Buying an M8 - shutter actuations

Well on the M8, you can't really tell the actual # of shutter actuations from the EXIF metadata, but that's a long story....
Why so? Exif data show the UI-ID (Unique Image ID) which gives the total number of times the shutter has opened and closed doesn't it?
 
Here's a good thread for starters on what can go wrong, but keep in mind that shutter activations is not equal to unique image id, and that unique image id in some M8 cases does not increment, in others it resets when loading new firmware, and in most all cases, a new replaced shutter does not reset the uniqueimage id.

So shutter activations could be less than your exif data, or could be more, or could not be incrementing, or could be reset back with an older SD card, depending on the individual M8.

here
 
Hehe i was there as well and i don't draw the same conclusion as yours with respect. In the vast majority of cases, the Unique Image ID gives a good idea of the number of actuations imho.
 
Hehe i was there as well and i don't draw the same conclusion as yours with respect. In the vast majority of cases, the Unique Image ID gives a good idea of the number of actuations imho.

Not sure how you work that out. As an example I took the displayed Unique ID value for a recent photo. It read 00000000000000000000000000001307

I converted it using the hexadecimal converter as per my post and got 4871 which is about right for my camera.
 
The M9 was mentioned upthread. That has an traditional slow cloth shutter so should be good for several hundred thousand actuations (the M3 is said to be good for 500,000). What this figure actually means is unclear; probably the life of the curtains, although an electronically-timed shutter may well hold its tolerances for most of that period. A mechanical M is unlikely to maintain correct speeds for 500,000 actuations unless they are shot within a couple of years, although it will only need adjusting to bring it back within spec, not new parts.
 
Not sure how you work that out. As an example I took the displayed Unique ID value for a recent photo. It read 00000000000000000000000000001307 I converted it using the hexadecimal converter as per my post and got 4871 which is about right for my camera.
Yes indeed where's the problem if any?
 
Not sure how you work that out. As an example I took the displayed Unique ID value for a recent photo. It read 00000000000000000000000000001307

I converted it using the hexadecimal converter as per my post and got 4871 which is about right for my camera.

LOL, a 32 place hexidecmal number to keep track of shutter actuations.
That's decimal 3.4028236692094E+38. Do you rekon Leica are being tad optimistic? :D
 
Wow. thanks for the responses guys.
I just bought my first Leica camera. one came along with 3500 actuations for $100 more than the 20,000 one. Score!

I feel sick in saying this (sick in expensive out of wallet sick), but I now own a Leica!
 
The M9 was mentioned upthread. That has an traditional slow cloth shutter so should be good for several hundred thousand actuations .

No it doesn't (sorry to be pedantic but others read threads and rumours spread)

"The LEICA M9 features a new, microprocessor-controlled, particularly silent, metal-leaf, focal-plane shutter that enables shutter speeds of up to 1/4000 seconds."
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0909/09090909leicam9.asp

" Shutter: Microprocessor-controlled, exceptionally low-noise metal blade shutter with vertical movement."
http://uk.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m9/
Technical data .pdf

No indication of durability.
 
The M8.2 has what should be a longer-wearing shutter than M8, which was over-tensioned. Still, 20,000 is a lot of use. Considerable brassing, I'd suppose?

Kirk
 
Have you seen the price of Nikon or Canon lately? Leica is not that expensive anymore considering that you could use a 20 year old lens and get great result still even with a Digital M
 
The price difference of a used M8 with 20K shutter activation vs one with 3K is usually so negligible so it does not make sense to get one with high shutter activation although I think the shutter are built to last a long time.
 
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