Leica M9 AE problem

F

Fuchs

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Hi to everyone. A friend of mine has lent me his almost new M9 with ca. 500 shutter actuations, bought less than a year before. He's a Nikon shooter and has had a health problem preventing to put the Leica much into use.
In any case, the camera is severely malfunctioning: When in low light, the camera meter works perfectly, both in AE and in Manual modes.
When in higher light levels (i.e., outdoors) the meter goes crazy, consistently overexposing and/or not getting past 1/90 speed. If I close the aperture, the camera exposes correctly again, as it seems less light is hitting the exp cell. I tried Auto ISO, manually set ISO, reset the camera etc to no avail. Also used both coded (35/1.4 lux asph) and uncoded (Nokton 50/1.1) lenses, with on and off recognition, and no change.

Any thoughts about this? May it be some in camera mis-setting, or firmware corruption? Anyone with a similar problem?

I have not found this issue in the usual fora archives, but I'm thinking camera is buying a ticket back to Solms service asap.
 
That does indeed sound weird, I have not heard anything like this before. First I would set the camera to basic parameters. ISO 160, DNG+ JPG fine,etc., everything standard. If that does not help, I would reload the firmware. Next step, run down the battery all the way by disabling autoshutoff and leaving the camera on until it shuts down.
After that a trip to Solms or NJ seems inevitable.
 
jaapv said:
That does indeed sound weird, I have not heard anything like this before. First I would set the camera to basic parameters. ISO 160, DNG+ JPG fine,etc., everything standard. If that does not help, I would reload the firmware. Next step, run down the battery all the way by disabling autoshutoff and leaving the camera on until it shuts down.
After that a trip to Solms or NJ seems inevitable.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jaap for the suggestions. I have had some time ago a Nikon F2sB whose meter worked only on 'hi-range' after some wires corrosion, but thought somehow that metering on a digital camera was different, more software based maybe.

I have already reset the camera to all basics, swapped sd cards with the ones that always had worked fine on my M8. As nothing seemed to improve anything, I'll try tomorrow reloading the latest firmware and liquidating remaining battery power, but I suspect next step will involve careful repackaging and kissing it au revoire for some time in Leicaland.
 
Ed,

If the meter is reading incorrectly in manual mode, then it sounds like something may be obscuring the meter in the camera. The M6TTL / M7 had meters located on the bottom of the camera, pointed towards the dot in the curtain. I would see if the M9 in your possession has anything on the sensor -- I'm not sure where the light meter sensor is located but a gentle blowing of air into the camera might loosen whatever is obscuring the sensor.
 
kzphoto said:
Ed,

If the meter is reading incorrectly in manual mode, then it sounds like something may be obscuring the meter in the camera. The M6TTL / M7 had meters located on the bottom of the camera, pointed towards the dot in the curtain. I would see if the M9 in your possession has anything on the sensor -- I'm not sure where the light meter sensor is located but a gentle blowing of air into the camera might loosen whatever is obscuring the sensor.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kevin, I'll give this M9 a serious examination during this weekend. Anyway, I think anything mechanically obscuring the lightmeter sensor should produce something like a more linear fail, not just when there's plenty of light. The cam is working perfectly when there is low light in the scene. I'll keep the thread updated as I try to find a fix prior to decide shipping it off.
 
leicashot said:
Not sure why we're having this conversation. If the meter is acting up, have it serviced :)
Click to expand...

First off, I wanted to know if this could be one of the known (to others) M9 issues, and maybe also previous owners' experiences on this. Secondly, and this is just an aside, there's no Leica rep in the place where I'm living now (Argentina), and sending the camera to NJ/Solms involves some PITA logistics, long times, high in-transit loss or damage risk and so on and so on...
 
The light meter sits in the bottom of the body and reads light reflected from the shutter curtain. It is a rather high order disorder you have there. Might be something simple, but a foreign body obscuring the meter seems unlikely. Sounds 'electrical'.
 
Fuchs said:
First off, I wanted to know if this could be one of the known (to others) M9 issues, and maybe also previous owners' experiences on this. Secondly, and this is just an aside, there's no Leica rep in the place where I'm living now (Argentina), and sending the camera to NJ/Solms involves some PITA logistics, long times, high in-transit loss or damage risk and so on and so on...
Click to expand...

In that case, best to take to a Leica dealer where they can test it, especially against other working cameras for verification of the problem. but from what you describe it seems you are well aware of the issue.

Good luck and hope the service is fast
 
leicashot said:
In that case, best to take to a Leica dealer...
Click to expand...

For many of us that likely requires nearly equal PITA logistics as sending it in :rolleyes:


I'll agree with jaapv: Update the firmware and exhaust the battery and recharge it overnight. If it still acts up then to Solms or NJ it must go. NJ just turned around a body for me quickly, including a free recover with the very nice "new" vulcanite. As a heads up, NJ had no loaners available last week or the week before.

You've got a good, new battery in there?
 
sepiareverb said:
For many of us that likely requires nearly equal PITA logistics as sending it in :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Exactly, my nearest Leica dealer is some 1700 km away and in another country...

sepiareverb said:
I'll agree with jaapv: Update the firmware and exhaust the battery and recharge it overnight. If it still acts up then to Solms or NJ it must go. NJ just turned around a body for me quickly, including a free recover with the very nice "new" vulcanite. As a heads up, NJ had no loaners available last week or the week before.

You've got a good, new battery in there?
Click to expand...

I updated the firmware, nothing.
I am right now recharging the battery. I'll try also another battery from my M8.
The trip to NJ seems inevitable.
 
I would deal with Solms. I advise you to call (Skype) them first.
Do observe customs regulations for items that are sent out for repair.
 
jaapv said:
I would deal with Solms. I advise you to call (Skype) them first.
Do observe customs regulations for items that are sent out for repair.
Click to expand...

Well, the last try was done, and the camera is gonna be sent to Leica. The worst part of the operation logistics is dealing with local Customs, indeed.

Jaap, may I ask you by PM Leica's skype address, or it is on their contact page? TIA

Thank you to all who replied
 
I am having the same issue too. It was fine 2 weeks ago. Exactly as described by the op. Mine would be fine on smaller apertures but once it hits F5.6 or bigger the meter readings are way off, not giving me speeds faster than 1/60s.

What was the outcome from Leica? I just sent a letter to leica repair to see what they have to say about it. I will have to wait till I get back to US to ship it out to NJ, really bummed as I am currently travelling in Istanbul :mad:.

I have guesstimate my exposure, hence the sunny 16 rule comes back to play.
 
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