Leica M9 Special Warning

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Sandisk cards are actually re-branded Toshiba cards. The article cited is for Micro SD Cards but applies to all of the media cards. Sandisk is the most forged brand name.

Many cards with the correct Mfg. markings are "Ghost Shift" theft products. Memory that failed testing that were pulled from the recycle and packaged for sale by GS employees. These are sold on the sly in the cell phone and electronics markets by the employees. The branding and packaging are from the manufacture's factory. So, they can't be IDed visually. The memory within the card is memory that failed testing and was to be trashed before employee theft. I try to test all memory before trusting it.

The foundry producing this product is co owned by Toshiba and Sandisk. Sandisk is not alone with this kind of forgery problem. Sandisk has a high value market presence - this comes from advertising and good customer service. Their name recognition makes them a target for forgers. Sandisk lists trusted vendors on their web site. They can trace custody of their products to these vendors. If you chose to buy from various e type web sites, you may be getting other than actual Sandisk memory.

http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=918

http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Fake_Memory_Cards
 
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To be honest, and I guess I already said this, I wouldn't use the M9 as my sole camera for shooting. I enjoy using it for my street photography and visual anthropology and I find it less intrusive for this purpose but because of focus shift and a few other reasons, I will use a couple of Canon cameras that frankly, have not let me down. And again, if an important shoot, I use two cameras shooting the same thing with a back up or two.

I do think though, that for a 7 thousand dollar camera, there are issues that shouldn't be. Hopefully Leica will continue to be responsive and resolve the issues. They promptly replaced a bad sensor on mine and now a second one needs some type of extreme cleaning or replacement.

OP, you have some nice images on your site. While I agree that images can be stolen, web images are of such low resolution that they don't print well but I suppose that if someone steals them to use on a web site, then that is a different issue.
 
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Unfortunately, Leica is now an 'image' rather than a tool. I use an M8 professionally and have had no similar problems, but it had teething problems until the software was updated several times. If I HAVE to have the images, I'll rely on the Canon. If I MIGHT have to have color, I'll take the M8 along with film Leicas and shoot my standard B&W film. Rely on a digital Leica for a pro shoot? Not likely.
 
Let me echo others' sentiments by saying that I would never trust a M9/8/P to do what an MP could do. I would trust my D3s over my M9-P any day as Nikon have proven reliability.

Leica still have some teething problems in this area, and it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), that when it comes to digital, there's always the chance of losing images. I lost a whole commercial shoot for a major football team because the card short circuited and could not be recovered. Was it the card, camera, or both? It doesn't really matter cause its too hard to tell, but this stuff happens.

The OP has the right to be upset but posting on forums is NO WAY to make nice with Leica. Posting or venting on forums should be a last resort tactic.
 
presspass said:
Unfortunately, Leica is now an 'image' rather than a tool. I use an M8 professionally and have had no similar problems, but it had teething problems until the software was updated several times. If I HAVE to have the images, I'll rely on the Canon. If I MIGHT have to have color, I'll take the M8 along with film Leicas and shoot my standard B&W film. Rely on a digital Leica for a pro shoot? Not likely.
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Depends a lot on what you're shooting. After using digi Ms (8, 8.2, 9) since December 2006 I've been let down twice by defective cards from one manufacturer (or rather, private-label seller). Leicas are still pro tools for me. I've had more trouble with Nikons, albeit only 'amateur' Nikons, even though I use them less. And even then, I've mostly been able to solve the problems.

Cheers,

R.
 
Five pages of posts about a 'digital' problem and no one's jumped in yet and said ...

"It wouldn't have happened with film!"

Im shocked! 😱 😀
 
Roger Hicks said:
Depends a lot on what you're shooting. After using digi Ms (8, 8.2, 9) since December 2006 I've been let down twice by defective cards from one manufacturer (or rather, private-label seller). Leicas are still pro tools for me. I've had more trouble with Nikons, albeit only 'amateur' Nikons, even though I use them less. And even then, I've mostly been able to solve the problems.

Cheers,

R.
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When I bought my 1981 R4 last Spring, a gentleman was returning his new Nikon D3 because it died on him. The second time. The first had another problem. And yes, ALL manufacturers have problems with their products, but from what I have been reading it seems that the SanDisk cards may be forged cards, at least, that is being reported on other forums.

As far as not using the M9 on professional jobs....that is ludicrous IMO.:angel:
 
As I am catching up on 5 pages of this thread, I wonder if the original poster formatted the SD card before use. Probably wouldn't make a diff, but just wondering. I've had issues in the past going from one camera to the next when I don't format it.
 
leicashot said:
This thread really should end soon. Surely better quality conversations would be more beneficial to the archive.
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Should conversations be sanitized? Everyone may not agree with the approach or statements but it is information and in my opinion should be filtered through to ascertain if it has relevance to the reader/user.
 
Leica's explanation for this problem is that the card as formatted by Sandisk is the problem, and formatting it in the camera solved the problems seen by the OP. This is my personal experience as well. It was my experience years ago with other Digital cameras as well. It's good practice to format the card in the camera before using it. Disk formats are not as cut and dry as one might think. At least it's not as bad as CP/M 5.25" disks.

The OP has posted this warning on several camera forums, and on his website. It is his first post and only discussion on RFF.
 
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gillavi said:
I think that by not going with the problem publicly out Leica may face a problem with the federal trade commission has hiding this kind of information is a serious violation and nothing to lough about. I'm personally about to write a complaint if Leica won't go publicly out with the issues in the next hours.

I also saw that after Leica responded to me the M9 became unavailable in all the stores in which I saw it on stock this morning.

This is not a game and this is not funny to me as a photographer.

Best,
Gil
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This is "just venting".

We have many forum members with M9's and M8's. Some have had problems, easily solved with the advice "just format the card in the camera". If the FTC investigates, I'll be glad to let them know that the M8 and M9 have a FORMAT function built into the camera.
 
After reading this thread, I bought the Sandisk 8GByte card in question. I decided to try it in my M8, Ricoh CX-1, and Olympus EP-2 before putting it in my M9.

No problem using it in the M8. My HP Pavillion G7 refused to mount the card. The WIN7 Pro Dell machine had no problem reading the files, they are safe. Then I decided to format the card with the computer. That caused problems. Problems formatting the card with Win 7, Win 7 Pro, Win XP, the Ricoh, and the Olympus. The card is at fault.

I certainly hope that Sandisk is looking into the problem with their card. It does not seem to be compatible with Windows.

Blow by Blow here:

http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109092

This card was never placed in my M9. I'll bet it would have screwed up in it as well.
 
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