Leica M240 series battery scarcity

I just want a backup battery for my M240. Am I asking too much? It actually took me a bit of work to get another M10 battery last year.

I'm a handy guy with surface mount station (you electronics nerds know what I'm talking about). I'm seriously thinking I will be re-celling my Leica batteries at some point.

BTW, love my M10 😁. Fanboy?
 
Someone may have already mentioned this. If so, carry on. But Kirk Tuck reported on his website some time ago that the Leica M240 battery is still available from Leica. I don't recall the precise way of ordering it but I think it's now available through Leica dealer's "parts" list, not their "accessories" list. He said he was able to order a couple of spares from the Miami Leica Store once he found this out and the store located them on their parts list.

More and certainly better information is probably somewhere in the website: The Visual Science Lab

You might have to search back a few weeks and it migh have been deleted, given Kirk's penchant for shutting down and then restarting his blogs.

**Disclaimer: I don't own a Leica. I may have my information wrong but there does appear to be a way to order the battery from Leica.
 
Yes, previously mentioned:

splitimageview said:
Customers should not have to accidentally discover from online posts that they can get in line by ordering from Leica parts! But why force customers to order from Leica parts? Get the dealers in the loop
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Albeit apparently with long lead times and quantity limits
 
Okay, guys.

So yesterday or the day before, I went to the Leica USA website and asked 'what's the situation on the batteries for M typ 240 and M10 is since I notice that everyone seems out of stock on them at present.' One of the sales/service representatives *called me* today. Since that was Sunday and yesterday was a national holiday, I think that response time is just amazing, and the level of personal service outstanding.

The long and the short of our conversation is that Leica USA is getting batteries in but the numbers are down from expectations for one reason or another. They don't have enough stock to offer them on the website at the moment, but they're assuredly NOT discontinued, and they do have some stock on hand. However, discussions like this one right here have all of a sudden blasted the demand for these batteries into the stratosphere, with hundreds of requests and orders that simply cannot be filled in so short a time. It's panic response ... "I better get another battery right now because they *MIGHT* be discontinued...!" ...and Leica USA, being a relatively small company, simply cannot have that much stock on hand—which makes the shortage appear much much worse than it actually is.

These batteries in normal use should last six or seven years ... there's no reason to panic. (I know I get between 600 and 700 exposures per full charge on the M10-R/M in normal use; a bit less when I'm doing continuous Live View like for negative copy, of course.)

So chill out a little bit. Batteries are coming in and will be available for the foreseeable future. They're not discontinued, there's just a hiccup in the supply chain getting them to the Leica USA distribution point and thence to stockists. The less people panic, the more likely that this brief shortage will be brief and the distributor and stockists will be able to replenish their supplies and deliveries to a normal operational status.

G
 
Perhaps online posts have created some artificial demand, but Leica is already many months into this era of limited availability. This thread is actually quite late to the party, in terms of online battery shortage commentary. They could have made a public statement months ago. Not making a statement just makes for more online commentary and perhaps even greater demand...

Dogman said:
Kirk Tuck reported on his website some time ago that the Leica M240 battery is still available from Leica.
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Kirk (a client of mine from years ago, and a very nice guy) also posted this:

"I learned a while ago that when it comes to all Leica products requiring batteries this is an important lesson: Buy a back up battery the minute you buy the camera no matter what it costs. Waiting will ensure two things. First, the price of the battery will soar relentlessly higher and higher as you discover ever more painfully that extra batteries are a must if one is to fill up even a 16 MB memory card on one charge. And second, that when you decide that you are finally ready to plunk down cash for a second (or third, or fourth) battery you will find that they are now back-ordered. Sometimes for years. And sometimes they are impossible to find at all."

So perhaps Kirk is helping create demand, too! :)
 
boojum said:
My very jaundiced view is that Leitz does not want to sell a high volume product. They are happy to sell a few high markup items to a few folks willing to pay for them. What is left of the pro market has pretty much moved away. High burst rate, in focus, IBIS, high density images are not what Leica offers. They sell the mystique that the owners are budding HCB's. And while they still make good cameras so do a lot of other folks. I am rapidly beginning to believe that Leica is an expensive has-been with a romantic history. Yes, they do produce great images. They are not alone. And other manufacturers will fix your camera with dispatch rather than the "Send it to us and when we get around to it we'll look at it and tell you what we are offering."

Look at the tests of cameras alongside of the comparable Leica and it becomes apparent that Leica is better if you want it to be. More objectively, in my opinion, it is pretty much the same. I recently posted a Q3 43 - A7CR comparison. Small image difference, not always in :Leica's favor and the Sony has a lot more bells and whistles. And it focuses well. An M11 is ~ $13K with lens for a manual focus non-stabilized camera. OK, good images. It is not alone. For the price of an M11 + lens you can have an X2D plus lens. No brainer.

So while the battery problem for the M240 is irksome at best it is indicative of a company that just does not put much value on customer service. QED
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I never have trouble finding batteries for my IIIf, M2, M4, and M5. What am I doing wrong?
 
I noticed this battery scarcity starting in October or so. But the big spike in requests and such happened within the past week or two, according to the rep I spoke with. So this and the other M service thread here is actually pretty closely aligned to the spike.

Like your friend Kirk, I have always recommended people buy at least one spare battery whenever they buy any digital camera, not just Leicas. It's simply dumb to have only one battery for any battery-dependent camera if you intend to use it. Given the pernicious nature of all such devices, any camera will always run out of juice exactly when it is most inconvenient for them to do so.

The only reason I don't have four batteries for my M10-R and M10-M is that I bought a spare when I bought the M10-M new and I bought the M10-R used, so I already had one spare. But two spares is my standard for two bodies, and I will address that lack. I've not run out of power, or a spare battery, yet... :)

G
 
I am just petty enough to have the belief that a manufacturer would support their products. Now the Trolls of Wetzlar do not even make the batteries. All these folks have to do is get on the blower to China and get an order filled. It is that simple. But it is not being done. You have to ask yourself why. It sure does not build good customer relations. On the one hand these folks are making what they want us to believe is a great and sturdy camera. Well sturdy without a battery to make it run is kind of a joke.

I am hoping that some of the Leica Cult or Fanboys can come forward with a substantial and sound argument for this behavior.
 
All of my Pentaxen dslrs take the same battery and I can get OEM new on Amazon for $38 each. I can't find a battery for my M 240. That's all I know.
 
boojum said:
How's the film supply?
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Fantastic, actually. At last inventory I had HP5+, FP4+, Fomapan 200, Double X, and Tri-X in the freezer in copious amounts. These are nestled next to my stash of 120, 6x9, 9x12, and 4x5 sheet films in a variety of emulsions including Tri-X, Plus-X, HP5+, FP4+, Efke PL100M, CHS 100 II, Fomapan 100, Fomapan 200, Agfapan APX 100...

Kodak, Ilford, Adox, and Foma are all still cranking out film in a variety of formats.
 
Godfrey said:
I noticed this battery scarcity starting in October or so. But the big spike in requests and such happened within the past week or two, according to the rep I spoke with. So this and the other M service thread here is actually pretty closely aligned to the spike.
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This is a small forum, only 141 members have read the thread, not sure how many of them actually have M240. No way to tally how many non-members viewed the thread, but not many.

The threads on reddit from many months ago are likely orders of magnitude more influential, not to mention dpreview and others. But if forums really had measurable influence, all the more reason for Leica to have fixed this problem months ago or at least published an official statement.
 
Well the l-camera -forum has had a thread going since the 18th July 2024 with 235 posts, mainly from m240 owners.
I've got 3 batteries for my M240, all working fine. Others are not so lucky.
 
Wow I remember a similar thread about getting a backup battery for my M9. So I got one and it sits in the original packaging. My original is still going strong after what, 15 or more years.
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Doing wrong??!! You are not being a good consumer and buying the latest whizzbang! Your sort, dissidents and subversives that you are, should be sent away for re-education.
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Wait a second. I have a modern leica - it's an M5. Waddya talking about. I have a modern Graflex too - a 2x3 Speed. Also a modern Nikon, an F2.

Sheesh.

P.S. To be "reducated" presumes I was educated in the first place. Facts not in evidence.
 
trix4ever said:
Well the l-camera -forum has had a thread going since the 18th July 2024 with 235 posts, mainly from m240 owners.
I've got 3 batteries for my M240, all working fine. Others are not so lucky.
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It's bizarre that I can still get my film Leicas serviced and parts are mostly available (even for my M5) for cameras as old as 1952, but Leica cannot manage to keep a battery around for more than a dozen years or so. I was contemplating a 240 in my future but this thread pretty much put a dagger in the heart of that.

I have a D-Lux Typ 109 and batteries are widely available for this camera, though it is "only" 10 years old or so.

Leica really needs to step up its support game or make it easy for Kastar or someone to fill the void. Grrrrrrrr ....
 
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