Leica M-D and my bashers

[AusDLK]

Well, well. Leica released a firmware update today for the M-D which fixed one thing and one thing ONLY. It added a 10-minute auto-shutoff.

I posted a gripe on here and other forums about this and a significant number of replies bashed me for daring to question the wisdom of Leica for omitting this. I called it a brain-dead bug. It resulted in three unexpected dead batteries for me before today.

From what my dealer told me and what he heard from his Leica rep was that Wetzlar was deluged with complaints.

I definitely want say that "I told you so". And to all of my fanboy bashers: Up your nose with a rubber hose!

 

[Huss]

Was it something I said?

 

[aizan]

do you still have it?

 

[Keith]

Considering the overall tone of your original post I thought you got off pretty lightly! 😀

 

[AusDLK]

do you still have it?

Yes, I do. To have returned it would have been unfair to my dealer who is also a very good friend of mine.

I had heard from a number of sources at the time that Leica was taking some heat and that a fix in firmware would come soon. That helped with the situation.

I'm surprised but pleased that it came so quickly.

 

[Godfrey]

Silliness.
Glad you're happy.

G

 

[AusDLK]

how Plesant Dave ... guess a few People must have got up YOuR nose for that comment 😱

Definitely. I withdrew from LUG because I didn't want to see any more insulting responses that went on and on about why I just didn't turn the camera off.

My snarky original post above is not a completely playful dig back at those who responded similarly here on RFF. Vindication is sweet.

 

[splitimageview]

But it's been out two weeks already 🙂

Page two of the bash thread

 

[Fotobot]

It's strange that they released it that way. How was such an obvious problem not obvious before they released it? I leave all of my digital cameras on all of the time, knowing they will auto-shutoff after a few minutes. This way they are always ready to shoot, and the power switch is never in the wrong position.

 

[mcfingon]

I hope you can spend many happy hours doing pics with the M-D now, Dave. It looks like a beautiful camera and is apparently quieter than the original M240, so that's great for the low-key approach that I like.

 

[Vince Lupo]

But it's been out two weeks already 🙂

Page two of the bash thread

Yes the firmware update was released two weeks ago - don't know why you just found out about it yesterday. I've been a happy camper with my M-D, and it's a nice complement to the Monochrom 246. The firmware update certainly put my mind at ease and makes the camera that much better.

You never did tell us the circumstances under which your batteries died - did you leave the camera continually 'on' in your camera bag? I was lucky in that I hadn't had the camera all that long before they released the firmware update, but then again I had already developed a habit long ago of turning my cameras off when not using them for an extended period of time.

Glad to hear that you didn't abandon the camera, and hopefully you'll be as satisfied with it as I've been 🙂

BTW are you still selling your 262?

 

[jsrockit]

I don't have a horse in the race, but do know that you actually use your equipment a lot. Seemed like a reasonable request to me at the time... obviously it was.

 

[Vince Lupo]

It's strange that they released it that way. How was such an obvious problem not obvious before they released it? I leave all of my digital cameras on all of the time, knowing they will auto-shutoff after a few minutes. This way they are always ready to shoot, and the power switch is never in the wrong position.

It wasn't an obvious problem at first -- Leica purposely disabled the auto-shutoff function based upon feedback of M60 owners (the limited edition predecessor of the M-D), who preferred the 'instant on' rather than the auto-shutoff. But it seemed that M-D owners would rather have longer battery life, so the 10-minute auto-shutoff is a nice compromise between the two camps. Frankly I'm pleased that Leica responded so quickly to customer response, and all it took was a simple firmware update.

 

[Addy101]

Nice to see you take this courteously 😉



Oh, one thing, people who disagree aren't bashing you. They just disagree...

 

[Highway 61]

It wasn't an obvious problem at first -- Leica purposely disabled the auto-shutoff function based upon feedback of M60 owners (the limited edition predecessor of the M-D), who preferred the 'instant on' rather than the auto-shutoff.

As you say, there are M60 owners.

As for M60 users as real photographers having very precise expectations about the functionalities of that thing when currently used in the field like a camera... well... 😀

 

[AusDLK]

does anyone actually use the M60 to take pictures? seems more like a heavy piece of jewelry to me. Leica should have known these folks cannot be serious photographers and ignored their feedback.

i'm quite happy with the M-D now. many thanks for Leica for making the "digital M7" I first started dreaming of 10 years ago.

 

[giganova]

So Leica did exactly what you wanted. You must be a happy camper!

 

[AusDLK]

So Leica did exactly what you wanted. You must be a happy camper!

Pretty much. I would have thought that they'd address those that liked it the way it was (like the M60) and make it something that could be turned on or off (and even offer a few different delays rather than a fixed 10 minutes) which could be done in a similar way as to how the time/date is set ... but they didn't. Maybe they're getting push back the other way now.

 

[Pioneer]

I am pretty certain it was the polite way you asked. Otherwise it might have taken two more weeks. 🙂