica DID repair something ... and it didn't solve the issue. Either they blindly replaced the part without replicating the problem themselves, and then blindly sent it back without checking the camera ... or something else is up. Maybe a loose connection elsewhere that causes an intermitted oddity. (???)</p>

<p>Are you shooting RAW? Does the issue show up in the LCD preview?</p>

<p>I do not think it is incorrect to suggest checking other things before <em>once again </em>shipping the camera back to Leica (which is an ordeal best avoided if possible). It could be any number of issues in the imaging chain ... <strong>and the suspicion of the SD card is a natural place to start.</strong></p>

<p>Beyond a SD card issue ... are you transferring from the SD via a camera connection or a card reader? I've had major issues with both in the past. A bad transfer cord or one that's too long, can cause issues. A weak or compromised USB port on the camera, card reader, or the computer can cause transfer issues. Using a USB hub can cause issues, (so try connecting directly to the computer).</p>

<p>I'd also download the files directly to a separate file on your desktop, rather than loading from the SD into Light Room or any other post processing program. Then remove the card and load from the desktop file.</p>

<p><em><strong>I</strong><strong>'d also use a different battery that has been fully recharged, AND reset the camera to factory defaults, AND reload the firmware before sending the camera back. </strong></em></p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p><strong>SIDE NOTE:</strong></p>

<p><strong>Leica just doesn't seem to have a well defined and consistent path to deal with modern electronic issues</strong> like other companies do. It's far to hit and miss. So you get stories of excellent and swift repairs, and you get horror stories. There are no "Mac Geniuses" to take your equipment to solve issues. No direct conduit to knowledgable technical people that could help avoid so many cameras being shipped back for repair. Being small is no excuse. Hasselblad has a system that mitigates many user issues. It has a pretty knowledgable dealer network that's trained to be the first line of defense, and who then has direct access to technical people that are the second line of defense ... before anything gets shipped back to Denmark. Not perfect, and there can be "<em>service anomalies"</em>, but every issue I've ever had so far has been dealt with without shipping the camera back.</p>

<p>Marc</p>

<p> </p>