Is my m8 dead?

[f16sunshine]

After shooting last night my M8 won't power up. The battery was mostly full. I've put in a fresh one also without luck. Thought
I read somewhere about similar experiences that where solved by leaving the battery out overnight. Can't find that thread now. Any thoughts?? Currently away from home and worried that Leica has failed me big time.

 

[sepiareverb]

Did you contact Leica? They give good advice rather quickly.

 

[f16sunshine]

Well I don't mean to bitch but rather give another warning. This body is not re-liable. The output and handling is great. It certainly can not be considered a "go-to" considered all the reported issues. Sure all manufacturers have had some trouble. The M8 at it's premium price and relatively low production numbers seems to have a higher fail rate by far.
I've had no response from Leica and they are now closed for the holiday. The body has had over 24 hrs now to discharge and still no response with a new battery. This body is just a year old, has fewer than 3000 shutter actualization and, looks new out of the box. With 3 weeks left of vacation I will have to rely on my 5D with a couple zuiko wides . Will be missing speed and Portrait lengths unless I go shopping 😉.
There was a thread recently inquirining if the M8 is a pro Leica Camera. Well I suppose if re-liabilty is a consideration. The word Leica barely belongs on the front of it. Never mind calling it pro even if it could deliver compenstable shots.

 

[f16sunshine]

Of course not. Did you miss my point??
This camera is not up to Leica standards.

 

[Thardy]

Yes, I agree that it should be reliable. Sorry.

 

[Keith]

I seriously hope Leica get their s**t together with the M9 ... it needs to be dead reliable if it's going to be a success.

I have to confess to having a tiny bit of intrepidation every time I go to turn my M8 on ... no other camera has ever made me feel like this and neither should it have. My example has given me very little trouble in the two years I've owned so I should have total confidence in it but history and stories like this make me feel otherwise!

I hope you get this sorted quickly and sorry to hear that it has stuffed up your holiday plans a little!

 

[former member]

I'll be interested in how this is resolved.

Things to check:

Voltage off of the Battery after trying to power cycle the camera. If it is not measuring a few tenths above the rating after a fresh charge, a cell could be the problem. One time I had a charger go out, and not bring a cell up to spec.

Memory Card- take it out and see what happens.

And of course, I assume to cleaned the battery contacts. At least I can reach those on my DSLR's.

 

[Keith]

I can see the Leica rescue proceedure in my mind now ...

Furrowed brows on bowed heads inclined over the lifeless device. Someone applies a set of paddles and onother person shouts ... "clear!" ... but no response!

Slowly they file from the room ... thoughts of D700 Nikons swirling in their confused, traumatised minds!

 

[former member]

Well, when this happened to my Kodak DSLR at Mt Vernon, I took it apart on the spot but NO dice. So I put on an MF-20 and loaded it with film. Later at home, I took the thing apart completely and found the loose connector to the Disk drive. Put it back together, onto the N8008s, good as new. New was 17 years ago for that DSLR.

 

[emraphoto]

brian, you sir are cut from a different cloth my friend.

 

[Dan States]

It will probably take more like 3-4 days with the battery out. Mine did this once and it finally reset itself after about 4 days. Once it's back you should run the battery down all the way (I mean REALLY dead) and then do a full recharge. After this procedure my camera never messed up again. (I'm not excusing the funky behavior)

Good luck.

Dan

 

[jaapv]

We don't. We just buy two bodies and have them running three years later without hiccup. I have in our family five M8 without any problems, I personally know about 30 M8 users and not one of those cameras have ever needed repair.
One thing we do not do is to base buying decisions on Internet forums. Yes, things do go wrong, yes, Leica M8 cameras are complicated machines with a potential for breakdowns, but Leica as a brand seems to have a mystique of its own that magnifies any occurrence totally out of proportion and turns it into a personal insult to the owner. This specific "problems" forum is one of the slowest forums on RFF. With over 30.000 of these extremely unreliable cameras sold one would expect thousands of posts...🙄

 

[Beemermark]

Why is it that Leica consumers are still putting up with this nonsense?

I have no clue. Did you spend thousands just on the Leica name or did you do any research?

Personally in 30 years I've had one Leica M4 fail me (I put my thumb thru the shutter while reloading film). I had two M6's with no problems and now have two M7's with no problems. I've never had a problem with Leica service in NJ and I guess you could say I've been extremely lucky.

As far as electronics go I would never, ever trust just one body - there are way too many things that can go wrong, batteries, memory cards, connections, etc, etc. I would also never buy an M8, the price is ridiculous.

 

[Spoks]

We don't. We just buy two bodies and have them running three years later without hiccup. I have in our family five M8 without any problems, I personally know about 30 M8 users and not one of those cameras have ever needed repair.
One thing we do not do is to base buying decisions on Internet forums. Yes, things do go wrong, yes, Leica M8 cameras are complicated machines with a potential for breakdowns, but Leica as a brand seems to have a mystique of its own that magnifies any occurrence totally out of proportion and turns it into a personal insult to the owner. This specific "problems" forum is one of the slowest forums on RFF. With over 30.000 of these extremely unreliable cameras sold one would expect thousands of posts...🙄

Jaap,

All of the 5 M8 units known in the small photo enthusiast group here in Norway have been to Solms for warranty repair. Most obvious reason; "the Red Line". But also a few for "Dead Carmera".

 

[Ben Z]

I was very concerned about the reliability of the M8, given it was a new product for Leica who had just come through near-bankruptcy and several closely-spaced turnovers in upper management. I waited 8 months after the onset to get mine, and insisted on one with a different (higher) batch serial number than the initial run, to assure as best I could that it contained whatever upgrades normally made as a product goes through the teething stages. Maybe it was that, or maybe just luck, but so far I haven't had any of the issues I've read about. I had it upgraded the beginning of the year with shutter-frames-LCD, and hopefully the new shutter will be even more durable, as promised. Nonetheless when I travel, or even go to an event I want to photograph locally, I always come with a backup. In my case a second M8 was more than I wanted to spend so I picked up a DLux3, which so far I have not had to use. My experience is that nothing with mechanics or electronics is infallible, but compared to my own health, a lot easier to fix...hence my lack of anxiety over my M8 😉

 

[Rob-F]

I can understand Nobbylon's reasons for going with Nikon rather than taking a chance on the M8. I did the same thing myself; I bought a D200. But the D200 has its issues, too. Mine back-focuses when using manual focus lenses. The focus confirmation signal is inaccurate, at least on mine. I've seen this complaint posted by another user, as well. Now I'm wondering if I should get rid of the D200. And do what? Get an M8? Probably not. And the R-D1 reliability is apparently just as bad. I own lots of Nikon and Leica lenses, and no Canon ones, so that's out.

Signed, "Undecided." (Rob)

 

[nobbylon]

We don't. We just buy two bodies and have them running three years later without hiccup. I have in our family five M8 without any problems, I personally know about 30 M8 users and not one of those cameras have ever needed repair.
One thing we do not do is to base buying decisions on Internet forums. Yes, things do go wrong, yes, Leica M8 cameras are complicated machines with a potential for breakdowns, but Leica as a brand seems to have a mystique of its own that magnifies any occurrence totally out of proportion and turns it into a personal insult to the owner. This specific "problems" forum is one of the slowest forums on RFF. With over 30.000 of these extremely unreliable cameras sold one would expect thousands of posts...🙄

I think there is a certain amount of denial here. So all the posts and complaints re the M8 are obviously insignificant are they? Well obviously not to the people who have handed over a large amount of cash and had problems. I'm happy for you that you have had 5 not needing any work but, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist let alone a Leica tech to work out, that this camera has problems. First the filters which was a design issue and since introduction the various breakdowns. These sound to me more like quality control or component issues and for a product costing this much, should be well sorted before release. You have obviously along with your friends, been lucky and managed to get one that was built right in the first place.
When Leica's RF is sorted and proven, I will get one, not until.

 

[rwchisholm]

Insurance, anybody?

Insurance, anybody?

I recommend insuring the camera (and your lenses). A proper insurance policy can protect against catastrophic failure, replacing a bad unit and sparing you considerable expense. Also protects against theft. --Rob

 

[jaapv]

I think there is a certain amount of denial here. So all the posts and complaints re the M8 are obviously insignificant are they? Well obviously not to the people who have handed over a large amount of cash and had problems. I'm happy for you that you have had 5 not needing any work but, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist let alone a Leica tech to work out, that this camera has problems. First the filters which was a design issue and since introduction the various breakdowns. These sound to me more like quality control or component issues and for a product costing this much, should be well sorted before release. You have obviously along with your friends, been lucky and managed to get one that was built right in the first place.
When Leica's RF is sorted and proven, I will get one, not until.

Not denial, balance. I have this objection to internet hysteria. Sure, there have been problems, especially in the beginning, but they touched just a limited number of users and have been sorted. Still there are some cameras going wrong, which is not nice for the owner, but the same thing goes for washing machines, cars and space shuttles. It is the price to pay for using more and more complicated machinery. You could go over to the forums of other brands and see the same kind of magnification. Leica has the added factor of "I have been let down by the brand" More likely the poster's own expectations. If you are going to wait for the machine that cannot go wrong I wish you a long, very long life. 😉
Would you please explain "design issue"? I thought everybody understood the issues of IR filtering on a rangefinder sensor by now. The only thing you can say to that is "communication failure at the introduction"

 

[nobbylon]

Jaap,
I'm not saying that others don't have their problems. I'm saying, yes, I would and do have an expectation of a brand that has a reputation for quality and reliability to deliver the goods. I agree with you that forums do tend to bring out the worst case scenarios for a lot of products and they are not the best places to base a buying decision on. My user experience is of film M's in various guises and I've always been happy with them however I do think that the M digital was rushed out to try and stay on the digital train and that Leica has used their brand loyalty to field test an under developed product. Thanks to all those that buy M8 and M8.2's some of us may just 'live long enough' to enjoy a reliable successor! For now I will continue on with the M2 which hasn't seen any use since I got the D700! I will admit though that it's a heavy beast and is the one downside to a truly amazing camera.