black dng on m9

[marcoinhawaii]

Shooting a friend's M9 and a problem arose...after shooting an image, I am not able to review the image on the screern as only a black frame pulls up with the shutter speed, ISO, and frame number...all on top of the review screen. In Photo Mechanic and Lightroom, I see only a black preview...HOWEVER, when I process the black dng in Photoshop camera raw, I can see the image. The dng is full size with no issues. I shot both jpg and dng files separate and together and only get a black preview. But as I said, I can process the image in camera raw with no problems.

Its been hard to find any information on the net about this as the keywords pull up reviews on the body and I'm not sure if I've found anything here on this site.

Is the dng file corrupt? Is the camera having problems? The jpg is also pulling up as a black frame in photoshop so I assume something is wrong with the jpg preview. Any solutions?

 

[marcoinhawaii]

screenshots

screenshots

here are the screenshots from my computer

 

[Richard G]

Were you reading from a card reader, or connecting the camera with a USB cable? Were you using a SanDisk Extreme 8G card? Was that card formatted in the camera? Were you shooting in Continuous mode for several successive images with one press of the shutter button?

 

[sevo]

DNG is a container, and may contain camera native raw data or TIFF as well as its own raw image format. While the latter two are reasonably standardised and mostly forward compatible, camera native raw data is not. That is, DNG preview drivers/utilities usually cannot open files embedding native raw data from devices more recent than their own release date. You may have to update LR, if it is older than the ACR version you use - or you may have to check whether you accidentally use a outdated version of LR still around on your computer.

PS: It would help if you could tell us what computer, which OS, and the versions of OS and software - while I can vaguely guess at some rather none-too-fresh Mac by the screenshots, it might as well be Linux or Windows, given the degree to which GUIs can be redecorated these days.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

I reloaded the firmware 1.96-1 on the camera and I am still getting this problem. This problem only started during the time I was using the camera and didn't give me any problems before. It only started to fire black previews in the time I had the camera. The mac is up to date at 10.6.8, LR3, and CS5.

It seems more of a camera problem than a computer problem.

Leica USA seems to be out of commission due to Sandy so I can't contact them at the time.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Try using another battery. The latest firmware is a bit sensitive with old(er) batteries. That is of course, beside the other common reason, the SD card.

 

[V-12]

This has been a common problem and is usually traced back to the card. Leica have a list of recommended cards, but you should still make sure you do all the right things, like re-format the card rather than just delete the images. A lot of people have had problems with newer SanDisk cards and SanDisk have held their hands up to the problem. Black frame has happened to me two or three times in two years, using a SanDisk Extreme III card, but I it was so random I can't say if there was anything that triggered it.

 

[sevo]

Sure? This is a black preview frame in spite of a undamaged raw image. I've encountered the opposite, but not that particular error.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

tried a sandisk and a lexar card and freshly charged batteries and I am getting the same black preview. I was using a lexar card when the camera decided to start spitting out black images half way through my picture taking.

 

[Richard G]

What is the preview you refer to? Only that jpeg in LR3, or do you mean on the camera LCD? You still haven't told us how you get the pictures off the card: cable or card reader. I had trouble with LR and cable, seeing only identical DNG preview icons for import. It no longer happens.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

Ah...I am seeing black on the M9's lcd screen (only the shutter speed, ISO, and frame number appear) and I am getting the images off my Lexar card reader. I've used two different Lexar cards and one Sandisk card (which never gave any problems.)

I don't usually use LR3 as I am a Photo Mechanic user. On camera, I only see black on the lcd, I only see black previews in PM and LR3 but can process the black frame in Camera Raw.

This problem happened half way through the shooting. There was no problem with this through most of the time I had the camera. The camera is still experiencing the black frame problem.

 

[CaptZoom]

Ha...I used to get black screens. I thought the data was corrupted so I deleted them🙁
In any case, since the latest firmware update I have not encountered this problem.
I suggest you contact Leica and see what they say, especially if you still have any warrantee left.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

I've also tried fresh batteries and still nothing new.

 

[sepiareverb]

I've just started getting black DNG files as well. They appear as black on the screen, and in the finder in OS 10.7.5. They don't open in the Camera Raw plug-in for PS CS6. Two different bodies on multiple cards formatted fresh in the camera every time. It would appear that deal on the Samsung cards that advertise in LFI wasn't a deal at all.😡

So, back to my old Lexar cards tomorrow to test.

 

[marcoinhawaii]

Just got the camera back from Leica. They replaced the entire CCD. No real explanation after a phone call other than they said electronics can break and need replacement. Found that awfully strange as I really wasn't sure what the main cause was in the first place.

No more black frames.

 

[Doug]

Good to see you got it resolved fully... Probably helped that it was consistent and not one of those intermittent problems that are harder to diagnose.

 

[sepiareverb]

I spoke with the tech at Leica NJ yesterday afternoon. After testing they've determined my camera has power issues due to the older firmware and older batteries. In my case the black DNG files were only when I was using the flash, it seems the added load in triggering the flash was enough to occasionally mess with the power needed to write the file. With new batteries in their testing there is no problem.

So, a pair of new batteries for me, and some firmware updating.