brain dead M-D

[Vince Lupo]

According to a thread over on the L forum the option to enable auto shutoff is coming in a firmware release. I personally prefer not having auto-shutoff and either disable it or set the timeout as long as possible on my cameras.

Just got off the phone with Leica NJ, and the tech figured that if you were to walk around all day (like 6-8 hours) with the camera constantly on, you'd likely drain the battery.

As you mention Ken, Leica is aware of the issue and is considering addressing it with the next firmware update. The tech said that yes, a simple firmware adjustment could re-activate the auto-shutoff.

 

[BLKRCAT]

Hardly - if they implemented an auto shut off, they needed a way to set the duration and you can't do that without a screen. An auto shut off would really be stupid.

There is a on-off switch, use it.

While I agree that the OP should just use the on off switch, I don't see why leica can't create an interface to set custom settings from a computer. Things like auto shutoff could be done here since they wouldn't need to be changed more than once or ever.

 

[splitimageview]

They could use a USB interface to adjust various settings. Or just a button-press combination.

 

[Huss]

no auto shutoff?

I like it even more now.

 

[Gid]

I think the OP has a point - most digital cameras have an auto off feature (certainly every digital camera I have / have owned). It would not be unreasonable IMO to consider that the default for any digital camera would be to have an auto off feature. This may or may not be important for any particular user, but it would annoy me to come back to a flat battery. Even though the vast majority of the time I remember to switch off my cameras before putting in the bag, on the odd occasion that I forget ..........

 

[thawkins]

This just proves the point that you can screw up more with a computer in thirty seconds than you can build in a year.

 

[nobbylon]

well I've just turned my auto off OFF on my M9. Drives me crazy when I go to take a pic and the camera has to wake up. I'd rather carry spare batteries and leave it switched on when I'm using it.

 

[Godfrey]

The M-D already has a*simple settings protocol. Adding an auto-off timer and settable time should not be too much of an issue.

An auto-off timer, even without adjustability (make it five minutes by default) is a reasonable convenience for those who can't remember to use the off switch. Get users in the habit of turning the camera off manually by making "wake from sleep" available only by cycling the power switch. :angel:

Getting dramatic and hysterical about the notion that you have to remember to use the off switch is funny. I remember cameras that didn't have any off switch at all (like the Rollei 35S) or an inaccessible one (like the Minolta SRT-101). With the Rollei 35S, you can't even replace the battery without taking the roll of film out of the camera first too. If you didn't want the metering battery to go dead in a day, you stick the Rollei 35S into a case to minimize the power drain by the meter, and put a lens cap and viewfinder cap on the Minolta.

What things people get upset about these days... !

G

 

[mani]

I assume modern film Ms have meters and batteries and no auto shut off mechanism? Could you kill a M6's meter battery by neglecting to turn the camera off?

Perhaps your experience, while disappointing to you, is simply consistent with Leica wanting to create the virtual experience of using a film M camera.

I picked up my M6 after not using it for several months recently - and was annoyed to see I'd neglected to turn the dial to 'off' all those months ago. Been using it without battery problems since (over a fortnight).

PS: I don't remember ever changing the batteries in the M6 - after owning the camera for four or five years.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Seems to me no auto shut off is keeping with the gestalt of this cam...
I would think you will just get used to turning the cam on and off..
How hard is that..
I actually like that is has less interference with the actual usage..as in..shutting off at the exact wrong moment..
but that said..auto shutoff has saved me many times..when I forget to turn it off after a long session..

 

[Highway 61]

If only Leica was able to make a digital camera which wakes up in a fraction of a second with a little press on the shutter release, like normal people, that thread wouldn't exist.

 

[Godfrey]

If only Leica was able to make a digital camera which wakes up in a fraction of a second with a little press on the shutter release, like normal people, that thread wouldn't exist.

...and is constantly turning itself on and off in the bag as you walk with it.

Just flip the switch to "off," fer gosh sake. It's right there under your finger. ;-)

G

 

[Highway 61]

...and is constantly turning itself on and off in the bag as you walk with it.

When properly designed, it does not behave like this.

And - when you walk with it wanting to use it as soon as you see something to photograph, your camera isn't "in the bag" but over your shoulder, under your jacket or carried by hand. Lesson #1.

 

[Godfrey]

When properly designed, it does not behave like this.

And - when you walk with it wanting to use it as soon as you see something to photograph, your camera isn't "in the bag". Lesson #1.

Lesson #2: I don't walk with my camera swinging around my neck like a tourist waiting for something to snap away at. I place it in a bag which I can pull it out of in a moment when I see photo opportunities. In that action, I turn it on as I pick it up to my eye. Simple, fluid, very fast ... saves the battery and protects the camera from damage as well.

If I'm actively making a series of photos, of course, the camera is in my hands and ON, not auto-powered-off, because I want it to respond now, not in a half or a tenth of a second. 😎

G

 

[Huss]

I picked up my M6 after not using it for several months recently - and was annoyed to see I'd neglected to turn the dial to 'off' all those months ago. Been using it without battery problems since (over a fortnight).

Another reason why the M5 is the best camera Leica has ever made. Meter turns on when the shutter is cocked, turns off after a shot has been made.

 

[Highway 61]

Lesson #2: I don't walk with my camera swinging around my neck like a tourist waiting for something to snap away at. I place it in a bag which I can pull it out of in a moment when I see photo opportunities. In that action, I turn it on as I pick it up to my eye. Simple, fluid, very fast ... saves the battery and protects the camera from damage as well.

If I'm actively making a series of photos, of course, the camera is in my hands and ON, not auto-powered-off, because I want it to respond now, not in a half or a tenth of a second. 😎

G

You can walk with a camera not being "in the bag" without "looking like a tourist looking for something to snap away at" especially if it's a small camera. It also works with a larger camera. You can even wear a suit, a tie and nice Italian shoes for doing that. I've often met very classy people using a large format outfit.

OTOH "the bag" may be the ugliest thing if its shoulder strap is wrapped over your chest and if you're dressed like... like... well. 😀

Tons of good photos are missed because your subject is gone once the camera is pulled off the bag even if you're extremely fast at doing this. Plus, pulling the camera off the bag in a rush not rarely leads to drop it on the pavement. Statistics speak for themselves.
Lesson #3 and #4.

As for "actively making a series of photos", my hat is off to you for being able of "actively making a series of [good] photos". 😉

All of this is pointless, of course. What is not is what the OP wrote. Not fun to realize your batteries are dead when you'd want to rely on them after having shot less than 30 photos.

 

[Godfrey]

...

All of this is pointless, of course. What is not is what the OP wrote. Not fun to realize your batteries are dead when you'd want to rely on them after having shot less than 30 photos.

LOL! Of course all of this is pointless, as is this entire thread.

Everyone, including myself, has stupidly left a camera or some other device on and come back to find its battery exhausted unexpectedly at some point or another. It's like leaving the interior light of your car turned on when you leave it parked and then not looking at it for a week or two ... The battery will be dead when you return. Should all car makers be required to include auto-off circuitry that the users cannot defeat in every vehicle they sell?

It makes no sense to blame the device or the manufacturer for the fact that there is no auto-off, and to expect that there is without reading the manual is equally foolish. If your device has no auto-off function, you learn to turn the device off when you're not using it ... that's all.

G

 

[jsrockit]

Lesson #2: I don't walk with my camera swinging around my neck like a tourist waiting for something to snap away at.

I do... I'm not ashamed to be into photography. 😛

 

[Spanik]

Not fun to realize your batteries are dead when you'd want to rely on them after having shot less than 30 photos.

That's why use cameras without batteries 😀

 

[Huss]

I once returned a car because it only ran on high grade gas.